Anatole sees himself as a dignified, brilliant, and much underappreciated magician/physician/scientist. How much of that is true, and how much is self-delusion and boastfulness?
I liked Anatole, but it was hard to take him too seriously. However, his heart was always in the right place. His bumbling and his missteps were often comical; his hairlessness and his inability to sweat were the result of some of his experiments. Anatole was a good and loyal friend; he meant well.
Anatole was a likable narrator because of his faults. He is the hero of his own story. I did love the idea of this unassuming little man slipping through history.
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I liked Anatole and his frequent missteps that made this reader smile now and again. With all his bumbling, he managed to make things happen. He was a good friend to Tuilla offering the love that her father did not.
I think like all people Anatole has anxieties about being good enough. He was but he felt so responsible for a lot of things he couldn’t believe he was.
Anatole wants to be appreciated and valued for his magician skills, but he is own worst problem. He bumbles, makes mistakes, and takes shortcuts. However, he has a good heart and does want to help. I do want to give credit that at this time, there is so much that is not known that working in this field was difficult and uncertain