性と死の記憶

by Paul Zweig

Three memoirs examine the world of French politics in the sixties, explore the cross-currents of sexual obsession, and reflect on the author's experiences with cancer

Genres: Memoir

Tankobon Hardcover

First published February 2, 1988

Reviews

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read this memoir in a long, long time, but it has stayed with me. The book is divided into three sections, each of which recounts a critical departure/transition in the poet Paul Zweig's life. Zweig was dying as he wrote this memoir, so the last section explores the imminence and meaning of his final departure. Absolutely beautiful.

Here is a link to an article about Zweig: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/boo...

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtaking. Are books being written this well today? I don't think so. Stunned.

[Dana DesJardins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adam Gopnik, the god of my idolatry, wrote a foreword to this book. now out of print, so I picked it up. The opening section, while written with the lyricism that apparently characterized Zweig's poetry, it focuses on his predominantly sex life. Actually, it focuses on his sex life in Paris, so that made it engaging, but he is far to self-effacing about interesting episodes like sailing over to France without speaking a word of French and living on his own for a year, or what exactly he did for the Algerian independence guerillas, or, for that matter, the cancer that suddenly appeaed after a twenty year jump in the middle of the memoir. It was so evocatively written that I could almost picture certain Parisian streets, but I need a little less interiority and a little more plot to drive a narrative along. Beautifully written --

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a stunning memoir from an author that puts in your hands a view of the world that is both humbling and enriching. There are many pivotal scenes: one that resonates even now, weeks later is when he is mistaken for an Arab by the French Police - this in the late 50's, we think the conflict with Muslims as being a post 911 problem - Zweig shows us how real it was then .There are many references to classic thinkers that made me feel quite ignorant but in the end we can all benefit from a man that had the opportunity to think for all of us.

[The Book : An Online Review at The New Republic]

IT MAY BE that a man is best defined by what he first forgets,” writes Paul Zweig in Departures. “That he is sculpted by what he forgets, not by what he remembers. If recollection forms his visible identity, the bones are of oblivion.” Since his death in 1984... Read More...

[W.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was really rending to read. He writes so beautifully as he is disappearing from this planet. I like some of the poetry I've seen by him quite a bit, but I don't know him well at all as a poet.

[Barry Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written, evocative and ultimately very moving series of essays about Zweig's love affair with France, living there as an expatriate Jew from Brighton Beach who is forced to face his own mortality.

[Dorotea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow... Paul writes so elegantly about the pains and joys of being human.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice prose, a good read despite excessive descriptions of sexual acts and body parts!

[Breean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the writing- many quotable passages. Reminded me of The Mandarins.