SOURCE: Thompson, William. “Voyage and Immobility in J. M. G. Le Clézio's Désert and La Quarantaine.” World Literature Today 71, no. 4 (fall 1997): 709–16.

In the following essay, Thompson studies the two diametric themes of voyage and immobility by comparing Désert and La Quarantaine.

I have often enjoyed embarking on a voyage with Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio. In his fictional works, he has led his readers on an extensive and culturally rich voyage across the planet: to the islands in the Indian Ocean in Le Chercheur d'or and La Quarantaine, to West Africa in Onitsha, to North Africa, Europe, and even America in Désert and Poisson d'or, and to the Middle East in Étoile errante. I have spent many a quiet evening at home, in the comfort of my reclining chair, accompanying Le Clézio around the world, exploring places which I have never visited and...