It is not surprising that the subject of Olivier Guez’s new novel is presented to us much better than the previous one: it was Mengele. Ass The disappearance of Josef Mengelewho followed in the footsteps of the Angel of Auschwitz’s death, now addresses Goiz Mesopotamia (also in Tusquets), Asymmetry of the narrative, the life of another prominent historical figure, the great British adventurer Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), archaeologist, explorer, mountaineer, spy, political agent of the empire who was decisive in the fate of the Middle East. Goes (Strasbourg, 51), a tall, cautious man, arrives a little late for his appointment at a Barcelona hotel because, he explains, he has been swimming in a pool, an odd introduction to a conversation about a woman known as the “Queen of the Desert” who was a friend and colleague of Lawrence of Arabia.
a question. More beautiful than Mengele
answer. It was easy from the beginning, even though they fell into disparity. A notorious SS doctor with an obsession with searching for the secret of the Melissus, Bill with the belief that he can create an empire in the Middle East.
p. Why did you choose her to be the heroine of your book?
A. She was a sexy woman. Completely exceptional for its time. You have unusual responsibilities and an important official position, unusual for someone of your gender. He was a spy, head of intelligence, a famous archaeologist, a graduate in history from Oxford University, a mountaineer, a traveler, who crossed the Nefud desert on the Camilo, fell in love with the Bedouins…
p. She has been called “Lawrence the Arab Female.”
A. In Pure Cleansing: Lawrence is the masculine Gertrude Bell. It was more substantively important and politically relevant than it is now. The Arab Revolution in Brazil is no less important than Bale’s role in drawing the new borders of the Middle East and shaping the future of the region.
p. But Lawrence, who certainly discovered a great photo of himself, is better known.
A. Yes, I have several advantages, the first of which is that I am a man. The second time, the West was searching for an individual hero after the massacres of World War I, in which millions of unknown people were killed. He also wrote a major work, The seven pillars of wisdomBill says he’s not happy. Finally and fundamentally, I had a film that immortalized him.
p. It’s been a long time coming, but Gertrude also released her filmDesert era (2015), by Werner Herzog, with Nicole Kidman. Lawrence played him as Robert Pattinson! He didn’t have to sit in much sun.
A. Very bad movie and it doesn’t work.
p. Anyway, Lawrence must have had charisma, right?
A. They were majestic, wealthy, multilingual, enjoyed upper-class lifestyles, and an impressive network of relationships. People looked at her as an exceptional person. He was arrogant. Her enemies were the leaders of her madness and eccentricities.” She lacked a sense of humor, and was not a cheerful woman.
p. Lawrence didn’t do that, especially when he pointed it out. How epic was it?
A. Yes, too, the more aterciopelada, the less exciting. And there was no one to explain it, like journalist Lowell Thomas with Lawrence. When Bill crossed the desert there was no one to tell him. Lawrence was the object of desire of all twentieth-century mythologists and, like Malraux, everyone wanted to be holy. It was like a malty corto. The bell doesn’t ring after that. Don’t dream like that. I’m afraid Nadi imagines you to be Gertrude Bell.
p. He shared his worth and courage with Lawrence.
A. Yes, and the others have something in common: they don’t want each other, and they don’t have a good relationship with their bodies. They treated him like an enemy. They believed in salvation through suffering.
p. Was Miss Bell a lesbian?
A. I did not find what to experience, not between the lines; De Halarlo Habria did not pose any problem with the book. It seems to me that adventure was a substitute for sex life for Bill and Lawrence.
p. How do you drink a cup?
A. With Gertrude Bell, I would love to hear her adventures first hand. I think it will take me better than it did with Lawrence. But if you ask me which of them makes me the prettiest…
p. Which one of them is more beautiful?
A. Winston Churchill, Jajaja. He had a sarcasm and sense of humor that others lacked.
p. There is a famous photo from 1921, when the Cairo Conference was held, in which the three are sold on Camillo in front of the Sphinx of Giza. Who made the best of this animal, Bill or Lawrence?
A. In the end, they were both pretty good. Without doubting that they were better than Churchill when he sweated it out that day, he sweated it out like a sack of potatoes.
p. Mesopotamia It is a very literary book, and it contains beautiful paragraphs. What is the use of the novel in the life of Gertrude Bell, which contains so much intimacy?
A. Bell’s private life is highly anecdotal. I invent very little. Where part of the imagination is in the decoration, on the stage, and not in the substance. My work is more of a literary technique than fiction. You know that the French, unlike the English, like to make history a literary subject.
p. There is a reference to Hercule Poirot in Mesopotamia.
A. I had the pleasure of meeting Gertrude Bell and Agatha Christie, but it never happened, although it sometimes coincided on archaeological digs. That’s why I have the idea that I first met a Belgian detective on the Orient Express.