The Baldwins
by Serge Lamothe
(Talonbooks, CAN$15.95, 95 pages; trade paperback, published in July
2006.)
 Following
in the footsteps of writers such as Borges, Calvino, and Lem, Serge
Lamothe, in The Baldwins, concocts a near-future metafiction
exploring history and human nature. Via translators Fred A. Reed and
David Homel, this novella, originally written in French, now reaches
English readers.
In the future, academics study the lore of the Baldwins -- are they
real, imaginary, a species, a family, or a mistranslation? Nobody knows.
Sandwiched between two brief framing sequences setting up the faux-academic
premise are a series of short vignettes purportedly relating the lives
of various Baldwins.
The conceit is kind of cute, but, alas, the results are sophomoric
and insubstantial.
The book lacks any sense of momentum. The vignettes are too self-contained.
I yearned for a glimmer of connection -- no matter how oblique -- some
sense of a story behind the stories, a cleverly layered metanarrative
rewarding careful reading.
But, no. Instead, we are served a series of random anecdotes without
rhyme or reason. They stop, perhaps, because the writer has run out
of ideas and not because the narrative or structure suggests it.
Most unfortunately, in the end The Baldwins steps down from
the cuteness that semi-sustained it for ninety pages and descends abysmally
into juvenile portentousness. Ultimately, we are imparted a valuable
lesson: in case we hadn't figured it out for ourselves yet, we are told
that the Baldwins are "so like us" and that "They can
hardly be faulted for that."
Successful allegories don't need to remind readers that they are allegories.
Originally published in
The Montreal Gazette, Saturday, 28 October 2006.
Claude Lalumière's Fantastic Fiction
is a series of
capsule reviews first published in the Saturday Books
section of The Montreal Gazette.
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