Name: Nica's review of A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre
Item: A Leopard-Skin Hat
Rating: 5
Author: Nica

Anne Serre

A Leopard-Skin Hat may be the French writer Anne Serre's most moving novel yet. Hailed in Le Point as a "masterpiece of simplicity, emotion and elegance," it is the story of an intense friendship between "the Narrator" and his close childhood friend, Fanny, who suffers from profound psychological disorders. A series of short scenes paints the portrait of a strong-willed and tormented young woman battling many demons, and of the narrator's loving and anguished attachment to her. Anne Serre poignantly depicts the bewildering back and forth between hope and despair involved in such a relationship, while playfully calling into question the very form of the novel. Written in the aftermath of the death of the author's little sister, A Leopard-Skin Hat is both the celebration of a tragically foreshortened life and a valedictory farewell, written in Anne Serre's signature style.

A Leopard-Skin Hat

Nica

If you’ve ever been friends with writers and artists, one of the most interesting parts of the dynamic is the transplantation of your friend’s experience of the world—who you’ve come to understand and intuit through conversation, into artistic expression. Often this artistic expression includes the community you’re residing in, the shared experiences you’ve had, or the political state of the world. Words once conversed become words on a page. At rare moments, these words might pique you—a certain character or turn of phrase, could it be, that this character represents X, your shared mutual friend? Or, at even rarer moments, you might see a character and see something profound—a cosmic mirror that doesn’t show your skin but your insides—you yourself transformed into a concept, a character in written text. It is not you, completely, but an aspect of you. Not something that captures the depth of your complexity, but something that is nonetheless true. How does the fictional differ with the real? What is the interplay between narration and friendship? Where do the boundaries lie?

A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre is all about this phenomenon. A very short novella, and the first I’ve read of the Booker International Prize (I tried to squeeze it into my April reading stats with no luck), it tells the story of Fanny, a complicated, multifaceted, headstrong, flamboyant, superficial, tender woman, and her friendship with the character known as the Narrator, who is ostensibly the narrator of the book who is writing about her, but also a separate character in of himself, which allows the narrator to narrate about him (it is less confusing that it seems, I promise). Thus, the concept of transforming a friend into art is explored. Fanny and the Narrator have been friends for over 20 years prior to her early death in her early forties. It is, in essence, a eulogy, and, like what many people may think when having to write a eulogy, it is concerned with the inability to capture a life in its entirety, to give requisite honour to the ones most deserving of it.

The novel is principally concerned with describing Fanny; her childhood, habits, mood swings and contradictions. Serre develops her with the complexity you would expect in literature, painting a complicated picture of a vivacious woman plagued by mental anguish. The Narrator is a bit of a Mr Stevens-type fop, a man who retreats into words about feelings instead of feeling them. Fanny’s relationship with him is correspondingly complex, with moments of tenderness followed by tense arguments, followed again by the kind of routine inactivity that is commonplace with long-term friendships. I mention mental anguish—the novel’s touches upon (but never names) mental health conditions suffered by Fanny, euphemistically described by the Narrator as the ‘blood draining out of her body.’ The titular ‘Leopard-Skin Hat’ is an accessory manically shoplifted by her, reminding the Narrator of her headstrong youth now lost. And the content of the novel describing how the Narrator makes sure to care for her through her depressive episodes, to make her believe in life again, and seeing his efforts falter at points and the buried, deep remorse bubble up through muted words (though, of course, it is an unreliable retelling in this stylised narration)—these were my highlights of my read.

However, although great books come in all shapes and sizes, my biggest criticism about the novel is that its short length really leaves a lot to be explored, and what little is given therefore feels less of a fully fleshed out idea, and more of a character study or experimental workshop piece. A wonderful and interesting and intelligent concept, but just a concept nonetheless. My favourite short novels are fantastically dense, but this one, with its smooth, easy-reading style, was practically over before it began, leaving less of an emotional impact than its emotional ending would have liked to have. I still had fun reading through the exploration of the narrator, the Narrator, and Fanny, and that will be my main takeaway from the book. 

shain

If you’ve ever been friends with writers and artists, one of the most interesting parts of the dynamic is the transplantation of your friend’s experience of the world—who you’ve come to understand and intuit through conversation, into artistic expression. Often this artistic expression includes the community you’re residing in, the shared experiences you’ve had, or the political state of the world. Words once conversed become words on a page. At rare moments, these words might pique you—a certain character or turn of phrase, could it be, that this character represents X, your shared mutual friend? Or, at even rarer moments, you might see a character and see something profound—a cosmic mirror that doesn’t show your skin but your insides—you yourself transformed into a concept, a character in written text. It is not you, completely, but an aspect of you. Not something that captures the depth of your complexity, but something that is nonetheless true. How does the fictional differ with the real? What is the interplay between narration and friendship? Where do the boundaries lie?

