Laurent Binet, author of HHhH, had a lot to say about the local setting of his succesful Goncourt-winning debut novel which recounts the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich carried out by two Czech paratroppers during WWII. About the documentary aspect of his novel and whether it will be an ongoing characteristic of his work, Binet replied that his second novel, which he is working on now, will play with the same ambiguity of the fictional and the real, but this time leaning more towards the fictional side.
Binet was also asked about being invited to dine with French President Nicholas Sarkozy and replied that it was true, but he declined the invitation. The invitation from the professed admirer of HHhH came during what the press referred to as Sarkozy’s “Gypsy crackdown,” when hundreds of Romany migrants were deported from France back to Romania in spite of widespread protests.
“He said he read the book but I really wonder whether he understood any of it,” Binet said.
The same day Binet appeared at the Prague book fair, Friday the 13th, HHhH was named to the shortlist of the European Literature prize. For the full list see Chad Post’s update at Three Percent.
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