Ad occhi aperti. Conversazioni con Matthieu Galey

by Marguerite Yourcenar

Quando si varca la soglia di 'Petite-Plaisance', sotto la veranda da cui pendono spighe di granturco, simbolo locale di prosperità, si ha la sensazione di penetrare direttamente in un luogo dove l'aria è diversa. Lo sguardo di Marguerite Yourcenar si posa sul visitatore, lo valuta, lo giudica, lontano e al tempo stesso gentile, con una vaga sfumatura di ironia. Poi, comincia a parlare, con la sicurezza di chi crede in ciò che dice... Così scrive Matthieu Galey nella presentazione di Ad occhi aperti", il testo in cui nel 1980 ha raccolto una serie di colloqui con la scrittrice.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, France, School, History, French Literature, Essays

266 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Marguerite Yourcenar, original name Marguerite de Crayencour, was a french novelist, essayist, poet and short-story writer who became the first woman to be elected to the Académie Française (French Academy), an exclusive literary institution with a membership limited to 40.
She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1947. The name “Yourcenar” is an imperfect anagram of her original name, “Crayencour.”

Yourcenar’s literary works are notable for their rigorously classical style, their erudition, and their psychological subtlety. In her most important books she re-creates past eras and personages, meditating thereby on human destiny, morality, and power. Her masterpiece is Mémoires d'Hadrien, a historical novel constituting the fictionalized memoirs of that 2nd-century Roman emperor. Her works were translated by the American Grace Frick, Yourcenar’s secretary and life companion.
Yourcenar was also a literary critic and translator.