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La Moustache
- Lady Ronit
- Jan 21
- 2 min read
Emmanuel Carrère, 1986
There’s something about this book that makes the reader acutely aware it was written by a screenwriter. The Moustache by Emmanuel Carrère is a story of spiraling obsession, a conflict in a relationship escalating to absurdity, and an implosion that begins within and consumes everything around it. It’s about human happiness devoured until all that’s left is a black hole.
Setting aside the theme of The Moustache, while reading, I couldn’t shake the impression that the psychosis-stricken architect had invested his emotions poorly. Perhaps it’s his illness that distorts the image of Agnès, whom we perceive solely through his eyes, leaving our perspective undeniably, and likely intentionally, impoverished. Despite everything, she emerges as a terrifyingly similar person to me. A madwoman.
Agnès, however, unlike me, is far bolder in her casual relationship with innocent lies. She loves to manipulate—or, perhaps, everything we know about her is a lie, an illusion, merely the imagination of a schizophrenic.
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