A new page opens for Thomas Fersen.
In 2020, lying on his sofa, the singer wrote
“The diary”
of the character that runs through his songs.
Three years later, thanks to the confinements, he made it his very first novel, “in shameless verse”.
God on Earth
, a thunderous title full of promise, appears Thursday, February 9, published by L'Iconoclaste.
"A learning novel in shameless verse, that is to say, written at the back of the class"
, explains to AFP the author-performer, smirking, about his literary monologue of nearly 300 pages.
Sitting in his kitchen populated by
"abandoned things"
, treasures from flea markets and attics, he savors the birth of this youngest.
The title
“enigmatic, opens onto many things, it speaks to everyone's imagination.
We get an idea right away of what we think God is on earth before discovering the discrepancy”
, he laughs.
Often written in octosyllables that make you want to hum, his book tells the story of a boy on the threshold of adulthood.
A nonchalant teenager, he grew up, like Thomas Fersen, in Paris in the 60s and 70s, between Ménilmontant and Pigalle.
In the shadow of a big brother,
God on Earth
who
"is always right... All because Mr. had the tonsils"
.
Read alsoThomas Fersen reopens his bestiary
Family, puberty, romantic encounters, desires, friendships... His thoughts wander between fable, personal mythology and poetic monologue following the rhythm of the author's songs, with minimalist texts yet populated by an abundant imagination that revealed him in the 90s with
Le Bal des Oiseaux
and
Les Ronds de Carotte
.
It all begins with
La vocation
, when a classmate, once the bell has rung and the mistress has left, sings
"a song of obscenities"
,
"without faith or law, written by a virtuoso in the Bellevillois dialect, ending in apotheosis with bogus morality, invented to disobey
.
Jubilatory
The character discovers his vocation,
“that of writing in this language from the back of the class, with this freedom of tone”
, explains Thomas Fersen, quoting the text from memory.
"It's also the idea that I have of freedom, benchmarks and a framework from which we free ourselves
," he says.
"We don't get rid of anything.
For years we have been erasing these landmarks and our rites of passage at the risk of slipping into barbarism
.
He admits having lent
"a large part of (his) memory"
to his character.
But
“it's not an autobiography, he says, because I don't find it interesting.
Nothing is in accordance with the truth”
.
“My sister, (he has no brother unlike the protagonist) who called me a liar when I was little, will confirm that I am still a liar.
My mother wasn't like that at all either, a little, but that's what interests me.
“I often laugh while writing, it's exhilarating.
I rediscovered feelings of youth and a world opened up,”
he adds dreamily.
Read also“It does not rhyme”: Michel Sardou not convinced by a song written by ChatGPT
No nostalgia though.
“The character is always projected forward, he never looks back because that would threaten to discourage him”
.
Just like him, he claims
"a form of unconsciousness, profoundly human"
.
His style is the one he has
"created in (his) songs, for 30 years"
, writing them almost always before the music, because
"we do not shoehorn the French language into pre-existing music"
.
In the dark
The writing took place in her living room,
“very early in the morning, in the dark, on her phone”
.
Before,
“I had pieces of paper that I was losing”
.
“I wrote every day, imposing on myself this constraint of writing in hidden verse, it took me a lot of time.
I worked here, lying down, like my character.
I have always loved this bed where I dreamed when I was a child.
He lies down on a courtesy sofa next to an upright piano, in his house in the popular 20th arrondissement of Paris.
Calm reigns there.
It is nestled at the end of a small courtyard planted with trees and shrubs, where a wisteria sleeps.
His novel gave him the idea for a new show.
From February 23 to March 4 at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris, he will play his character there, telling and singing his story.
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