Marbo, Francis, Monnet, Privat, Bellocq, Pinguet, Dniaye, Sembrun

Well, I'm done my list, and what I've learned is primarily what sort of thing the juries are looking for. Most of these novels had great starts, unusual, gripping, right in the middle of the action. They are also usually more clever than good to read. I read Marbo's La Statue voilee, Francis' Bateau-refuge, Monnet's Chemin du soleil, a pastoral in patois, Privat's Au pied du mur, a war-prisoner novel told in flashback, Bellocq's La porte retombee, a good conceit but a bad novel, about closing up a house after the death of a family. I also read Pinguet's Quelqu'un, Dniaye's Rosie Carpe, a novel about a Caribbean woman. Sembrun's La deuxieme mort de Ramon Mercarder was a spy novel. Since Monesi, nothing gripped me.