The FrogJohn Hawkes's amazing new tale opens as a French child, asleep beside a lily pond shortly before the First World War, swallows a frog. Mysteriously, the creature survives within him - a companion throughout a life filled with physical and psychological pain but also with a strange, frog-given, exhilarating power over others. An Aesopian fable? An ironic children's story? The Frog goes far beyond these, as the adventures of Pascal, the misanthropic victim, and Armand, the tyrannical frog, move between a chateau, a mental institution, and a brothel. Soon The Frog becomes a mock philosophical treatise on the culinary arts, the limits of belief, the sinister appeal of illness, and - as the frog usurps even Pascal's sexuality - eroticism. This brilliantly styled parable of violence and illusion explores with aching poignancy the very qualities that make us human. |
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Common terms and phrases
already appeared Armand the Frog Béatrice Bocage boxcar breath château child childhood Christophe's mother church Citroën course creature crepe de chine cried crutches dark dear little Maman dear little Papa dear Maman despite Domaine Ardente door doubt ducks empty exactly eyes face fact father felt filled finally fingers forever frog pond frog's Fromage's hand head horses instant John Hawkes kitchen knew legs light lily pad lips little Tadpole living loved Lulu Madame Chapôte Madame Fromage mand Marie Marie-Claude Marthe Marthe's matter Michel-André Monsieur Remi's mouth never once pain Papa's Pascal peignoir Placide Placide's poor Remi rognons saint Saint-Mamès sight slightest smell smiling Solange sound speak stared stomach stood Stories of Armand suddenly teeth thanks thought tiny turned ugly village Vivonne voice warm whispered woman wooden young count's wife