A scientific smoky of the future, whose name Marnix, theorized and applied the principle of quandoquité, which allows the anionic reversibility. What then is this concept? : It is what allows transplants from one era to another. Indeed, theories of this brilliant scientist came to the conclusion that Time is only a relative and given that it comes from moving in time to go to the -0 +0 time. And, thanks to the anionic reversible! Everyone follows? No? This is normal! On this grotesque frame, to caricature the futuristic novels, Amélie Nothomb has fun with the genre by magnifying effects. She poses as the victim of a conspiracy aimed at preserving the centuries a splendid site: Pompeii. A scientist Celsius name takes up theories Marnix and is used to program the eruption of Vesuvius 24 août 79 to 2501 years apart, in 2580. But our heroine-victim senses that this eruption would be the result of a coup to destroy the most prosperous town in Campania. For this reason Celsius, who knew a transcript of his at the time, decided to seize Amelia to prevent all fuck up. It was there that began a long dialogue between the two protagonists, in which she learns what are the real intentions of Celsius; the waste of energy in previous centuries led to a general impoverishment of the planet; 50 billion people were decimated during the XXII century, wiping the surface of the world, and the Rose of the Winds, the South (ie, the poor); that the world is now divided into two areas: in the west the Ponant, the Levant in the east; that it is governed by the most intelligent people who are (whose IQ exceeds 140) and a great leader, called the Tyrant. Amélie learns that the world of the future eliminates all that is ugly, annoying and admits that at Nice, the playful, satiating everyone to their will. The problem is that, little by little, the grotesque gives way to a more serious and rather Manichean discourse, making leaders of century XXVI absolute monsters, without humanity as the world of the late twentieth century finally appear more human to author's eyes. Certainly, she is well aware of the faults of the current system and its limitations. But, I can not help but find some developments simplified to the extreme. Hence my frustration! Yet some are subtle nuances of speech and some legitimate criticisms (outrageous materialism, well ahead spirituality, which disappears in favor of fun). However, the will of a powerful dialogue (and sometimes redundant) tends to lessen the impact. The ending is happier for fun (what thought Celsius this long verbal sparring; the conclusion of the novel, where Amélie claims that this story is real and that no one believes) it remains that this book leaves an aftertaste of unfinished!
