Recommend: Yes
The Pigeon was the second novel borrowed (pilfered?) from Cait during our trip to Laos. It was selected primarily as it was small and therefore light to carry around in a backpack all day. On this basis I can confirm it is an engaging holiday read.
The book deals with Jonathan a middle aged man, living by himself in a small apartment in Paris who diligently carries out his duties as a bank security guard. He understands his purpose in society, likening his job to a Sphinx. “He functioned not by some deed, but by his mere bodily presence“.
Jonathan lives a life of monotonous routine that he seems to find a simple satisfaction in. This is seemingly upended by the titular pigeon in the corridor of his apartment building one morning. The pigeon is engaging in this role due to its sheer banality. It is only present in a few pages and does nothing other than sit there in the corridor. Its presence confronts something in Jonathan at a primal level and he spirals over the course of the day, unable to recover himself. “Whatever came within his field of Vision Joanthan coated with the vile patina of his hate“.
Similar to Süskind’s other novel, Perfume as Jonathan stands on the bank steps he grows increasingly stressed and disgusted with society around him. This seemingly triggered by the innocuous Pigeon encounter that morning. The book is more tightly scoped than Perfume and limits itself to a single day only. The ending abruptly reinforcing the mundaneness of the event that started everything.
I’m not fully sure what Süskind what attempting to convey with this novella. In a modern context there would be discussions about people isolating themselves from society and radicalising themselves through rage, but I don’t believe that is the main conceit. I feel like it is more concerned with the structure of society being only an ephemeral bulwark against uglier things. The pigeon shatters that facade for a brief moment. Without any other avenues such as family or friends to recover his sensibilities, he walks along a precipice. Similar to Wake in Fright, this novella does an excellent job of portraying the fragility of someone’s place in the modern world, but from a very different perspective.
Novellas under 100 pages are always easy to recommend. You can get so much out of them, but don’t need to worry about commitment. They never ourstay their welcome and can make a simple and effective point in an engaging manner. The Pigeon is a great example of this and is easy to recommend.
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