Mr. Robbe-Grillet 's first four novels -- " The Erasers " ( 1953 ) , " Jealousy " ( 1957 ) , " The Voyeur " ( 1958 ) and " In the Labyrinth " ( 1960 ) -- are " really the finest thing in French fiction of the second half of the 20th century , " said the poet and critic Richard Howard , who translated most of Mr. Robbe-Grillet 's early work into English for Grove Press .