On Tuesday, October 26, at the beginning of the afternoon, the Goncourt academy gave the name of its four finalists.
They are Christine Angot for
Le Voyage dans l'Est
(Flammarion), Sorj Chalandon for
Enfant de salaud
(Grasset), Louis-Philippe Dalembert for
Milwaukee Blues
(Sabine Wespieser) and Mohamed Mbougar Sarr for
The Most Secret Memory of Men
, (Philippe Rey / Jimsaan).
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The winner of the 2021 Goncourt Prize is among them.
We can even advance by writing that it is probable that the prize will be awarded to one of the three men: for Christine Angot has just been awarded the Medici prize, and it is customary, without this being a rule engraved in marble, that one does not crown the same novel twice - it is also so that the bookstore can offer the most books with the famous red banner ...
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Clara Dupont-Monod, with her novel
S'adapter
(Stock) could claim to be one of the four finalists, but Monday, October 25, she was fortunate to be awarded the Femina prize, hence, no doubt, the fact that 'she does not appear in this final selection.
The balance between large publishing houses (Grasset and Flammarion) and small (Sabine Wespieser and Philippe Rey in co-publishing with Jimsaan, publisher based in Dakar) is respected.
Note that these four finalist authors have been or are still part of several selections for the grand prix fall, the palm going to Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, who all the juries have snatched.
He and Dalembert remain in the race for the Renaudot, proclaimed one minute after the Goncourt.
So who will succeed Hervé Le Tellier, and his phenomenal novel
L'Anomalie
(Gallimard), which has sold more than a million copies?
Verdict on Wednesday November 3 at 12:45 p.m. at the Drouant restaurant in Paris.
