We are the love they give us, or the hate with which they deform us.

We are what happens to us. We are what we want, we are what we lack. We are what those who love us or mistreat us make us. We are the place where we grew up. We are the places we have fled from and the places we have tried to reach. The protagonist-narrator ofWith rage in my bodyThe novel, by the French author Sorj Chalandon (1952), tells the story of a boy—a teenager, a young man: we see him grow up throughout the novel—who has suffered nothing but misfortune, who longed for a loving family but never had one, whom no one has ever loved, and whom many mistreat. In one instance, he is imprisoned in France. The institution's name is the House of Supervised Institution, and its official objective is to reform the inmates so they can work at sea or in the fields, but in practice, it is a hell where dehumanization and brutality prevail.

Based on real historical events—the Children's Home did indeed exist in Belle-Île-en-Mer, and fifty-six children escaped in 1934—Chalandon takes on the role and voice of the only one of the escapees who wasn't captured: Jules. This dual name, of course, goes far beyond the mere question of name and nickname. It's also an indicator of the protagonist's dual personality, or rather, the personality that the brutal environment in which he grows up forces him to have (the Tinya) and the personality that young Jules could have if someone treated him well and showed him solidarity.

Chalandon, who was an international affairs journalist for the newspaper Release for nearly four decades and that, moreover, He is the author of one of the most lucid and impactful novels I have ever read about the Northern Ireland conflict. (Back to Killybegs(from 2011, also published by Ediciones de 1984), is convincing in giving voice to the protagonist. It strikes the right balance between meticulous literary artifice and the communicative verisimilitude of an angry, wounded, clever, and poorly educated teenager. In this sense, Chalandon's direct yet highly expressive prose works well both to show and shape Tinya's social resentment and to hint at Jules's vulnerability, capacity for tenderness, and sense of ethics.

Manique but exciting

With rage in my body It has two very distinct parts. They contrast so sharply with each other that they even give the novel a somewhat didactic and Manichean feel. I would say the author is aware of this and doesn't mind. The first part takes place in the prison; the atmosphere is hostile and unsafe. The secondary characters are other inmates—all damaged by a society that rejects them—and guards who monstrously abuse their power. These are powerful and terrible pages, recording appalling events, from beatings and insults to all kinds of humiliation and sexual violence. The second part begins after the escape, when Julio is taken in by the captain of a fishing boat, his courageous wife, and their crew. Hardworking and humble people, they are exemplary in their integrity and generosity, with strong political convictions—communist, anarchist—and they all show Julio that life doesn't have to be entirely dirty and selfish, even if it sometimes seems that way. Manichean, as I've already said, but moving.

In the second part, the novel loses some intensity and drama, but gains in human and sociopolitical complexity. One example of this is Chalandon's departure from hegemonic French supremacism, giving voice, with solidarity and understanding, to Basque and Breton nationalisms, and also championing marginalized and rebellious France.