Basado en una de las anécdotas más vergonzosas de la historia de Francia, Teulé recupera el asombroso asesinato de Alain de Monéys, un joven aristócrata local, amable e inteligente, que al cabo de unas horas de llegar a la feria del pueblo vecino fue torturado, quemado e incluso comido por la muchedumbre. Si bien es cierto que a mediados de 1870 Francia se hallaba angustiada por la guerra contra Alemania y el pueblo sufría los efectos de una sequía excepcional, nada parece explicar que por una supuesta frase antinacionalista y una falsa acusación de espionaje, más de seiscientas personas se entregaran durante horas a realizar las peores atrocidades posibles.

Une folie meurtrière, un village qui se rue sur une personne pour le frapper, le torturer, le bruler et … mangez-le si vous voulez

Il fallait bien Jean Teulé pour raconter ça ( )

Well, that was harrowing.

Based on a true story, this is a short, straightforward novelization of a horrific day in 1870 small-town France. In what might be the apotheosis of the phrase "mob mentality," a number of townspeople ganged together to beat, torture, mutilate, and eventually kill one of their neighbors, a young man whom many of them had known growing up, apparently under an ephemeral but entirely baseless conviction that he was a Prussian spy. (The Franco-Prussian war ended a few months later.)

The contemporaneous autopsy report verified he was still alive when the mob finally decided to burn him to death. The records from the subsequent trial indicate that the participants on the whole were flabbergasted by what they had done.

If you need reminding that humans can do unspeakable, unthinkable things to each other simply because they get caught up in the moment, this is the book for you.

But, holy crap, it is depressing and awful.


I received a complimentary copy of the English translation of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

( )

This has to be the worst, most horrible book I have read in a long while because it is a true story and this all happened. I stayed up to finish it and then couldn't sleep for thinking about it. Alain is a decent young man, a good son and happy to help his neighbours and on the 16th of August 1870 he goes off to see the Notary at the fair in Hautefaye (a tiny French village). A few days later he was due to go off to war to help fight the Prussians although he didn't need to as he had a bad leg. Someone misinterpreted what he said and from then on it was mass hysteria from an uncontrollable mob, all egging each other on and sadly the worst ones were those he had helped. This was a truly shocking book, one you don't want to be eating as you read it. So sad. ( )

Eat Him If You Like is a straightforward telling of a true, and truly sickening, incident of murder and cannibalism in 19th century France. It all starts with a bit of a Monty Pythonesque comedy of errors:

"‘Now now, my friends, what’s going on?’ said Alain,
limping towards them.

‘It’s your cousin,’ explained a pedlar. ‘He shouted, “Long live Prussia!”’

‘What? No! Come now, I was standing just here, and that’s not what I heard at all! And I know de Maillard well enough to be sure that he would never say such a thing. “Long live Prussia”? That’s almost as ridiculous as shouting “Down with France!”’

‘What did you just say?’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘You said “Down with France!”’

‘What? No, of course I didn’t!’

‘Yes, you did! You said “Down with France!”’

‘But no, I didn’t say that. I—’

‘All those who heard him cry “Down with France!” raise your hand!’ said the pedlar, addressing the people standing by the low wall.

‘Oh, I heard him say “Down with France!”’ said a voice, and a hand shot up.

Other fists were raised, five, then ten. Some villagers who may not even have heard the question saw hands go up and raised theirs too."

Unfortunately, things go downhill quickly from there.

Teulé does a good job (perhaps too good, for those with squeamish stomachs) of describing what happens from Alain's point of view, from the initial punch to his agonizing death. This seems to reflect a lack of imagination on Teulé's part, however; describing the victim's pain isn't that difficult. The more interesting perspective, and one which Teulé makes no effort to explain or inhabit, would have been that of the ordinary men and women whose own personalities became subordinated to the mob mentality.

Eat Him If You Like is a short and informative read about an obscure atrocity, but it provides no new insight into what causes a mob to coalesce and act.

I received a free copy of Eat Him If You Like through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )