The Seventh Function of Language

By: Laurent Binet, Sam Taylor - translator

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

From the prizewinning author of HHhH comes The Seventh Function of Language, a romp through the French intelligentsia of the 20th century.

Paris, 1980. The literary critic Roland Barthes dies - struck by a laundry van - after lunch with the presidential candidate François Mitterand. The world of letters mourns a tragic accident. But what if it wasn't an accident at all? What if Barthes was murdered?

In The Seventh Function of Language, Laurent Binet spins a madcap secret history of the French intelligentsia, starring such luminaries as Jacques Derrida, Umberto Eco, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, and Julia Kristeva - as well as the hapless police detective Jacques Bayard, whose new case will plunge him into the depths of literary theory. Soon Bayard finds himself in search of a lost manuscript by the linguist Roman Jakobson on the mysterious "seventh function of language".

A brilliantly erudite comedy that recalls Flaubert's Parrot and The Name of the Rose - with more than a dash of The Da Vinci Code - The Seventh Function of Language takes us from the cafés of Paris to the corridors of Cornell University and into the duels and orgies of the Logos Club, a secret philosophical society that dates to the era of the Roman Empire. Binet has written both a send-up and a wildly exuberant celebration of the French intellectual tradition.

©2017 Laurent Binet (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A great story underpinned by a great narration

The book includes a decent detective story and a discussion of philosophical ideas on the backdrop of 1980s French politics making it not only a detective but an educational read. The complexity of the ideas allows for the re-reading.
The narration is very good as well. Thoroughly recommended.

Delicious French Politico-Philosophico Procedural

What did you love best about The Seventh Function of Language?

Eco-esque wit. Undermines and revels in the collision of 20th century french intellectualism and realpolitik!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Seventh Function of Language?

The political dinners combining political arrogance, insecurity, philosophy and haute (nee paysanne) cuisine.

What about Bronson Pinchot’s performance did you like?

he has a devious sense of timing and delivery. Generally good pronunciations of french words and names.

If you could rename The Seventh Function of Language, what would you call it?

Death and Dismemberment on the Philosophy Express? No, seriously, current title is great.

Any additional comments?

Obligato!

Grad school fun

If you've spent any time reading Barthes, Derrida, and Foucault, you'll have fun seeing them transplanted into a witty detective/espionage novel loaded with sex, violence, and political commentary. Poor Phillip Sollers!

Outstanding reader! Excellent choice of victim(s).

Starts Sherlock Holmes nee deconstructor, spins Pychon-esque. Ends Hollywood. Hard to stop listening, so I didn't.

meh

lot of french philosopher name dropping, interesting ending. sadly, it's been many years since i've read them. add 2 stars if you were a philosophy major.