7 Melancholia in Le Mans 1959–1960
Since spring, Genette had been tireless and patient. But some pupils
in the hypokhâgne class at Le Mans who wanted to pursue their
studies in philosophy were a bit less patient than he was and had
already left for other schools. These long procrastinations had just
one advantage as far as Genette was concerned: ‘The Headmaster
keeps telling himself that he now needs to turn on the charm if he’s
going to keep you as long as possible. You’ll see what a gracious
creature he is!’^1
Finally liberated, the Derridas arrived in Le Mans in mid-
November. They initially lived in a furnished fl at. But they were
soon able to move into a big modern apartment block on the
rue Léon Bollée, just a hundred metres down the road from the
Genettes, who continued to do all they could to help them, giving
them the addresses of decorators and second-hand dealers. G enette
remembers with amusement that ‘Jacques could sometimes be
pretty obstinate. As he needed to coat a set of beech wood book-
shelves in linseed oil,’ Genette recommended that he add a dose of
paint dryer. ‘He ignored this detail, which in his view was unnec-
essary, and for months found that his books were as greasy as
doughnuts.’^2
In material terms, life in Le Mans was more comfortable than
in Paris. Otherwise, Genette made no bones about the fact that it
would be diffi cult to fi nd a less civilized city in France. ‘The intel-
ligent bookseller, the local writer, the fashionable café, the little
clubs, the visiting lecturers – all of this is as unknown here as at the
North Pole.’^3 The old city, which has now been carefully revamped,
was in 1959 nothing but a ‘big sleepy village, where grass grows in
the streets with their haphazard cobbles’.^4 The boys’ lycée to which
Derrida had been appointed was the only one in the city; it was right
next to the cathedral, and on some days you had to go through the
cattle market to reach it.
To begin with, Derrida seemed reasonably satisfi ed with his new
situation, if we are to believe a letter he sent to his cousin: