arkhaine's Full Review: Alphonse Daudet - Tartarin De Tarascon
Tartarin de Tarascon is a novel heavily inspired by Cervantes' masterpiece, Don Quixote. Tartarin, the hero of the novel, is as fuddled and as charmed as the great Don, though his adventures are necessarily less, being but a pale shadow of the true hero's.
Tartarin is the great hero of the small town of Tarascon. A popular sport where he lives is hunting, though unfortunately there are no wild animals left to shoot and kill. So, the men of Tarascon devise a new method for showing off their hunting prowess - they hunt each others hats. Every Sunday, without fail, they gather in a clear field and throw their hats in the air, for shooting. The man with the most holes in his hat is proclaimed the winner and, because he is as wonderful at shooting as he is at everything else, Tartarin is always the winner. Daudet allows that the hat industry in Tarascon makes a brisk trade.
We are shown the hobbies and quirks of Tarascon, always through the skewed vision of Tarascon. In every aspect, he is the man about town, a hero without an adventure, a winner without a challenge. Daudet is quite witty in his attack on the small-mindedness of some townsfolk, with the initial twenty pages or so of the novel proving quite hilarious. Tartarin is so revered about town that the stevedores on the quay declare he has 'double muscles', whatever they are. The narrator hastens to assure that he does not know the meaning of that confusing term.
So far so good. We are introduced to an appealing hero, a befuddled, Quixotic Tartarin. Indeed, the novel goes so far in its mimicry of Don Quixote that Tartarin is even referred to as 'Tartarin-Quixote' and 'Tartarin-Sancho', depending on his behaviour and actions. Daudet makes it clear that his work is a homage to that great Spanish novel, not a replacement. Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine that Tartarin de Tarascon could exist as a novel, without Don Quixote for inspiration.
Soon, of course, Tartarin becomes dissatisfied with his exploits in Tarascon. He desires greater challenges with larger rewards. 'The fact is that for an heroic nature such as his, for a daring and adventurous spirit which dreamt of battles, explorations, big game hunting, desert sands, hurricanes and typhoons, to go every Sunday hat shooting and for the rest of the time dispense justice at Costecalde the gunsmith's was... well... hardly satisfying.' He begins to talk of traveling to Africa to hunt lions, and soon the town is swept up with excitement at the prospect. Imagine, their very own hero, of to kill lions in that faraway land!
Tartarin, however, has no such plan. Stories have a way of becoming reality in Tarascon, something Tartarin hopes will happen with his tale of hunting lions. If it is repeated enough in the bars and homes of the people, then surely they will begin to believe it has already occurred, and that Tartarin has returned, valiant and victorious? Unfortunately, no. The townsfolk begin to lose faith in their hero, as the months go by and he hasn't budged.
He travels to Algiers, and this is where the novel runs out of steam. It is a shame, really, considering the promising beginning. Daudet had crafted a clever, witty, gentle novel that made fun of its hero and its surrounds without being crude, rude, or vulgar. There is gentle mockery, but that is all. When the novel transfers location to the land of the Moors, the humour largely disappears, and the elaborate ruses become contrived.
What goes wrong? Perhaps it is the locale. Daudet shows admirable skill in portraying the foibles of smaller folk, but he loses his way when discussing the exoticism of Islam. That there are no lions in Algiers is a joke that an astute - and even a poor - reader will see coming a mile away, yet Tartarin does not. We can believe in Don Quixote's blind spots, because of the sheer immensity of his personality. Yet Tartarin is merely a shadow, and thus our suspension of disbelief requires something more.
That is not to say that the last half of the novel is without humour. No, there are places that will make you smile, but they are further apart than at the start. Also, there is an undercurrent of racism throughout the novel that reads distastefully. I would not expect a 19th century author to possess or submit to the morals of the 21st century, but given the political and cultural climate of 2006, it is difficult to laugh as all of the Islamic characters are portrayed as thieves, liars, buffoons and worse. Satire is a wonderful device, but it can easily stray into ignorance and offense.
It is worth noting that Daudet's novel was immensely popular during his lifetime. Even today, the actual town of Tarascon holds an annual festival, celebrating their great fictional hero. Tartarin went on to star in two sequels, both of which were well received.
The novel is both easy and difficult to recommend. It is very short, and will not take much time to complete. The satire and humour at the beginning are well worth the price of admission, which is low, considering the book is no longer in copyright. But the later half drags, and there is a great question that must be asked - why read the pale shadow of a masterpiece? Who would read this novel instead of Don Quixote? Nobody should. Seek the original, better novel.
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