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EMPREINTE DE L'ANGE (L') by NANCY HUSTON
From Nancy Huston, a Canadian writer who's lived in France for a couple of decades, comes a modest proposal in the form of a novel: Maybe millennial fiction shouldn't look forward. Maybe it should look back to the shames and sadnesses of the 20th century. The Mark of the Angel, Huston's U.S. debut and a bestseller in France, tells the story of Saffie, a young German girl who takes a job as a housekeeper in 1957 Paris. Her employer, a brilliant young flautist named Raphael, falls hard for her, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that he finds her "impassive" and "impenetrable." Hard-eyed Saffie seems to sleepwalk through life, and as if in a dream, she and Raphael marry and have a son, Emil. When Raphael sends her off to have his flute repaired one day, he little suspects what he's setting in motion. In András, the instrument maker, Saffie finds a damaged twin. Both are victims of the horrible experiment of Hitler's war: German Saffie has endured not only rape and torture but also the knowledge of her own family's Nazi sympathies. Hungarian Jew András has lost his family and his country. The two embody the horrors that Europeans visited on each other in the middle of the 20th century. And they covertly embark on a five-year affair, during which their love comes to be sorely tested by the Algerian war for independence from France.
Huston's prose is cool, opaque, ironic, and intensely romantic. Her style and her story both owe a great debt to Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being, a debt she seems to acknowledge explicitly: "Saffie is crushed, stifled, petrified by the... how to put it... the unbearable tenuousness of the moment... Dizzy with inexistence, she clutches at András's arm--and he, misunderstanding, sets Emil down in a chair on the café terrace--turns to his lover--takes her in his arms and begins to waltz with her... Ah! Thanks to András, the hideous unreality of the world has been held at bay once again, movement has turned back into true movement, instead of immobility in disguise." Kundera's preoccupation with Nietzsche's concept of the eternal return is clearly at work here too: The past, Huston warns us loud and clear, is never past. --Claire Dederer
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First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Nancy Huston
115 books316 followers(from Wikipedia)
Huston lived in Calgary until age fifteen, at which time her family moved to Wilton, New Hampshire, USA. She studied at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she was given the opportunity to spend a year of her studies in Paris. Arriving in Paris in 1973, Huston obtained a Master's Degree from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, writing a thesis on swear words under the supervision of Roland Barthes.
(Actes Sud)
Née à Calgary (Canada), Nancy Huston, qui vit à Paris, a publié de nombreux romans et essais chez Actes Sud et chez Leméac, parmi lesquels Instruments des ténèbres (1996, prix Goncourt des lycéens et prix du livre Inter), L'empreinte de l'ange (1998, grand prix des lectrices de ElleJ et Lignes de faille (2006, prix Femina).
Huston lived in Calgary until age fifteen, at which time her family moved to Wilton, New Hampshire, USA. She studied at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she was given the opportunity to spend a year of her studies in Paris. Arriving in Paris in 1973, Huston obtained a Master's Degree from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, writing a thesis on swear words under the supervision of Roland Barthes.
(Actes Sud)
Née à Calgary (Canada), Nancy Huston, qui vit à Paris, a publié de nombreux romans et essais chez Actes Sud et chez Leméac, parmi lesquels Instruments des ténèbres (1996, prix Goncourt des lycéens et prix du livre Inter), L'empreinte de l'ange (1998, grand prix des lectrices de ElleJ et Lignes de faille (2006, prix Femina).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
December 19, 2025
sahafta aldığım bir hazineymiş. öyle diyeyim. ve öyle de kalacak. çünkü yayımlanma ihtimali pek yokmuş. çünkü bizim müthiş okurumuz nancy huston gibi bir yazarı okumamış doğru düzgün 😤
çok garip, mesafeli ve aynı zamanda geveze bir biçimde detaycı anlatıcıyı nasıl birleştirmiş “meleğin izi”nde nancy hanım bilmiyorum ama fransızların bu kadın hikayelerini anlatırken kurduğu o soğuk dili çok seviyorum. (bununla ilgili liste yapayım bir gün)
2.dünya savaşından 10 yıl sonra paris’e hizmetçi olmaya giden saffie, süregiden alman düşmanlığı, saffie’nin duygusuzluğu ve evin beyinin seks objesi olması sonrası bir anda hızlanan hayat…
duygusuz bir kadın saffie, doğan çocuğunu bile sevmeyi beceremiyor, geçmişi savaş ve şiddet dolu, anlatmıyor, kuru, donuk bir kadın. ve bir anda hayatına macar yahudisi andreas giriyor. çifte yaşam sürmeye başlıyor ve aşık olduğu için çocuğunu da sevmeyi öğreniyor. kocasını da hatta.
