Emmanuel Carrier: The Unsaved Yogi

Emmanuel Carrier really wanted to write a book on yoga – but then a friend died in the attack on Charlie Hebdo. What ended up being a novel about Carrier’s depression and bipolar disorder: the story of my madness.

As a modern writer, why write about the world and others when one has one’s own? After all, you don’t know anyone better than you. However, this “house feature” does not make the search for a novel like this easier, at least if you approach the task as meticulously as Emmanuel Carrier. Because the ego, or it is the identifier, sometimes stubbornly refuses to clarify information about it, which in turn makes the search more exciting, but also complex. In France, Emmanuel Carrier distinguished himself as the designer of his soul. The father of this literary genre is the Norwegian Karl of Knausgaard, whose autobiographical style fascinates a large audience of readers and allows a few critics to talk about the exploitation of oneself and, unfortunately, the exploitation of the mental life of others. Carrier is experienced in self-inquiry. In his novel The Kingdom of God, he dealt brilliantly with his varied religious development between being Christian and agnostic. The novel very vividly combined spiritual experiences, participatory observation, and philosophical reflections.

This time Carrier wants to write something fun for a change, at least that’s his plan. The plan of a man who, from the first page, gives us a glimpse into his inner life. In the past ten years, unexpectedly, he has not suffered serious crises or fatal blows. He was able to pursue his literary work, he was successful and believed that this state would last forever. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to write a meticulous book or “little book” on yoga, especially since he has been practicing yoga, meditation and earlier Tai Chi himself for many years and is familiar with it?