The Major Refutation
The book of the week unites all books: adventure book, historical panorama, satirical tale, philosophical summa, polemical mockery, geographical treatise, political analysis. Published by Contra Mundum Press, Pierre Senges' Major Refutation was translated by Jacob Siefring.
Pierre Senges introduces Antonio de Guevara, whose long letter addressed to Charles Quint refuses the existence of a new continent, with arguments as serious as they are eccentric:
If this new world actually existed, if its measure could be had in hectares and in tons, or more maliciously in carats to reflect the value of its diamond mines, or in nautical miles because it is seemingly capable of devouring an entire hemisphere as a crab would, going from north to south and from east to west — if this were the case, then adventurers would have set foot there long ago, smugglers failing to find a better use for their discovery would have taken it as their refuge, and instead of traffickers by nature mute about their rallying points, we would have heard the cries of one thousand boasters, one thousand returning voyagers.
The Major Refutation ironically reminds us of men's passion for ignorance and the eternal opposition between the dupes, the non-dupes, and those who think they belong to the latter.
If you'd like to hear more...
Pierre Senges is coming to the Institut français on Thursday 17th May for our Beyond Words Festival, during the event "Noémi Lefebvre, Eimear McBride & Fresh French Voices", along with the authors Eimear McBride, Noémi Lefebvre and Hélène Frédérick at 6.30pm!
Pierre Senges is published by Verticales, and the author of fifteen works of fiction and essays, including Fragments of Lichtenberg, available with Dalkey Archive Press in a translation by Gregory Flanders (2017). He has also published two novellas illustrated by Killoffer and Nicolas de Crécy, and his Major Refutation was translated by Jacob Siefring for Contra Mundum Press. His work also includes many productions for the French radio: his Un immense fil d’une heure de temps was awarded the Grand Prix sgld for radiophonic fiction, and he worked on an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s novel with Histoire de Bouvard et Pécuchet, copistes. He has won numerous literary prizes, including the Prix SACD for New Radio Talent in 2007.
Don't forget to follow the Book Office's official Twitter account for more literary news!