The Horseman on the Roof

This book is about death or, rather, life in death. Never did the lines from the English Book of Common Prayer, "In the midst of life, we are in death." reverberate so strongly for me as in the reading of this novel. Everywhere our Romantic (in the true sense of the word) Angelo meanders throughout this meandering book people drop dead of the Cholera. Families toss their loved ones out the window to be picked up on the streets. Angelo is chatting with a fellow one minute and the next the fellow begins vomiting, develops the tell-tale signs of cyanosis and - after a few writhings and contortions - expires. Only Angelo himself seems immune----because, well, his name is Angelo. The best parts of the book are the hallucinatory landscapes through which Angelo passes after he crosses a certain border in his own inner landscape: "When the boundaries between the real and unreal disappear and one can pass freely from one side to the other, one's first feeling, unexpectedly, is that the prison has contracted." The prison of the world, of course. Here is a brief, random example that Giono seems to be able to conjure out of nowhere in the midst of a pleasant walk through the countryside: "The glints of reddened light stretched out until they were like those strands of pale hair that certain spiders hang on the wind, and before disappearing, they wrapped themselves one last time around the naked branches of the trees from which, thread by thread and cautiously, they were picked off by the still-burning shadows. The west was sighing with regret." The novel works best as a sort of allegory - I was reminded several times of Pilgrim's Progress - in which the short time we have on this Earth is dreadfully accentuated and in which Angelo stalks through an almost medieval landscape of representative characters. My only problem with the book is that, in the 15 years that it took Giono to write it, he seems to have lost track of certain narrative threads. This gives the book a stylistically disjointed feel. Thus, only four stars. But, still, highly recommended. The book casts a cold eye on human life, human values, human affections in this world where, as Angelo puts it to himself: "Only the cholera is genuine."

I don't know if the author meant for the protagonist's name (Angelo) to be symbolic, but the young man is indeed an angelic figure. He is made of flesh, just like the rest of the people around him, but he is involnerable to the infection. First he is an angel of compassion to the victims of the epidemic. Later on he becomes a guardian angel to Pauline. And yet all this time he is very matter-of-factly about his self-sacrifice. He expects no gratitude, no retribution. I want to believe that there are still people like him in this world.

I picked this book up, not having any idea of what to expect. It sucked me in from the very first page with its very strange mood. The beginning describes a summer in the south of France in the mid-19th century in a way that makes you feel strangely ill at ease. Into this the main character comes riding, when suddenly a cholera epidemic breaks out around him. Society comes completely apart and the rest of the book is about his battle for survival in the resulting chaos.I read the book without breaks, simply because I found it impossible to put down. By the time I had finished it it was 0500 at night and I was exhausted. (What this other reviewer was thinking, who felt it wouldn't deprive you of sleep I can't imagine.) The imagery and the story is harsh and horrible, and yet deeply invigorating and rewarding because while the author is depicting a society coming apart under the pressure of the plague he is also describing how individuals can resist that pressure.I thought this a work of great subtlety (you'll have to read it many times to catch all of it), fantastic atmosphere, and unusual drive. Rarely have I found a book to be this gripping and at the same time so well-written.If you get the impression I am struggling to express how good I think it was you've understood.

I loved the film version of Horseman on the Roof but the book definitely leaves something to be desired. If I didn't have such a soft spot in my heart for Giono, I would have only given it three stars.The Horseman on the Roof is the story of Angelo Pardi, a young Italian who is making his way across the French countryside to his home in Italy during the cholera epidemic. Unfortunately, the book lacks a cohesive storyline and Angelo simply meanders from one village to another, encountering first one cholera victim, then another.While The Horseman on the Roof isn't strong on plot and certainly won't keep you up at night turning pages, it does contain gorgeous descriptions of Provence. Giono's descriptive writing is the equivalent of a full-course gourmet meal and anyone interested in the south of France, especially during this period in history, will find the book fascinating reading.There really isn't a story here, so perhaps the book doesn't deserve the four stars I gave it, but Giono's prose, however, is so lush and beautiful I couldn't justify giving it any number fewer.If you love gorgeous prose, France or are interested in the cholera epidemic, by all means, read this book. Others will no doubt find the film more engrossing as I did.

Through the adventures and thoughts of Anglelo, we come to see the nuances that make up life, and the ideals that compel people to act. Set against the picturesque Provence countryside described by master storyteller Giono the events come alive and we understand the motivation of each person and see ourselves, our lives, within the characters. An adventure, a love story, a travelogue, insight into people's characters make this one of the best books ever written