A first novel and a ” coming out literary “: this is what Memory of Night for Mathieu Rolland, this author who, at 31, had never admitted to his entourage to write every day for almost 15 years.
With the exception of his sweetheart and a few very close friends, Mathieu Rolland had never revealed to anyone that he was writing. A little for lack of confidence, a little also to avoid having to answer the inevitable questions relating to his work and his literary progress.
” Memory of Night is my third completed novel, but the first to be published, explains the Montreal writer. These first two works, although never published, allowed me to develop my writing and to learn many things, in particular what I wanted to write and how I wanted to write. “
His studies in translation, his forays into the world of short films and cinema, his current work in advertising and his great passion for reading all helped to form the author he secretly became.
“It was by dint of writing and dint of being told no that every time I went back to the worktable, that I tried to see what was wrong and how I could improve things. “
Speak with another voice
Souvenir of Night, it is the story of a successful businesswoman having to travel to Asia for business, of her meeting with a prostitute whom she nicknamed Night and of the relationship that she will develop with him. A “very confronting” relationship that will force her to revisit certain childhood memories.
It is also a story written in “I” in a singular language imagined by the author. “It’s a language that is a little broken in its rhythm. I think I tried to find – perhaps in the awkwardness of my own language – some kind of creative engine. I took a lot of freedom from syntax and punctuation in order to build the thinking of my character. “
Through this language that the character cannot understand, arises – among other themes – the difficulty of coming into contact with and communicating with the world.
If this story recalls the work of Marguerite Duras, the author however refrains from proclaiming himself the heir.
“Marguerite Duras was a driving force at the start of the writing of the novel and a fairly new influence,” he says. I experienced a click during a recent rereading of some of his novels and his language awakened something in me. It gave me a lot of freedom in developing my writing style.
Memory of Night is in bookstores.
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