2023-07-13 05:00:17
• 10 works of foreign literature
1. “The Shards”, by Bret Easton Ellis
Translated from English by Pierre Guglielmina, Robert Laffont, 616 p., 26 euros.
We’ve been waiting for his new novel for thirteen years, no less. Good news, he’s awesome. Bret performs as a teenager, under the influence of various drugs. A serial killer passes by, and it’s immediately horror. Big Ellis.
2. “The Passenger”, by Cormac McCarthy
Translated from English by Serge Chauvin, L’Olivier, 545 p., 24.50 euros.
It’s the story of Bobby Western, a guy who salvages treasure from submerged wrecks. Cormac McCarthy’s new novel (the second part of the book is called “Stella Maris”) is a crazy invention. Great art. And the opportunity to salute this great American writer, who died on June 13, at the age of 89.
3. “La Petite-Fille”, by Bernhard Schlink
Translated from German by Bernard Lortholary, Gallimard, 352 p., 23 euros.
“The Reader” is him. At 78, the German writer paints the portrait of a bookseller, Kaspar, and his granddaughter who grew up among the neo-Nazis. A poignant and beautiful novel about Germany today.
4. « Mungo », par Douglas Stuart
Translated from English by Charles Bonnot, Globe, 480 p., 24 euros.
After the worldwide success of his first novel, Douglas Stuart continues to explore his native Glasgow. Violence in the streets, mistreatment of all kinds, omnipresent homophobia. If Zola were reincarnated, his name would be Stuart.
5. “Intimacy”, by Katie Kitamura
Translated from English by Céline Leroy, Stock, 252 p., 20.90 euros.
It is the chronicle, in small touches, of the life of a translator at the International Court in The Hague. How to translate the language of criminals? A refined, floating, melancholic novel. “Intimacies” is inimitable.
6. “Queen for a day”, by Kirstin Innes
Translated from English by Marguerite Capelle and Anatole Pons-Reumaux, Métailié, 512 p., 23 euros.
The 1980s. The life of Clio, a grunge singer, is not easy. Committed, rebellious, suicidal. For his friends, that girlfriend is hell. A supercharged novel by the brilliant Kirstin Innes, her first published in France.
7. “Blood Country”, by Paul Auster
Translated from English by Anne-Laure Tissut, Actes Sud, 208 p., 26 euros.
It’s not a book, it’s a demonstration. “What makes the United States the most violent country in the Western world? » asks Paul Auster in a very personal essay on firearms in the US. A healthy rant.
8. “Between the margins”, by Elena Ferrante
Translated from Italian by Nathalie Bauer, Gallimard, 128 p., 14 euros.
In this collection of lectures, the author of “The Prodigious Friend” talks about Virginia Woolf and Dante. It is also a meditation on his way of writing. Essential reading for aficionados (and others).
9. “The Court of the Birds”, by Agnes Ravatn
Translated from neo-Norwegian by Terje Sinding, Actes Sud, 240 p., 22 euros.
A 30-year-old in a bad mood agrees to do household chores for a guy who lives alone. It’s in an isolated house in Norway and it’s going to end badly. A breathless camera.
10. “Diary of an invasion”, by Andrei Kurkov
Translated from English by Johann Bihr, Black on White, 256 p., 22 euros.
Kurkov has been keeping a diary since Putin took an interest in his country. He not only recounts his amazement when the first missiles arrive, he paints an extraordinary picture of a country that refuses to kneel.
A selection by Didier Jacob
• 10 works of French literature
1. “Le Blé en herbe and other stories”, by Colette
Gallimard, La Pléiade, 1,376 pages, 65 euros.
A summer with Colette. The 150th anniversary of the writer’s birth invites you to wrap yourself in her voluptuous prose: the sensuality of “Blé en herbe” and “Chéri” or the false candor of “Claudine à l’école”.
2. “Eloge de la plage”, by Grégory Le Floch
Shores, 240 p., 18 euros.
Shellfish and crustaceans. Idleness and castaways. With his graceful style, the young writer sings of the beauties and dangers of the beach, summoning Proust as well as Shakira, Nanni Moretti and Mylène Farmer.
3. “Attacking the earth and the sun”, by Mathieu Belezi
Le Tripode, 160 p., 17 euros.
Through the voice of Séraphine, who came to settle in Algeria with her husband, and that of a soldier of the French army, Mathieu Belezi recounts the bloody conquest of Algeria. A powerful melody, Inter Book Prize 2023.
4. “Limited zones”, by Jean-Paul Kauffmann
Books, 1,152 p., 32 euros.
From the Kerguelen Islands to the rock of Saint Helena via Latvia, the ex-hostage in Lebanon takes us, through these seven stories, to the ends of the earth. Landscapes magnified by the sensitivity of this nomadic writer.
5. “Three Women Disappear”, by Hélène Frappat
Actes Sud, 192 p., 20 euros.
A detective investigates the Hollywood dynasty formed by Tippi Hedren, actress of Hitchcock’s “Birds”, her daughter Melanie Griffith and her granddaughter Dakota Johnson. Three stars victims of the fantasies of the seventh art.
6. « Comment sortir du monde », par Marouane Bakhti
New Editions du Réveil, 140 p., 18 euros.
Torn between France, where he lives, and the Morocco of his father, a young man struggles with his identity, the injunctions to masculinity and his desire for other boys. A very sweet first novel.
7. “The Route of the Estuaries”, by Julie Wolkenstein
P.O.L, 144 p., 17 euros.
From Paris to the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, the writer takes to the road and looks back on her past and the death of her brother Eric. Nothing morbid in this trip along the English Channel, but a very lively book, on the contrary.
8. “Rose Valland, the spy at work”, by Jennifer Lesieur
Afterword by Emmanuelle Polack, Robert Laffont, 240 p., 19.50 euros.
A discreet museum curator, Rose Valland enabled the repatriation of 60,000 works of art looted by the Nazis. Jennifer Lesieur devotes an ardent biography to him which reads like an adventure novel.
9. “The Age of Destroying”, by Pauline Peyrade
Midnight, 160 p., 16 euros.
Playwright Pauline Peyrade describes a child’s relationship with a toxic mother. The scathing confession hides behind a disturbingly delicate style. A masterful first novel.
10. « Tsunami », par Marc Dugain
Albin Michel, 272 p., 21.90 euros.
The President of the Republic, who made his fortune with a start-up, put France on the street. To make matters worse, his drug dealer is arrested and his adviser turns out to be a mole in the pay of the Chinese. Any resemblance, etc.
A selection by Elisabeth Philippe
Find our summer culture selections throughout the week
• 12 essays to take away: “Politicizing renunciation”, “Flakes on the compost”, “the flesh is unfortunately sad”…
• 10 thrillers for a deadly summer: “Retiaire(s)”, “City of Dreams”, “May 67”…
• 10 comic strips to laze about: “Toxic environment”, “Madonnas and whores”, “Who is this Smurf? »…
• 10 series, because it’s also the right season: “Only Murders in the Building”, “Jeune et golri”, “Paris Police 1905”…
To come :
• 20 works of French and foreign literature: “Le Passager”, “Pays de sang”, “How to get out of the world”…
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