Is it possible for a bleak existential novel to grip a reader so tight one eagerly reads on, held in suspense until the very last sentence? Turning the pages of Pascal Garnier's The Panda Theory, I can assure you, the answer is an emphatic "yes."
The Panda Theory most certainly is an existential novel probing the depths of despair, alienation, anguish, torment every bit as deeply as two prime classics of existentialism: The Plague by Albert Camus and Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre.
And Pascal Garnier adds an element mostly absent from those Camus and Sartre novels: black humor. For example, during his first days walking the streets in an unnamed, nondescript town in Brittany, main character Gabriel recalls a pair of past episodes:
Friend Roland groans and wails over his wife leaving with the kids since she hated chickens (Roland set up a family farm with ten thousand chickens). Roland points out the window and tells Gabriel, "They delivered the frame for the swing this morning. If you only knew how many times I've dreamt of the kids playing on the swing. Their laughter . . . Why didn't she tell me sooner that she didn't like chickens?" Two days later Gabriel hears Roland hanged himself from the swing frame.
You gotta hand it to the manufacturer - they made a sturdy swing frame! Apologies for my own black humor but clicking into Pascal Garnier's storytelling vibe, I can't help myself.
Friend Mathieu was always infatuated with his wife right up to the day of her death. His grief drove him to madness. His wife accidentally locked herself in a Louis-Philippe wardrobe and suffocated. In his grief, Mathieu blamed the wardrobe and vowed to eat the diabolical piece of furniture bit by bit until it was all gone. It took him two years to finish one door. "You know what, Gabriel, it's the fittings that are the problem. The wood itself is fine. It's the fittings that slow me down. That's what's annoying about a Louis-Philippe."
If anyone can top that for black humor, please let me know.
Pascal Garnier told an interviewer: “A good author is one who cannot be seen. It’s his characters that matter.”
The author's statement is spot-on for The Panda Theory. We follow Gabriel in his sojourn through town, meeting and interacting with various women, men and children, including the receptionist at the hotel where he's staying. "The receptionist was called Madeleine, or so the pendant round her neck informed him. She wasn't beautiful, but not ugly either. Somewhere between the two. And very dark-haired; there was a hint of a moustache on her upper lip."
In true existential spirit, a few telling Pascal Garnier scorching, blistering strokes and we witness the novel's characters ride Fortuna's wheel, rising to rare ecstatic highs, plunging to frequent agonizing lows. "José smashed his fist against the steering wheel. The car swerved. A red lorry coming the other way veered out of their path in a cacophony of beeping. José pulled over and collapsed over the steering wheel, his back shaking with sobs."
Why is Gabriel staying in this Brittany town in the first place? We're given only indirect glimmers. What does he want from those around him? Again, a smattering of clues are provided but it is mostly left to the reader to fill in the gaps. And why is Gabriel consistently polite and accommodating?
Above all, who is Gabriel? Pascal Garnier proves himself master of the craft, interspersing Gabriel's backstory in spaces between ongoing events and conversations. One telling instance: Gabriel crosses the bridge, walks to the outskirts of town, comes upon a funfair complete with merry-go-round, food stalls and a shooting gallery.
Gabriel shoulders a rife at the shooting gallery. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, Bullseye five times over. The gal at the stall shouts, "Well done. You're a fine shot, sir!" Ha! I bet he is. It wouldn't surprise me if Gabriel served a stint as a special forces marksman in Iraq or Afghanistan. Gabriel reluctantly carries away his prize: a giant stuffed Panda Bear.
We come to the final third of the novel and The Panda Theory makes a radical shift to crime thriller. Who dies and who lives? We're held on the edge right up til the final paragraph.
So, what's the theory of Panda Theory? I have my own interpretation. I urge you to pick up this short, intense novel and take a stab yourself. As a teaser, I'll conclude with a panda quote:
"For the panda everything was for the best in the best of all possible worlds. It was as happy to see the two men return as it had been to see them leave. It's only trick was to keep its arms open. It held nothing and retained nothing. Take it or leave it, it was all the same to him."
Relaxing in her apartment, recounting hours spent in the water, Madeleine tells Gabriel, "I'll swim anywhere, in lakes, rivers or the sea. Ever since I was little I've loved the sea. I was never scared of it. To be honest I feel more at home in the sea than on dry land."
French novelist Pascal Garnier, 1949-2010
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