Le Train de Nulle Part

Le Train de Nulle Part (English: The Train from Nowhere) is a 2004 French novel by French author Michel Dansel, though the book is authored under the pen name Michel Thaler. An example of constrained writing, the novel is written without a single verb.^{[citation needed]}

In the novel's preface, Thaler called the verb an "invader, dictator, usurper of our literature". Considering the novel a step towards literature comparable with the artistic impact of Dadaism and surrealism, Thaler surmised that "the verb is like a weed in a field of flowers. You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish. Take away the verbs and the language speaks for itself". Thaler went so far as to organize a well-attended, tongue-in-cheek funeral for the verb, at the Sorbonne in Paris.^{[citation needed]}

Excerpt

“Quelle aubaine ! Une place de libre, ou presque, dans ce compartiment. Une escale provisoire, pourquoi pas ! Donc, ma nouvelle adresse dans ce train de nulle part : voiture 12, 3ème compartiment dans le sens de la marche. Encore une fois, pourquoi pas ?”

“Fool's luck! A vacant seat, almost, in that compartment. A provisional stop, why not? So, my new address in this train from nowhere: car 12, 3rd compartment, from the front. Once again, why not?”

See also

Novels portal

• A Void, a novel without the letter 'e'.
• Gadsby, a novel without the letter 'e'.

External links

• Nothing doing: no verbs