Octave Mirbeau - Abbé Jules (1888)

I have just finished the second novel by French decadent writer Octave Mirbeau: Abbé Jules (Dedalus translation by Nicoletta Simborowski). In Mirbeau’s first novel, Le Calvaire (1886), his sharp social criticism was already apparent. He successfully presented his world view through his main character’s desire to “learn the human rationale for religions that stupefy, governments that oppress, societies that kill.” 

Unfortunately, Abbé Jules is a much weaker novel. The plot is directionless, so it’s not very interesting. At the same time, the theme is confused. Mirbeau wants to attack the petit bourgeois and church corruption, but all he does is present a gallery of petty and foolish secondary characters. I think the main problem is that neither of the central characters in Abbé Jules provide Mirbeau with an effective way to address his theme. 

As to the title character, Mirbeau certainly conveys Abbé Jules’ history and personality via a long flashback in Part One, Chapter Three (which makes up a significant portion of the novel). However, there is no insight into what we, as readers, are to make of him. He’s an erratic, anti-social person, continues that way when he returns from Paris to provincial France, and changes very little after that. 

Jules neither influences - nor is affected by - the people or society around him. In fact, Jules often exemplifies the corruption and the bourgeois foolishness that Mirbeau is attacking, so he can hardly represent a contrast to it. Even worse, several secondary characters are more sympathetic than Jules.

The other central character, Jules’ young nephew Albert Dervelle, is the novels’ narrator. However, he does not know anything about his Uncle. Without Albert offering insights into his uncle’s character or behavior, his point of view isn’t much help in advancing any theme Mirbeau might have in mind.  

In the end, Mirbeau puts his views into Jules’ mouth as dialogue during last several chapters, which is a very weak means of communicating anything. Given the story does not cogently illustrate Mirbeau’s theme, I wonder why he didn’t write a manifesto rather than a fiction novel. 

Unlike his more thought-provoking novels, Abbé Jules makes Mirbeau come off as a stereotypical anarchist: a sulky gasbag who spits venom because he knows his philosophical castles in the sky will disintegrate the moment they touch ground in reality.