What a bewildering brilliant collection of stories this is. Colet’s introduction alerts us to the fact that is just a smorgasbord from the work of a prolific writer, but it’s more than enough for the reader to get to grips with a lo-fi genius. In only one of the stories, the deranged La Horla, which reads like a metaphor for the current pandemic, does the writing indulge in what the British call fights of fancy. Which might be what those on the other side of the channel tend to expect from their Gallic counterparts. La Horla embraces delirium to such an extent that it would not have surprised me if the narrator had gone off and burnt down a 5G tower, in a sudden leap into the future.
The other stories are rooted in a steadfast humanism. They embrace themes of love, desire, war, revenge. The writing is direct, to the point. Ordinary people find themselves doing extraordinary things. An old woman burns down her own house, knowing it will lead to her death. Two fisherman risk everything to indulge a simple hobby. A prostitute displays more nobility than her high-class travelling companions. There is an economy of action which allows the writer to deliver story after story in the space of a dozen pages or less, each and every one of them teaching or reminding us of something integral to the human condition.
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