L'Art français de la guerre

The unnamed narrator is an aimless young man living on the outskirts of Lyon. He meets Victorien Salagnon, a veteran of France’s wars in Indochina and Algeria, and the two become friends. Salagnon teaches him to paint and, as he does so, tells him about his years as a soldier. The novel alternates between Salagnon’s wartime past and the present day, in which the narrator reflects on France, its relationship with its army, its colonial legacy and its racism.