bu üçlü ilişki müthiş anlatılmış. nancy huston araya girip lafa karışıyor, bazen bilgece konuşuyor, arka planda cezayir meselesini didikliyor, 60’lara geldiğimizde fransa’nın yediği hurmalar şeklinde paris’te patlamalar, cezayir’de iç savaş başlıyor.
politikanın bu kadar ustalıkla metne dahil edilmesine bayıldım. nancy huston’ın lafa karışıp tarafını belirtmesine de. saffie’nin yavaş yavaş açılması, geçmişinden bahsetmesi ve sevgi dolu babasını hatırlaması da romanda siyaset ve aşkla birlikte ilerliyor.
arada camus’ler, sartre’lar da beliriyor, bazen almanak gibi tarihi olayları diziyor art arda nancy huston ve bunu mucizevi bir biçimde olaya bağlıyor. bu romanı elle dergisi okurlarından ödül kazanmış 1999’da (bu arada can da 2000’de basmış, mükemmel hizmet.) dedim fransa’nın elle okuru nere bizdeki nere…
yani kitabın baskısı olsa yazardım çünkü çok beğendim. belki yine yazarım ama biraz anlamsız olur. aylin yengin çevirisi de yazarın mesafesini çok iyi aktarmış. bence nancy huston kitaplarını kaçırmayın.
çok garip, mesafeli ve aynı zamanda geveze bir biçimde detaycı anlatıcıyı nasıl birleştirmiş “meleğin izi”nde nancy hanım bilmiyorum ama fransızların bu kadın hikayelerini anlatırken kurduğu o soğuk dili çok seviyorum. (bununla ilgili liste yapayım bir gün)
2.dünya savaşından 10 yıl sonra paris’e hizmetçi olmaya giden saffie, süregiden alman düşmanlığı, saffie’nin duygusuzluğu ve evin beyinin seks objesi olması sonrası bir anda hızlanan hayat…
duygusuz bir kadın saffie, doğan çocuğunu bile sevmeyi beceremiyor, geçmişi savaş ve şiddet dolu, anlatmıyor, kuru, donuk bir kadın. ve bir anda hayatına macar yahudisi andreas giriyor. çifte yaşam sürmeye başlıyor ve aşık olduğu için çocuğunu da sevmeyi öğreniyor. kocasını da hatta.
bu üçlü ilişki müthiş anlatılmış. nancy huston araya girip lafa karışıyor, bazen bilgece konuşuyor, arka planda cezayir meselesini didikliyor, 60’lara geldiğimizde fransa’nın yediği hurmalar şeklinde paris’te patlamalar, cezayir’de iç savaş başlıyor.
politikanın bu kadar ustalıkla metne dahil edilmesine bayıldım. nancy huston’ın lafa karışıp tarafını belirtmesine de. saffie’nin yavaş yavaş açılması, geçmişinden bahsetmesi ve sevgi dolu babasını hatırlaması da romanda siyaset ve aşkla birlikte ilerliyor.
arada camus’ler, sartre’lar da beliriyor, bazen almanak gibi tarihi olayları diziyor art arda nancy huston ve bunu mucizevi bir biçimde olaya bağlıyor. bu romanı elle dergisi okurlarından ödül kazanmış 1999’da (bu arada can da 2000’de basmış, mükemmel hizmet.) dedim fransa’nın elle okuru nere bizdeki nere…
yani kitabın baskısı olsa yazardım çünkü çok beğendim. belki yine yazarım ama biraz anlamsız olur. aylin yengin çevirisi de yazarın mesafesini çok iyi aktarmış. bence nancy huston kitaplarını kaçırmayın.
