The Adversary
Emmanuel Carrère - L'Adversaire (The Adversary)
(based on the Finnish translation)
Jean-Claude Romand is a French impostor who fooled his friends and family for almost two decades. When he felt he faced exposure, he killed his parents, his wife and his children and apparently tried to kill himself but survived.
Emmanuel Carrere began correspondence with Romand in order to write this book (which was the basis of the movie of the same name). Still he calls this book "a novel", probably because he knows he cannot really enter Romand's head. This is still Carrère's point of view.
This tale reminded me of couple of published cases where some men who had just lost their jobs took their whole family with them to the grave. Men whose self-identity appeared to have been so closely linked to their job that they seemed to have wanted to "spare their family the shame" as well. Western version of the honour killings.
Except Romand had no job to lose. He never held a real job, just lived off the money his relatives and friends had given him so he would invest them in Swiss banks, just beyond the border near his hometown in France.
It looks like this is an extreme case of what can happen when somebody goes to extreme lengths to find public approval and acceptance. Romand seems to be a confused person with no real plans. Based on the account, his motive seems to have been fear of failure and fear of disapproval of his own relatives. He got sick every time he would have had to go the exams of his medical school, even if he willingly lend accurate lecture notes to others. Afraid of his parents, afraid of the public disapproval, he hid his failures. He lied so that his family and friends would be proud of his nonexistent success and career in the World Health Organization. And as seems to be case with many impostors, others simply believed him - but in this case they had a reason to believe that they knew him.
How many others there may be, those whose bubble is yet to burst.
Romand looked for other people's approval so fervently that when the façade at least seemed to have on the verge of collapse, he saw no other way out than death. Of himself and others. He did fail when he tried to kill his mistress. He tried to burn himself put he opened the window when the firefighters arrived - the fact that the prosecutor did not fail to mention.
Even after he was exposed, he tried to maintain a respectable façade, to get other people's approval behaving in a "proper manner", even if he confessed. Romand at least claimed to not remember all that happened, probably so others could not blame him for "boasting". In this way he did win some approval, including that of the people who have now forgiven Romand because he has claimed to find (Catholic) religion.
Is it any more real? Is it any different from the time Romand tried to arouse pity by claiming he had cancer?
(based on the Finnish translation)
Jean-Claude Romand is a French impostor who fooled his friends and family for almost two decades. When he felt he faced exposure, he killed his parents, his wife and his children and apparently tried to kill himself but survived.
Emmanuel Carrere began correspondence with Romand in order to write this book (which was the basis of the movie of the same name). Still he calls this book "a novel", probably because he knows he cannot really enter Romand's head. This is still Carrère's point of view.
This tale reminded me of couple of published cases where some men who had just lost their jobs took their whole family with them to the grave. Men whose self-identity appeared to have been so closely linked to their job that they seemed to have wanted to "spare their family the shame" as well. Western version of the honour killings.
Except Romand had no job to lose. He never held a real job, just lived off the money his relatives and friends had given him so he would invest them in Swiss banks, just beyond the border near his hometown in France.
It looks like this is an extreme case of what can happen when somebody goes to extreme lengths to find public approval and acceptance. Romand seems to be a confused person with no real plans. Based on the account, his motive seems to have been fear of failure and fear of disapproval of his own relatives. He got sick every time he would have had to go the exams of his medical school, even if he willingly lend accurate lecture notes to others. Afraid of his parents, afraid of the public disapproval, he hid his failures. He lied so that his family and friends would be proud of his nonexistent success and career in the World Health Organization. And as seems to be case with many impostors, others simply believed him - but in this case they had a reason to believe that they knew him.
How many others there may be, those whose bubble is yet to burst.
Romand looked for other people's approval so fervently that when the façade at least seemed to have on the verge of collapse, he saw no other way out than death. Of himself and others. He did fail when he tried to kill his mistress. He tried to burn himself put he opened the window when the firefighters arrived - the fact that the prosecutor did not fail to mention.
Even after he was exposed, he tried to maintain a respectable façade, to get other people's approval behaving in a "proper manner", even if he confessed. Romand at least claimed to not remember all that happened, probably so others could not blame him for "boasting". In this way he did win some approval, including that of the people who have now forgiven Romand because he has claimed to find (Catholic) religion.
Is it any more real? Is it any different from the time Romand tried to arouse pity by claiming he had cancer?