La Septième Fonction du langage

In 1980, the literary critic Roland Barthes is run over by a laundry van in Paris and dies a few weeks later. In Laurent Binet's novel, Inspector Bayard and a young academic, Simon Herzog, investigate whether it was an accident or a murder tied to a lost document about a seventh function of language. Their search takes them through Paris intellectual life, with cameos by Foucault, Derrida, Kristeva, Umberto Eco and others, and onto a secret society of debaters.

Readers who like satire, literary games and the French theory scene will find a comic, cerebral mystery. It suits those who recognize the names.

Deep, outward-looking and open-ended; a moderate read.

Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?