January 28, 2008
I own a copy of this book I'd be willing to burn, but there is no checkbox option on here for that.
There are three things I hate in any story. This book does all of them.
The first is to have unsympathetic, static characters. No one in this book is a good person. Nor are they bad people in interesting ways. The characters are flat, sad, and awful.
Second, having a book be essentially about the slow decline of awful, unsympathetic people is one thing. Having a cheap and stupid climax is an entirely new level of stupid. Throwing a child under a train is the same type of quick fix as dropping a bomb or having an otherwise healthy character suddenly die for no reason of health complications or other such obvious contrivance. Death in books should have a point, it isn't the crowning moment if the death is put in like an afterthought. This scene basically reads like the author was out of ideas for how to make her static, awful characters even more awful.
Which leads to the third thing the writer does that I despise. The second person. And not the choose your own adventure second person, no, this is the 'literary' second person. The author uses the 'you' to try to draw the reader into the scenes. This almost never works. As a reader, I'm going to be having my own reactions and feelings when reading the story. If the writing is good I'll hardly need to be told that "you feel a sadness in the air" or that "you see a rundown apartment, full of old memories and stale toast." (These are my own examples, not direct quotes, but they give an idea of the type of prose I'm talking about here).
These elements combined to make this book as painful to read as chewing glass. Why did I finish the book? It was not out of optimism, but masochistic competitive desire to see it through. If I quit reading, the book would have won, since trying to put a reader through the literary equivalent of being punched in the face by a pretentious mob, over and over seems to have been the goal of the author. At least I hope that was her goal, because that is the experience I took away from this novel.
There are three things I hate in any story. This book does all of them.
The first is to have unsympathetic, static characters. No one in this book is a good person. Nor are they bad people in interesting ways. The characters are flat, sad, and awful.
Second, having a book be essentially about the slow decline of awful, unsympathetic people is one thing. Having a cheap and stupid climax is an entirely new level of stupid. Throwing a child under a train is the same type of quick fix as dropping a bomb or having an otherwise healthy character suddenly die for no reason of health complications or other such obvious contrivance. Death in books should have a point, it isn't the crowning moment if the death is put in like an afterthought. This scene basically reads like the author was out of ideas for how to make her static, awful characters even more awful.
Which leads to the third thing the writer does that I despise. The second person. And not the choose your own adventure second person, no, this is the 'literary' second person. The author uses the 'you' to try to draw the reader into the scenes. This almost never works. As a reader, I'm going to be having my own reactions and feelings when reading the story. If the writing is good I'll hardly need to be told that "you feel a sadness in the air" or that "you see a rundown apartment, full of old memories and stale toast." (These are my own examples, not direct quotes, but they give an idea of the type of prose I'm talking about here).
These elements combined to make this book as painful to read as chewing glass. Why did I finish the book? It was not out of optimism, but masochistic competitive desire to see it through. If I quit reading, the book would have won, since trying to put a reader through the literary equivalent of being punched in the face by a pretentious mob, over and over seems to have been the goal of the author. At least I hope that was her goal, because that is the experience I took away from this novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 10, 2008
WOW! Again, it was one of those books that when i started it, wasn't sure if i'd bother to finish it. It seemed silly and slow and almost amateur. However, the farther i read the more i became enthralled in it! Amateur, it is NOT! It's the kind of story that is about everything and nothing all at once....just a glimpse into the lives of the characters.