A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre is all about this phenomenon. A very short novella, and the first I’ve read of the Booker International Prize (I tried to squeeze it into my April reading stats with no luck), it tells the story of Fanny, a complicated, multifaceted, headstrong, flamboyant, superficial, tender woman, and her friendship with the character known as the Narrator, who is ostensibly the narrator of the book who is writing about her, but also a separate character in of himself, which allows the narrator to narrate about him (it is less confusing that it seems, I promise). Thus, the concept of transforming a friend into art is explored. Fanny and the Narrator have been friends for over 20 years prior to her early death in her early forties. It is, in essence, a eulogy, and, like what many people may think when having to write a eulogy, it is concerned with the inability to capture a life in its entirety, to give requisite honour to the ones most deserving of it.

The novel is principally concerned with describing Fanny; her childhood, habits, mood swings and contradictions. Serre develops her with the complexity you would expect in literature, painting a complicated picture of a vivacious woman plagued by mental anguish. The Narrator is a bit of a Mr Stevens-type fop, a man who retreats into words about feelings instead of feeling them. Fanny’s relationship with him is correspondingly complex, with moments of tenderness followed by tense arguments, followed again by the kind of routine inactivity that is commonplace with long-term friendships. I mention mental anguish—the novel’s touches upon (but never names) mental health conditions suffered by Fanny, euphemistically described by the Narrator as the ‘blood draining out of her body.’ The titular ‘Leopard-Skin Hat’ is an accessory manically shoplifted by her, reminding the Narrator of her headstrong youth now lost. And the content of the novel describing how the Narrator makes sure to care for her through her depressive episodes, to make her believe in life again, and seeing his efforts falter at points and the buried, deep remorse bubble up through muted words (though, of course, it is an unreliable retelling in this stylised narration)—these were my highlights of my read.

However, although great books come in all shapes and sizes, my biggest criticism about the novel is that its short length really leaves a lot to be explored, and what little is given therefore feels less of a fully fleshed out idea, and more of a character study or experimental workshop piece. A wonderful and interesting and intelligent concept, but just a concept nonetheless. My favourite short novels are fantastically dense, but this one, with its smooth, easy-reading style, was practically over before it began, leaving less of an emotional impact than its emotional ending would have liked to have. I still had fun reading through the exploration of the narrator, the Narrator, and Fanny, and that will be my main takeaway from the book. 

this is not a book for everyone and its understandable seeing the majority of goodreads reviews being 3 stars cuss of its a loose plot between the 2 main characters and unconventional narrative. but thats what made it so good and worthy of 5 stars !

having an unreliable narrator tell the story of his friend thinking they KNOW them like a book when actually it ends up just him saying what he THINKS what theyre like. along with that, it talks so much about death, suicide, and mental illness in such a refreshing way. for me, those topics (angst) are the most difficult things to depict / write YET at the same time its one of the most written about topics. its so meta on meta on meta ! i love it.

idk its just, i rarely see this talked about in media that promotes the importance on mental health. what do you actually know about what this person is going through ? easy for you to put a label on someone mentally ill as ‘mentally ill’ when theyve always felt ‘normal’ like this. theyre not bothered by it yet the ones who dont have it are the more bothered ones. this book explores so many topics that ive always wanted to hear. did i say 'i love it' yet ?

suffice to say im gonna be reading more booker prize nominees and winners. :]

i loved this !! 

this is not a book for everyone and its understandable seeing the majority of goodreads reviews being 3 stars cuss of its a loose plot between the 2 main characters and unconventional narrative. but thats what made it so good and worthy of 5 stars !

having an unreliable narrator tell the story of his friend thinking they KNOW them like a book when actually it ends up just him saying what he THINKS what theyre like. along with that, it talks so much about death, suicide, and mental illness in such a refreshing way. for me, those topics (angst) are the most difficult things to depict / write YET at the same time its one of the most written about topics. its so meta on meta on meta ! i love it.

idk its just, i rarely see this talked about in media that promotes the importance on mental health. what do you actually know about what this person is going through ? easy for you to put a label on someone mentally ill as ‘mentally ill’ when theyve always felt ‘normal’ like this. theyre not bothered by it yet the ones who dont have it are the more bothered ones. this book explores so many topics that ive always wanted to hear. did i say 'i love it' yet ?

suffice to say im gonna be reading more booker prize nominees and winners. :]

Nica &
A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre

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A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre