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English Latest
March 2007 |
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Dear all,
We are excited about all the new titles that have come out in these first few months of 2007! We have tried to highlight major translations from French and various subjects focused on aspects of French culture that we hope you’ll find interesting.
On March 16th, an intriguing article advocating the concept of “littérature-monde en français” (World Literature in French) appeared in Le Monde, signed by numerous distinguished authors. They encouraged authors worldwide who choose to write in French to continue their work, which as a whole has already gained wide recognition. Our selection of the month is devoted to this article.
First, an entertaining and always stimulating essay. In The Curtain. An Essay in Seven Parts, Milan Kundera cleverly sketches out his personal view of the history and value of the novel in Western civilization. Too often, he suggests, a novel is thought about only within the confines of the language and nation of its origin, when in fact the novel’s development has always occurred across borders.
Turning now to fiction, we chose four different titles that will transport you to very different places.
With the same élan and wit that inform her internationally acclaimed and award-winning plays, Yasmina Reza’s second novel, Adam Haberberg, revels in the tragicomedy of one man’s midlife crisis. A bitingly funny, lethally wise portrait of a hapless nonhero’s big adventure: the poor guy is, of course, a writer.
The third novel in Yasmina Khadra’s bestselling trilogy about Islamic fundamentalism brings readers into Baghdad. Forced to leave the University of Baghdad when the Americans invade Iraq, a young man from a small desert village returns home, where he witnesses three events that transform him. A masterful and chilling look at violence and its effects on ordinary people, The Sirens of Baghdad probes situations few writers dare examine.
Internationally acclaimed novelist, scholar, poet, and filmmaker Assia Djebar presents in The Tongue’s Blood Does Not Run Dry: Algerian Stories a brutal yet delicate exposition of how warring worlds enact their battles upon women’s lives and bodies. With renowned and unparalleled skill, she does more than bring to life the unspeakable realities of war and independence: she draws lines and paints color onto the human faces that speak directly to us with resonating intimacy.
In the over-legislated world of Benoît Duteurtre’s outrageous comedy The Little Girl and the Cigarette, a death row inmate becomes a darling of the media-and the tobacco conglomerates-after he demands his right to a final cigarette in a smoke-free prison. Meanwhile, a little girl accuses a petty municipal bureaucrat of sexual perversion when she catches him sneaking a cigarette. Incredulously, he realizes that in this world where children are not just kings, but tyrants, a cigarette could lead him to the electric chair.
We continue with five important books about France that were written in English. Half of them deal with French history, half with language, art and culture.
The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co, is a tale of vaulting ambitions, whispered advice, worldly mistresses, fabulous art collections, and enormous wealth – a story of high drama in the world of French high finance. A grand and revelatory portrait of Wall Street’s most storied investment bank by William D. Cohan.
Holocaust Odysseys : The Jews of Saint-Martin-Vésubie and Their Flight Through France and Italy describes the ever-escalating dangers to which Jewish refugees and recent immigrants were subjected in France and Italy as the Holocaust marched forward. Susan Zuccotti uncovers a gruelling yet complex history of suffering and resilience through historical documents and personal testimonies from members of nine central and eastern European Jewish families, displaced to France in the opening years of the Second World War.
The new work by Scott W. Berg intersects history and art. Grand Avenues. The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C. tells the riveting story of Pierre Charles L’Enfant and the creation of Washington D.C. – from the seeds of his inspiration to the fulfilment of his extraordinary vision. Here is a fascinating, little-explored episode in American history, the story of a visionary artist and of the founding of the magnificent city that is his enduring legacy.
The first volume of Paths to Contemporary French Literature offered a critical panorama of over fifty French writers and poets. With this second volume, John Taylor continues this ambitious and critically acclaimed project. Charting the paths that have led to the most serious and stimulating contemporary French writing, he casts light on several neglected post-war French authors, all the while highlighting genuine mentors and invigorating newcomers.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1940. After two unsuccessful attempts, he managed to escape in 1943. During this time, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, assuming that the photographer had died in the war, started preparing what they thought was a posthumous exhibition of his work. When he reappeared, Cartier-Bresson was delighted to learn of the exhibition, and decided to review his entire work and curate it himself. Following his death in 2004, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, the present owner of the prints, finished restoring them, making it possible to bring a large body of extraordinary, hitherto unpublished work to the public: Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Scrapbook, by Martine Franck, Agnès Sire & Michel Frizot.
We really hope you enjoy this selection. Don't forget to visit our website, www.frenchbooknews.com , to find out about other interesting titles.
Best wishes,
Fabrice Rozié
Anne-Sophie Hermil
Anne-Sophie Simenel
Maud Lourau
Special thanks to Paula Cianci