June 23, 2019
Дивна-дивна-дивна книжка. Вірніше, чому дивна? Вона дуже французька (технічно - франкоканадська) і у французькості своїй цілковито послідовна - кипучий Париж, меланхолійний флер, адюльтер як двигун сюжету, десь ми таке вже читали, бачили, чули, вчували в повітрі... Трохи дивна "Печатка янгола" тим, що цей роман - наче плід бурхливої творчої співпраці між ранньою Саган (рання - це важливо, пізня й сама вийшла на схожі рейки, але трохи не так) та будь-якою Дюрас, яким викрутили всі налаштування на максимум. Тому окрім круасанів та любові, що падає громом з неба, тут ще багато про Париж часів загострення війни в Алжирі, багато про війну взагалі, а ще про біль, насилля і смерть, що вона приносить із собою. І про невгамовне горе і незагоєні рани, і про близькість і віддаленість колишніх ворогів, і про різницю між справжньою богемою і підбогемленою буржуазією, і ще про багато чого важливого, що іноді тоне в сюжетній мелодрами, а іноді - іронічно підморгує крізь хвилі пристрастей. Ну а дивний фінал, який радше про "щоб красиво", а не про "щоб логічно" - це так... скоринка на тому круасані.
March 7, 2020
خیانت و هوسرانی با عشق اشتباه گرفته شده بود ...!
October 12, 2022
diken üstünde bir metin, anlatımı da normalden farklıydı, az rastlanır bir şey...
August 15, 2024
j’ai plus grand chose à lire alors je pique les livres de ma famille hihi mais nancy huston on adooore
July 15, 2018
An extraordinary book about innocence. A young German woman, Saffie, takes on the job of housekeeper for a Parisian Flautist twelve years after the end of WWII. Her reserve combines with a submissiveness that shocks, yet appeals to, Raphael. In short order he marries her, looking for the ideal married life. His blindness to reality keeps him in the dark while she finds a lover, Andras, a Hungarian Jew, and lives a double life.
Saffie is intent on making a normal life for herself after suffering the loss of her family in the war, and only after much time is she able to talk at all about what she remembers. Andras is caught up in the Algerian war for independence from France, which is brought home to Algerians living in Paris in a horrifying way. He joins a resistance movement and can't comprehend Saffie's lack of sight. Raphael is not exactly oblivious to the atrocities committed by his own countrymen while he plays his flute sublimely, but he justifies his lack of a response by pointing to the music he makes.
In the end, who is innocent? Now or then? Beautifully written, often sad but with wit that made me smile, this novel brings the Algerian-French war to the forefront without forcing us to choke on it - although perhaps we should.
Saffie is intent on making a normal life for herself after suffering the loss of her family in the war, and only after much time is she able to talk at all about what she remembers. Andras is caught up in the Algerian war for independence from France, which is brought home to Algerians living in Paris in a horrifying way. He joins a resistance movement and can't comprehend Saffie's lack of sight. Raphael is not exactly oblivious to the atrocities committed by his own countrymen while he plays his flute sublimely, but he justifies his lack of a response by pointing to the music he makes.
In the end, who is innocent? Now or then? Beautifully written, often sad but with wit that made me smile, this novel brings the Algerian-French war to the forefront without forcing us to choke on it - although perhaps we should.
September 29, 2019
Just depressing and a horrible end. Only persevered because it was a v quick read and thought it might get a bit lighter.
May 20, 2022
Цей твір про травми. Спочатку, про одну велику глобальну травму Другої світової. Але також про особисті травми "маленької" людини у ХХ столітті. А також про дуже "французький" спосіб розповіді та роботи з історіями поранених людей. І незрозумілим (для мене) фіналом. Книга варта уваги!
December 22, 2025
Sinceramente, el. mejor libro que he leído este 2025.
January 11, 2022
I had never heard of this contemporary Canadian author. Because it was a book about war with particular mention of the Second World War, I nearly did not pick it up. But as the story started in 1957 in Paris, I thought I should give it a go.
Saffie, a young German woman, becomes a maid to a French flautist. The musician falls in love with her and marries her, but he does not understand his German wife at all or knows anything about the traumas she has endured during the war. It is not a happy marriage but endured by both parties. They have a baby and then one day Saffie meets a Hungarian musical instrument repairer. At the moment of their meeting she falls in love with him.
