Les civilisés: Roman

Set in colonial Indochina, the novel follows Dr. Raymond Mévil, a handsome, urbane French physician whose elegant habits and sensual charm animate Saigon's European society. Through his promenades, hospital visits, and salons, the narrative sketches encounters with colonials and local servants, exposing social rituals, aesthetic pretensions, and moral ambiguities of expatriate life. Scenes alternate between intimate observation and ironic detachment, portraying desires, rivalries, and the tensions between modernity and tradition. The prose emphasizes atmosphere, visual detail, and character portraiture to examine themes of civility, decadence, and cultural friction under imperial rule.