The Bathroom – Jean-Philippe Toussaint (1985, trans. Nancy Amphoux & Paul De Angelis 1990) 102 pages
A young man decides he’s going to stay in his bathtub. Thankfully, his long-suffering girlfriend Edmondsson is happy to fund this indolent lifestyle. He leaves on occasion to talk to his decorators (who aren’t decorating as Edmondsson is vacillating between white and beige paint) and sit in the kitchen. Otherwise, he’s back in the bath:
“A friend of my parents was passing through Paris and came to see me. From him I learned it was raining. Stretching out an arm toward the washbasin, I suggested he take a towel […] I didn’t know what he wanted from me. When the silence had begun to seem permanent, he began to tell me about his latest professional activities, explaining that the difficulties he had to contend with were insurmountable since they were linked to incompatibilities of temperament among persons at the same hierarchical level.”
The novella is in three sections, each paragraph numbered. This unusual structure isn’t as irritating as it should be. It somehow emphasises the banality of his existence without becoming banal itself.
In the middle section, the narrator heads to Venice. In this beautiful and historic city, he mainly stays in his hotel room, taking up darts:
“When I played darts I was calm and relaxed. Little by little, emptiness would creep over me and I would steep myself in it”
We’ve seen that he can be socially awkward, guiding people into the toilet when showing them round the flat, mildly insulting the previous tenants, but later in the novella it seems this behaviour could be deliberate:
“I left the hotel and, in the street, asked a running man the way to the Post Office. I’ve always enjoyed asking people in a hurry for information.”
In the third section he heads back to Paris although I lived in hope Edmondsson was finally sick of him.
Apparently Touissaint is a fan of Beckett and The Bathroom definitely has the feel of Beckett: nihilistic, unreal verging on surreal, contained environments, experimental forms. It echoes itself and takes the reader in disorienting circles.
“Immobility is not absence of movement but absence of any prospect of movement.”
Not a novel for when you want a ripping yarn, but an interesting quick read.
“I would ask her to console me. Softly, she would ask, Console you for what? Console me, I would say”
madame bibi lophile recommends 
Another intriguing pick, Madame Bibliophile. The opening section, in fact the whole notion of his wanting to not move reminded me a lot of Oblomov, whom I turned out to agree with to an extent. The immobility quote is an interesting one though I wonder if it applies if I intend to move but don’t actually do so!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve never read Oblomov, but I would like to, maybe it was an influence I didn’t pick up on? I am terrible at philosophy but I think if the intention is there then the prospect is there, so it does apply…but maybe not 😀
LikeLike
I think it may be; Oblomov doesn’t get out of bed for nearly a third of the book if I remember right, or even if not a third at least a substantial part of the start.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I got curious and ran a search on good old google and it seems lots of results mention the oblomov connection.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Mallika! I didn’t google it before I wrote about it, so it’s great you highlighted that connection in the comments. I’ll definitely hunt down a copy of Oblomov to read!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hope you enjoy the book. I did when I read it, goodreads tells me 2016. I have a heron books edition I’d picked up second hand. A nice ed but with the most horrendous illustrations I have ever seen.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sounds rather quirky and good Madam B, though I think I would have wanted Edmondsson to give him the push too…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Edmondsson is a lot more patient/indulgent than me – I definitely would have given him the push!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This sounds a lot like the Russian novel Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov, about a man who doesn’t want to get out of bed.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sounds interesting! Would you like another person to say it reminds them of Oblomov 😀 (I’ve never heard of it until reading the comments, but now I have several times.)
I did read one today, but I have almost nothing to say about it, so will roll it in with whatever I read tomorrow.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oblomov is firmly on my list now!
I’ll look forward to reading your two in one post 🙂
LikeLike
“…the difficulties he had to contend with were insurmountable since they were linked to incompatibilities of temperament among persons at the same hierarchical level.”
Hahaha, sounds like nearly every job I had! 😉 I love the quotes, but not so sure about the surreal aspects. I wish I had someone who would deal with things while I lived in the bath…
LikeLiked by 1 person
That quote about hierarchies definitely rang true for me too FF! If only we all had an Edmondsson, life would be so much easier 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d read this one just for the title. Lol
LikeLiked by 2 people
As good a reason as any Naomi 😁
LikeLiked by 2 people