From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Meaning
Family of office terms.
Dossiers are assembled case papers; paperasserie is the mass of paperwork, with a burdensome or disparaging force. The files rise around Fouquier like the walls of a tomb and seem about to smother him, yet he visibly loves them. Bureaucratic diligence and mortality occupy the same image.
Places to read
- Chapter IX, paragraph 4FrenchLes dossiers montaient autour de lui: Files rose around him. The following comparison makes them tomb walls.
- Chapter IX, paragraph 4Frenchcette paperasserie terrible: This terrible paperwork. Fouquier’s attachment to the work complicates the image of suffocation.