Golden Droplet

by Michel Tournier

221pages. 17,4x10,8x1,8cm. Poche. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385237596
• ISBN13: 9780385237598
• Release Date: September 1987
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Charming and thought-provoking

The Golden Droplet follows the adventures of young Berber shepherd who goes to Paris, in search of his photograph. Unlike Tournier's The Ogre, this novel does not deal with heavy themes as the holocaust or pedophilia. The recurring theme is the exploration of the meaning and effect of representational art. Some passages on Oum Kalthoum and Arabic calligraphy are purely informative. There are also some interludes in the form of tales of ancient times. Clocking in at just around 200 pages, The Golden Droplet is none the less profound for its brevity.

The Golden Droplet

This was the first of Michel Tournier's book that I had read in translation and not in the original French, but I was not disappointed. Tournier has the capacity to relate closely to the cultures in which his stories are set and to describe in a very believable way the reactions of his characters when they move from one culture to another. This is the story of a young boy whose fortunes take him from his native North Africa to the streets of Paris. Prepare for culture shock: if you have only ever taken a tour bus round that great city, imagine this young lad leading a camel through the streets at night looking for a slaughterhouse (in the end the animal has a pleasanter fate!). The Golden Droplet in the title is a jewel that the lad tries to hold onto and in some ways it decides the direction of his fate. I loved this book. I hope others will find it and read it, or better BUY IT here.