On the Novel by Claude Simon. Appendix: C. Simon, “The Invitation”

The publication includes the translator’s preface and the translation from French of the novel “The Invitation” (“L’Invitation”, 1987) by the 1985 Nobel Laureate Claude Simon. Simon’s novel was written after his trip to the USSR as one of the 18 invited representatives of the international creative intelligentsia at the Issyk-Kul Forum. Simon is a prominent representative of the Nouveau Roman, which has gained a central place in postwar French literature. The novel recreates the atmosphere of the Soviet Era of Stagnation with glimmers of hope for change. Written in the most impersonal manner, without mentioning names, the novel is nevertheless full of detailed descriptions, allowing the author to convey the impressions of the meeting with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev, from visiting the Kremlin and its sights, from the majestic nature of Kyrgyzstan, which opposes the human vanity in the novel. Simon also touches on the topic of the relationship between East and West. He creates a symbolic image of Europe and Asia as Siamese twins who share a common body, but who will never really see each other.