The Paris AtlasCharting the artists, works, and places worth returning to.
Illustrated portrait of Benoît Notre-Dame

A character in A Very Long Engagement

Benoît Notre-Dame

The resourceful condemned soldier whose coded letter and survival solve the mystery.

What they want

To survive and protect Manech without exposing himself.

The book

Cover of A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot
A Very Long EngagementSébastien Japrisot, 1991

A young artist rebuilds the truth about five condemned soldiers from letters, witnesses, codes, and stubborn love.

View the book

At a glance

Role
the soldier called That Man
Pressure
The resourceful condemned soldier whose coded letter and survival solve the mystery.
Goal
To survive and protect Manech without exposing himself.
Evidence
He survives Bingo, helps Manech escape, and later tells Mathilde the truth.

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Benoît Notre-Dame is the soldier called that man. The resourceful condemned soldier whose coded letter and survival solve the mystery.

The character wants to survive and protect manech without exposing himself.. That desire determines what is remembered, hidden, or investigated.

He survives Bingo, helps Manech escape, and later tells Mathilde the truth. The detail matters because Mathilde can reach the truth only by comparing partial accounts.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • Rolethe soldier called That Man
  • PressureThe resourceful condemned soldier whose coded letter and survival solve the mystery.
  • GoalTo survive and protect Manech without exposing himself.
  • EvidenceHe survives Bingo, helps Manech escape, and later tells Mathilde the truth.
  • ExpressionThe face should register to survive and protect manech without exposing himself. without melodrama.
  • Place in the mysteryBenoît Notre-Dame changes how Mathilde or the reader understands Bingo Crépuscule.
What happens to Benoît Notre-DameHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

He survives Bingo, helps Manech escape, and later tells Mathilde the truth.

If you like A Very Long Engagement

Four books that share themes, tone, or setting with this one.

If you like Sébastien Japrisot

Explore authors with a similar voice, perspective, and influence.

  • Illustrated portrait of Louis-Ferdinand Céline

    Louis-Ferdinand Céline

    The doctor of the Paris slums who wrote the century's blackest, funniest novel — and changed the sound of French prose.

    View author
  • Illustrated portrait of Colette

    Colette

    The French novelist who wrote the Claudine books under Willy’s name, earned her independence on the music-hall stage, and made women’s private lives a serious literary subject.

    View author
  • Illustrated portrait of Albert Camus

    Albert Camus

    French Algerian novelist, essayist, journalist and playwright who used the absurd and revolt to ask how people should live without false consolation.

    View author
Back to A Very Long Engagement