FIRST THOUGHTS: A rare and endearing grandiosity from Philippe Claudel

PHILIPPE CLAUDEL first came to notice as one of modern French literature’s most original and compelling voices when his 2003 novel, Grey Souls, won the prestigious and career-making Prix Renaudot. 

Since then, he has confirmed his status as a top-tier talent with such acclaimed novels as Broderick’s Report, The Investigator, and the masterful Monsieur Linh and His Child, and gilded his résumé with a Prix Goncourt and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize among a slew of other major industry honours.

He has also won great plaudits as a film-maker, and remains probably best known to international audiences for writing and directing the 2009 BAFTA Award-winning, I’ve Loved You So Long.