I finished this book this morning. The novel proper is quite short and readable, although I don't think I'll ever really enjoy a work where a writer uses a foreign narrator or character from a culture they don't actually know to further their plots or theories. However, the extra critical material does an excellent job of contextualising this 18th best-seller written by a blue-stocking with proto-feminist sensibilities.
illustration from the book
I drove a diesel 4kc — I mightn‘t have done much good in my life, but at least I contributed to the destruction of the planet — and I systematically sabotaged the selective recycling system put in place by the residents‘ association by chucking empty wine bottles in the bin meant for paper and packaging, and perishable rubbish in the glass collection bin.
I 1st heard of this book when researching #Peru for #FoodAndLit but it wouldn't do b/c it's all about France. It is an 18th-c. epistolary novel written by a French woman. The narrator is an Inca “virgin of the sun“ snatched by Spanish conquistadores, then taken by French soldiers to France. Her letters to her Inca fiancé describe France & its mores from the point of view of an outsider - a “Noble Savage“ - uncorrupted by European civilisation.
so-soI picked this up for a pound in a charity shop in London. A coterie of French intellectuals & artists are all somewhat miserable. No one is married to the person they are in love with, and even those that find love, know it will be brief and unsatisfying. Happiness is ever elusive. It felt very French. Indeed, almost a parody of very French! While my eyes did roll, I liked Sagan's simple, stripped-down prose. I still want to read Bonjour Tristesse
pickI loved a few parts of this, and overall it is very well done. I thought I was done reading Houellebecq but I‘m glad I decided to read this one too. There are some great themes he works through.
so-soSuperfluous cat content at the request of @RaeLovesToRead
Linus and Sophie don't know what to think about this one, and neither do I. My understanding of Surrealism was pretty shallow, so it was interesting getting acquainted with the philosophical underpinnings of the movement. I'm partial to the idea of creating chance encounters, of finding meaning in coincidence and of heightened engagement with the world around you. Still, it...
He observed again the complex motif composed by the strips of flesh spread across the floor of the room. What he felt was less disgust than a sort of general pity for the entire earth, for mankind, which can, in its heart, give birth to such horrors.