During the novel we learn that András, the instrument repairer, is Jewish and that he and his family have suffered from the German war atrocities. But Saffie and András meet and they love each other.
Although András fled Communist Hungary after the war, he is a sympathiser with the Algerian Marxists who are fighting for independence. The book is set in Paris and we hear about the Algerian conflict and the violence inflicted on the Muslims in Algeria and in France.
The flautist musician is aware that wars and conflicts exist around him. But he finds solace in his music and he considers his music making as solace for others.
In her book Huston shows us that every generation lives through wars and conflicts, and new people are born into the conflicts and traumas of previous generations. Huston gently alerts us that war will remain with us, because we never learn and we get old and we forget.
Saffie, a young German woman, becomes a maid to a French flautist. The musician falls in love with her and marries her, but he does not understand his German wife at all or knows anything about the traumas she has endured during the war. It is not a happy marriage but endured by both parties. They have a baby and then one day Saffie meets a Hungarian musical instrument repairer. At the moment of their meeting she falls in love with him.
During the novel we learn that András, the instrument repairer, is Jewish and that he and his family have suffered from the German war atrocities. But Saffie and András meet and they love each other.
Although András fled Communist Hungary after the war, he is a sympathiser with the Algerian Marxists who are fighting for independence. The book is set in Paris and we hear about the Algerian conflict and the violence inflicted on the Muslims in Algeria and in France.
The flautist musician is aware that wars and conflicts exist around him. But he finds solace in his music and he considers his music making as solace for others.
In her book Huston shows us that every generation lives through wars and conflicts, and new people are born into the conflicts and traumas of previous generations. Huston gently alerts us that war will remain with us, because we never learn and we get old and we forget.
November 2, 2010
This author is from France. The book was such a bestseller there that it was translated for the States. Need I say more? While I was in New York City in August 2000 I read in the NY Times Book Review about this book.
It primarily appealed to me because of the review written by Arthur Golden, author of MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. I had just finished his book. Arthur Golden wrote that this book was "Compelling and highly original...You many never read a novel crafted with more wonder and mystery." I would agree with that except for Arthur Goldens' book MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA which deserves the same review. Anyway, that was all it took for me to jot down the title and buy the book at the nearest bookstore. (Normally, I'd have bought it at amazon.com...but I was anxious.)
The Mark of the Angel is simply a love story that takes place during the late 1950s, early 1960s in Paris France. There's an unexpected tragedy at the end. There are underlying historic tragic events written in between.
Here are a few of my favorites lines:
Excited to find himself alone in his own house with a young green-eyed foreigner who says practically nothing.------
Every person's suffering is the most important, isn't it?------
Contrary to what you'd believed during the first hours, the first days, at most the first months of enchantment, the person you love hasn't radically transformed you.------
The body serves a purpose, it can change the course of history.------
"music is my way of taking part in the struggle, making the world a better place to live..."
It primarily appealed to me because of the review written by Arthur Golden, author of MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. I had just finished his book. Arthur Golden wrote that this book was "Compelling and highly original...You many never read a novel crafted with more wonder and mystery." I would agree with that except for Arthur Goldens' book MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA which deserves the same review. Anyway, that was all it took for me to jot down the title and buy the book at the nearest bookstore. (Normally, I'd have bought it at amazon.com...but I was anxious.)
The Mark of the Angel is simply a love story that takes place during the late 1950s, early 1960s in Paris France. There's an unexpected tragedy at the end. There are underlying historic tragic events written in between.
Here are a few of my favorites lines:
Excited to find himself alone in his own house with a young green-eyed foreigner who says practically nothing.------
Every person's suffering is the most important, isn't it?------
Contrary to what you'd believed during the first hours, the first days, at most the first months of enchantment, the person you love hasn't radically transformed you.------
The body serves a purpose, it can change the course of history.------
"music is my way of taking part in the struggle, making the world a better place to live..."
