“Reader on the 6.27” by Jean Paul Didierlaurent

READER ON THE 6.27 was a book club selection, and I started it with no idea of what I was getting into. I knew it was translated from the original French, and that it’s an international bestseller, and that, at 204 pages, it’s relatively short. I knew I needed to get it read in time for book club, and wondered how it would fit into my too busy schedule. I was tired when I started it, overwhelmed with projects and duties, grumpy from lack of sleep.

From the first page, READER ON THE 6.27 was a breath of fresh air, different and intriguing and powerful. Guylain Vignolle hates his life and his job in a book pulping factory in Paris, and, to save himself from despair, extricates pages from the book-destroying machine and reads them aloud during his morning commute on the the 6.27 train. The pages he reads are non-connected pieces, varying from descriptions of plants in the southwest to reveries by lonely women. People who listen to Guylain are often fascinated, and Guylain finds a particular satisfaction in their responses.

Life changes for Guylain when he discovers a memory stick in the seat of the train, a device containing the writings of a “Julie”, who, evidently, works as an assistant in a shopping mall bathroom. Guylain is taken with Julie’s musings, and when he reads that she’s looking for her “Prince Charming”, he decides to risk finding out if he is, in fact, that prince.

His efforts to find Julie are touching, as are his relationships with a motley crew of characters at the factory and with his goldfish, Rouget de Lisle, with whom he shares his most intimate thoughts and feelings. Over time, Guylain Vignolles reveals more of his inner self, and I rooted for him all the way.

I was fascinated by the French to English translation. The author uses “hissy fit”, a southern word I grew up with, and I had fun exploring whether or not “hissy fit” was derived from the French (It wasn’t, and I still don’t know how the translator got there). I found the ending a little abrupt, but some of that could be because I didn’t want the book to end. READER ON THE 6.27 is such a good read. I highly recommend it.

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