The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Hecate and Vagadu by Pierre Jean Jouve
Susan Ireland

Pierre Jean Jouve. Hecate and Vagadu. Trans. Lydia Davis. Marlboro/Northwestern Univ. Press, 1997. 145 and 175 pp. $24.95 each.

Known primarily as a poet and essayist, Pierre Jean Jouve (1887-1976) wrote his only novels between 1925 and 1935. In Hecate and Vagadu Catherine Crachat, a Parisian actress, struggles against violent impulses and fears in order to find unity and meaning in her life. Torn between the twin forces of Eros and Thanatos and surrounded by darkness and shadows like her mythological counterpart Hecate, Catherine brings pain and destruction to herself and others. The first book of her adventures, a haunting tale of desire, hatred, and yearning for spirituality is built around the stormy triangular relationship between Catherine, her lover Pierre Indemini, and the diabolic Baroness Fanny Felicitas Hohenstein. The fragmented, intertwined stories of these three captivating characters draw the reader into the novel, just as Catherine and Pierre are pulled into the destructive web spun by Fanny, whose vitality and unbridled eroticism provide a counterweight to Catherine’s strong sense of shame and guilt. As the downward spiral of events approaches its tragic end, the search for redemption intensifies, and Pierre and Catherine strive to transform their desire for each other into a transcendent form of love based on renunciation.
The story takes on a more overtly Freudian slant in Vagadu. Here, Catherine achieves liberating self-knowledge through psychoanalysis, and the obsessively recurring symbols of her troubled inner world powerfully convey her fight against her private demons. In particular, the use of doubles and surreal dream sequences gives the novel a strange hallucinatory quality, as figures from Catherine’s past return to haunt her.
The two novels provide a fascinating picture of a woman’s struggle against the forces of darkness. While the gripping intensity of the path to destruction in Hecate may appeal more to some readers, Vagadu is of particular interest as a fictional exploration of Freud’s theories of the unconscious. [Susan Ireland]


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The Review of Contemporary Fiction Hecate and Vagadu by Pierre Jean Jouve Susan Ireland Pierre Jean Jouve. Hecate and Vagadu. Trans. Lydia Davis. Marlboro/Northwestern Univ. Press, 1997. 145 and 175 pp. $24.95 each. Known primarily as a poet and essayist, Pierre Jean Jouve (1887-1976) wrote his only novels between 1925 and 1935. In Hecate and Vagadu Catherine Crachat, a Parisian actress, struggles against violent impulses and fears in order to find unity and meaning in her life. Torn between the twin forces of Eros and Thanatos and surrounded by darkness and shadows like her mythological counterpart Hecate, Catherine brings pain and destruction to herself and others. The first book of her adventures, a haunting tale of desire, hatred, and yearning for spirituality is built around the stormy triangular relationship between Catherine, her lover Pierre Indemini, and the diabolic Baroness Fanny Felicitas Hohenstein. The fragmented, intertwined stories of these three captivating characters draw the reader into the novel, just as Catherine and Pierre are pulled into the destructive web spun by Fanny, whose vitality and unbridled eroticism provide a counterweight to Catherine’s strong sense of shame and guilt. As the downward spiral of events approaches its tragic end, the search for redemption intensifies, and Pierre and Catherine strive to transform their desire for each other into a transcendent form of love based on renunciation. The story takes on a more overtly Freudian slant in Vagadu. Here, Catherine achieves liberating self-knowledge through psychoanalysis, and the obsessively recurring symbols of her troubled inner world powerfully convey her fight against her private demons. In particular, the use of doubles and surreal dream sequences gives the novel a strange hallucinatory quality, as figures from Catherine’s past return to haunt her. The two novels provide a fascinating picture of a woman’s struggle against the forces of darkness. While the gripping intensity of the path to destruction in Hecate may appeal more to some readers, Vagadu is of particular interest as a fictional exploration of Freud’s theories of the unconscious. [Susan Ireland]

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