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English Latest
September 2006 |
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Dear all,
Here is our latest selection of notable French translations and books about France published during September.
We first wish to draw your attention to the fact that Grégoire Bouillier received an extremely favorable review in the American press for his novel, The Mystery Guest (Farrar Strauss and Giroux). This semi-autobiographical story recounts how, after leaving him without any explanation, the protagonist’s girlfriend later invites him to be the “mystery guest” at the birthday celebration of one of her friends, the artist, Sophie Calle. During the party, he begins to realize what caused their romantic separation. On this occasion, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux produced the first book trailer in the history of publishing, brought to you by director David Teague:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UALgbX7tnz8
Following the success of Suite Française, a biography of Irène Nemirovsky, Irène Nemirovsky: Her Life and Works, written by Jonathan Weiss, was published by Stanford University Press. This work traces the childhood of this Russian author, her exile in France following the Bolshevik Revolution, her professional successes, and her tragic death at Auschwitz during the Second World War
Another woman’s destiny – that of Marie Antoinette – was chronicled in Antonia Fraser’s, Marie Antoinette: A Journey, which was just released in paperback in a new edition (Anchor). This is the book that Sofia Coppola used as the basis for her film, Marie Antoinette, which opens in American movie theaters during October.
In another historic tale, after The Battle, which received the Goncourt Prize in 1997, and The Retreat, Napoleon’s Exile (Grove Press) is the third volume in Patrick Rambaud’s trilogy tracing Napoleon’s abdication of the throne and subsequent exile.
In classics, a hitherto unpublished work of Honoré de Balzac was just released by Wesleyan University Press. The Centenarian: Or the Two Beringhelds is one of Balzac’s first novels, which was published in 1822 under the pseudonym, “Horace de Saint-Aubin.” With its slightly gothic undertones, this story is one of the first examples of science fiction in French literature.
Continuing with the theme of mystery, we also draw your attention to Angel’s Promise (Pegasus Book), a novel written by Frédéric Lenoir and Violette Cabesos. This novel brings us right into the heart of the eleventh century when cathedral builders erected Mont Saint Michel, a formidable Roman abbey built in honor of the Archangel, prince of the celestial armies and transporter of spirits into the hereafter. A thousand years later, a young archaeologist enthralled with the Middle Ages finds himself imprisoned in a riddle where past and present strangely meet.
In Christians in Palestine (IG Publishing), Jean Rolin, a French journalist and novelist, recounts his stay in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Gaza from December 2002 until January 2003. The book poses the question of how Christians share with Jews and Muslims their religious places of worship where saints lived and dwelled.
For those interested in history and archaeology, the work of Myriam Rosen-Ayal, Islamic Art and Archaeology in Palestine(Left Coast Press), brings us to Palestine during the Middle Ages under Muslim domination – a period of artistic dynamism despite the political vicissitudes.
Metropolitan Museum Publications is releasing a work on Ambroise Vollard, the famous Parisian art dealer. Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde, by Rebecca Rabinow, is a magnificent illustrated catalog that enables us to revisit the works presented and sold by Vollard, who first brought the works of the great nineteenth-century French painters like Gauguin, Van Gogh, Degas, and Rouault to the public’s attention.
In essays, University of Minnesota Press published Guy Debord: Revolution in the Service of Poetry by Vincent Kaufmann. This work revisits the writings of the author of La Société du Spectacle, a clandestine theoretician active in the Situationist group, a protest movement that emerged from the student revolts in the spring of 1968.
Finally, we suggest a work that should fascinate fans of the yellow shirt! The Tour de France: A Cultural History (University of California Press), by Christopher Thompson, recounts the history of this famous cycling tour from its inception in 1903 until today. This work also traces key moments in the tour and political events that have marked its history.
Happy Reading!
The Book Office in New York
Please note that Grégoire Boullier, Joann Sfar, and Jean Rolin will be in the U.S. in autumn 2006 on author missions organized by the book office of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.
Special thanks to Rachel Spiegel