Missing Person

Hello Gentle Reader

Identity is defined, by the fields of study of: Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology, and Psychology, as: the conception, qualities, beliefs, and expressions, which make an individual.  The concept of identity is a highly stylized theme in literature. The nature of identity has been dealt with by with countless, authors in different ways; such as: the concept of creating a new identity, possessing a new identity, or ridding oneself of their own identity. Perhaps one of the most notorious characters, for continually shifting into a new identity is Patricia Highsmith’s own, chameleon Tom Ripley. Tom Ripley is first introduced in Highsmith’s greatest and most well-known novel: “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” where he kills and takes the identity of the errant heir of a wealthy family: Rickie Greenleaf. Throughout the novel, Ripley is shown emulating Greenleaf’s mannerisms, and even dressing in his clothes. Other such writers to presume the identity of another individual would include Orhan Pamuk in his post-modern existentialist mystery novel: “The Black Book,” where the lawyer of the novel Galip one day finds his wife, Rüya, missing. Galip has the inclination, that she has taken residence with her half-brother, Celal, a columnist whose columns are literary lengthy meditations on the city of Istanbul and its history. Soon Galip finds himself wearing Celal’s clothes and writing his columns, and taking the identity of Celal. Both novels, showcase two characters: Tom Ripley and Galip, as two individuals who are disillusioned with their lives, and subsequently their identities. Both of these individuals would soon take the guise of other individuals to compensate their own impassioned lives, and disillusionments. Patrick Modiano however, goes in the opposite direction with his novel “Missing Person.” Guy Roland is a private investigator, with no knowledge of who he is or who he was, in the preceding decade. The novel traces Roland’s attempts to rediscover his identity.

Patrick Modiano is one of those splendid obscure writers. His Nobel win was a shock, and a delight. He is not a self-absorbed avant-garde writer, writing in the tradition of the nouveau roman, like an earlier J.M.G Le Clezio, or Claude Simon. Rather, Modiano’s style was straightforward, but evasive, and always brings to mind a rather monochrome world, where the white of light only breeds greater shadows. Modiano’s clear writing style is deceptive, with his themes. Patrick Modiano is known for his continual exploration of the past, often leading to the comparison to Marcel Proust, who also traced and retraced concepts of memory in his famous (and lengthy novel) “In Search of Lost Time,” or “In Remembrance of Things Past.” The art of memory however is the only concept that the two writers have in common, as a prevalent theme.  How the two writers, go about the discussion of theme, is entirely different. Proust used convoluted sentences, flowery prose, and modernist techniques in his novel. Modiano on the contrary, is lucid and straightforward – but by no means simplistic. Despite the approachable writing style, Modiano’s deliverance and treatment of his themes are more complex. The writer uses red-herrings, clues, dead ends, and a shifting perception of the past to usurp the concept of time. In doing so, Modiano distills time and memory into varying ethereal essences of mourning and nostalgia. Yet another layer of a greater national concept often becomes prevalent in Modiano’s work. The French Occupation, and the collaborative spirit of France of the time, complete with its black market, gangsters, and shadowy business man. The French Occupation is more personal for Patrick Modiano as a theme, then a literary device or a historical time period, in which he chooses to set his novels; rather for Modiano it’s a personal blight on his past. Modiano was born near the end of the Second World War, and his father was a business man known for his black market connections, and collaboration with the occupying forces. For Patrick Modiano the dark history of the French Occupation is the greater metaphor of the alienation, identity crisis, and amnesia or lapses in memory in which his characters find, have caused them to become silent, forgetful or alienated from the greater society as a whole. But for Modiano it is a personal exorcism, to try and purge the remnants of the crimes which have plagued his conscious despite, not being an active participant in those criminal activities.

One of Patrick Modiano’s hallmark literary devices is his characters are often in search of one another; from a long lost lover, to an individual from the past. But with “Missing Person,” Guy Roland is in search of himself, and best describes his predicament as such:

“I am nothing. Nothing but a pale shape, silhouetted that evening against the cafe terrace, waiting for the rain to stop.”

Thankfully for Guy Roland, he is a private investigator and his former partner, now retired, has left him a personal cache, of phonebooks, year books, itineraries, maps, and all other tricks and tools of the trade, in which Guy Roland is expected to utilize in order to piece together his former life, and hopefully recover from the dark recesses of his mind, his identity. What follows is an introspective novel, full of red-herrings, questionable people and characters, run down homes, forgotten landscapes, and stories of an ambiguous past, that maybe Roland’s.   

This is not a new theme for Patrick Modiano. His novels are continually rehashing the concepts and themes of memory, mixed with the self which either refuses to acknowledge the memory, or tries to unearth the reasons behind the memory. In his novels, we chase after young lovers; we attempt to find out why a suicide took place; we attempt to rebuild childhood idylls blown apart, by some force that was then unknowable. Yet eventually is served up via the novels of Modiano is a cartographers dissertation of the emotional distances, that the narrator finds himself from the shadow in which he chases; and all around him is the changing scenery of Paris and the scent of time.

“The sand holds the traces of our footsteps but a few moments.”

For Guy Roland, the identities in which he is given are all tried on; like suits or clothes in a department store, catering to those who wish to reinvent themselves, via the personas and lives of another individual. Yet as Roland tries each suit on, he finds none quite fit right. One is too tight in the torso; another, the shoulders don’t quite fit right; while another, the legs of the pants need to be brought down. Yet thankfully, chance encounters breed chance possibilities and plausible memories. Though these people encountered, know themselves through the amnesiacs questions, and their thought of who he reminds them of, are peripheral and therefore without clear purview context, the possibilities and plausibility’s of having an identity and a life again, outweigh the pale present, where Roland is nothing but a silhouette in chase of a thread of light through the shadowed streets. Though in time, a memory is born for Roland, and soon the thoughts of who he was, or who he is becoming, begin to become more tangible, and he seeks out more characters in which to pose his questions to.

Despite its detective novel noir like style, Modiano’s “Missing Person,” is not a typical detective novel. The clues, the evidence in which Guy Roland stumbles across, are all fragmentary, and very unreliable. Yet what follows suit, is Modiano’s sophisticated no frills style of writing, complete with its melancholic rhythmic flow. What follows suit is a novel of attempting to piece back together a life, that has since been wiped clean, with no clues to go off, and unreliable witnesses, cohorts, and possible friends; and theories of what had happened. “Missing Person,” is herald as Modiano’s masterpiece; in the novel Modiano proves that identity is elusive and ethereal, and its essence cannot be compiled by simple name, address, telephone number, birth date and year – that it compiles all the memories and experiences that an individual has accumulated over their years. Which is what makes Modiano’s amnesiac detective so admirable is that despite the loss of his life, his memories, and his identity he continues his quest to grasp it all again. In doing so, hopefully Guy Roland can compensate and rectify the past, with the future.

Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader

Take Care

And As Always

Stay Well Read

M. Mary