The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman

This book instantly brought to mind "Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch," a picture book I read as a child about a boring old man who feels all alone. He eats lunch alone everyday on his lunch break from his work at the shoelace factory (an image that always brought to mind Homer Simpson at the nuclear power plant) and he never receives any Valentines. After he receives one by accident, his entire world change.

While the Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman is not exactly like "Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch," the novel is about a postman whose life is changed irrevocably by a series of letters he comes to have by not so legal means. While descriptions place it in the realm of Julian Barnes and Haruki Murakami, the book more closely reminded me of the movie Amelie, with a tough of Martin Page and Cyrano de Bergerac (although I did get glimpses of Murakami in the poetry, the weird descriptions of women, and the ending).

This quick read is a quirky jaunt through the streets of Quebec (although i mistakenly thought we were in Paris for most of the book) that delivers a wholly original tale.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. The idea is lovely, and Bilodo's loneliness is a beast. The writing is beautiful, the haikus lovely but I sometimes felt a cold disconnect, which is strange with such emotional writing. It certainly didn't change my enjoyment of the story, and I was captivated. It is, much like the title, peculiar. I think that it's poetic and lovely, but isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. Deception for love isn't a new theme, and you can't help but understand why Bilodo's desires force him to scheme. It's tender, funny and terrible all at once. I have a soft spot for strange and the novel is a strange experience.

http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-peculiar-life-of-lonely-postman.html

The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Theriault translated by Liedewy Hawke Hesperus Press: 1/1/2015 eBook, 128 pages ISBN-13: 9781843915362

A beautifully tragic and thought-provoking tale that perfectly reflects the elegance and style of Murakami and the skill and plotting of Julian Barnes

Bilodo lives a solitary daily life, routinely completing his postal rounds every day and returning to his empty Montreal apartment. But he has found a way to break the cycle—Bilodo has taken to stealing people's mail, steaming open the envelopes, and reading the letters inside. And so it is he comes across Ségolène's letters. She is corresponding with Gaston, a master poet, and their letters are each composed of only three lines. They are writing each other haikus. The simplicity and elegance of their poems move Bilado and he begins to fall in love with her. But one day, out on his round, he witnesses a terrible and tragic accident. Just as Gaston is walking up to the post-box to mail his next haiku to Ségolène, he is hit by a car and dies on the side of the road. And so Bilodo makes an extraordinary decision—he will impersonate Gaston and continue to write to Ségolène under this guise. But how long can the deception continue for? Denis Thériault weaves a passionate and elegant tale, comic and tragic with a love story at its heart.
My Thoughts:
The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Theriault is a highly recommended beautifully written novella.

Bilodo is a lonely postman in Montreal who does his job well and without complaint because he has found a way to make his life meaningful. You see, "Bilodo was an inquisitive postman." His inquisitive nature leads him to carefully taking home, steaming open, and reading a letter a day from the people on his route. He is a postman who has found meaning to his life through the lives of others. He is especially taken with the correspondence of Ségolènea, a Guadeloupian woman who is sending haikus to a man on his route, Grandpré.

Bilodo find the haiku beautiful and moving. He is obsessed with Ségolène and each of her delicate, lovely haikus. He makes copies of each poem and savors them, in love with the words and also the writer. When Bilodo witnesses an accident and Grandpré death, he tries to take over the man's life and begins to write his own haiku, awkwardly at first, but later with more skill and finesse.

This is a delicate, lovely tale about the nature of loneliness, obsession, and the beauty and order of writing haiku. Since it is a short novella much of the focus is on the haiku rather than detailed character development. The ending was perfect for this elegant story, totally unexpected, and... enlightening.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Hesperus Press for review purposes.

It started slow and built up as it went in a beautiful way. While I wasn't sure at first how much I liked Bilodo as a person, by the end of the tale I was thoroughly engrossed in his mind and heart.

Review will be posted on http://www.macaronsandpaperbacks.com, Amazon, and Goodreads on 1/10/15

Thoughts:

From the moment I saw this book cover I knew that The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman was going to be an interesting novel. It’s a very short book (you can easily read it from cover to cover in one sitting) and I often prefer shorter works because everything is condensed. It’s like a can of soup before you add water to it; the flavor is more intense, the mixture is thicker, and you can’t see straight to the bottom of it until it’s been diluted. Thériault’s novel is like that. Every scene is important and each sentence is filled with beautiful thoughts that can’t be fully realized until you’ve read through the very last page.

The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman is a beautifully told story about a very awkward and idealistic postman who lives vicariously through the letters he steals. At first I was hesitant about trusting Bilodo as a narrator. Not only does he steal and read people’s mail, he makes copies of his favorite letters and he’s even fallen in love with one of the writers. However, Bilodo is not a stalker and after a while I realized he isn’t even dangerous; he’s just peculiar. As the novel progresses, Bilodo’s lonely life becomes more and more suspenseful. I felt such a wide range of emotions while reading this book: thrill, confusion, anger, fear, sadness, and even embarrassment.

Although the novel inflicts suspense on the reader, it is not plot-driven. For me, the book became more intense and more suspenseful as Bilodo slowly and irreversibly loses his identity and becomes more detached from society. The deep themes and character development in this novel are what really made me enjoy the book.

Read This Book If…:

…you enjoy poetry (many conversations in this book are told through haiku).
…you like the challenge of reading a book with an unreliable and even unlikable narrator.
…you love short, yet intense and powerful novels.
…you’re a fan of cross-cultural literature (The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman focuses on the languages and cultures of French Canada, Japan, and Guadeloupe).
…you’re longing for a book that speaks to you about love, life, and identity.

Final Musings:

Even though some people might be “creeped out” by Bilodo, I set those feelings aside so I could better focus on the major themes of the novel. The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman tells the beautifully tragic story of an overly idealistic man. Several instances in this novel made me reflect inwardly about the dangers of being too idealistic, but at the same time the novel as a whole reminded me of the importance of having dreams and wishes. At the end of the novel there is a Q&A with the author, and this is how he described the story of Bilodo:

“In my view, it is an intimist tale on the themes of loneliness, dreams, and imagination.” – Denis Thériault

I highly recommend this book to mature readers looking for a character- or theme-driven novel. Warning: there are one or two chapters with sexual imagery, which is why I say “mature” readers, but this imagery is depicted through the use of haiku, and it’s not necessarily crude.

Quick and easy read that was a delight to read. Unexpected in some ways, but completely loved overall.