October 3, 2021
Première chose : ce livre est bien écrit. Je reconnais pleinement ça. j'ai adoré le style des 3/4 du livre que j'ai réussi à avaler avant d'abandonner.
À la première page, j'avais accroché à fond. Ça a duré une cinquantaine de pages. Après ça, ce n'est pas le style qui a fait défaut, mais la matière. Ce roman est vide. coups de foudres à deux balles, traumatismes prévisibles, etc. Si à certains niveaux, le roman aborde des thèmes importants : traumatismes des deux bords pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, crimes de guerre pendant la guerre d'Algérie, etc., ces thèmes sont mis derrière une espèce de jour-à-jour descriptif de l'ordinaire couple dysfunctional pas intéressant Mme. Bovarie PTSD.
Redu au chapitre 8, on est tombé dans des scènes tellement "aussi crédible qu'un scénario de film de cul", "Tinto Brass cheap", "tout le monde prêt à baiser tout le monde dans les coins noirs parce que tout le monde baise tout le temps partout, c'est comme ça la vie"... je pouvais pas. J'ai éventuellement fait une croix sur ce livre.
Si Nancy Huston sait très bien écrire styllistiquement, ce roman laisse à douter de son contenu.
À la première page, j'avais accroché à fond. Ça a duré une cinquantaine de pages. Après ça, ce n'est pas le style qui a fait défaut, mais la matière. Ce roman est vide. coups de foudres à deux balles, traumatismes prévisibles, etc. Si à certains niveaux, le roman aborde des thèmes importants : traumatismes des deux bords pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, crimes de guerre pendant la guerre d'Algérie, etc., ces thèmes sont mis derrière une espèce de jour-à-jour descriptif de l'ordinaire couple dysfunctional pas intéressant Mme. Bovarie PTSD.
Redu au chapitre 8, on est tombé dans des scènes tellement "aussi crédible qu'un scénario de film de cul", "Tinto Brass cheap", "tout le monde prêt à baiser tout le monde dans les coins noirs parce que tout le monde baise tout le temps partout, c'est comme ça la vie"... je pouvais pas. J'ai éventuellement fait une croix sur ce livre.
Si Nancy Huston sait très bien écrire styllistiquement, ce roman laisse à douter de son contenu.
November 8, 2013
Beautiful, precise, fallout of infidelity and the horrors of war. Hauntingly sad. Read it in English but if I happen to get my hands on a French copy it would be worth the reread.
January 25, 2022
A young German woman, Zaffie, flees to France after the WWII. She hires herself out as a housekeeper and the young flutist she works for falls madly in love with her. She shows no emotion even after the birth of her son and her husband has no idea what her life had been like during the war nor that she had flashbacks that kept her numb inside. A chance encounter with a Hungarian Jew changes everything and the rest of the story deals with infidelity, war, love, loss, parenthood and pain.
May 17, 2020
Tegemist on huvitava teosega. Pilguheit Teise maailmasõja järgsesse Pariisi, samal ajal aga on pinged kogunemas mujal.
Peatgelane Saffie on salapärane ning jääb tegelikult terve loo vältel tabamatuks. Lugeja küll saab osa natuke tema mõtetest, minevikust ja olevikust, kuid siiski jääb neiu nii saladuslikuks. Eriti pärast romaani lõppu.
Väga nautisin raamatu keelelist poolt, autor kohtleb lugejat kui külastajat, kellel võtab käe alt kinni ning viib reisile. Unelevad, pehmemad episoodid vahelduvad valusate meenutuste või momentidega, mis mõjuvad šokeerivalt ning lõikavad hinge.
Omapärane rahulikus tempos kulgev valus romaan.
Kiitus tõlkijale!!
Peatgelane Saffie on salapärane ning jääb tegelikult terve loo vältel tabamatuks. Lugeja küll saab osa natuke tema mõtetest, minevikust ja olevikust, kuid siiski jääb neiu nii saladuslikuks. Eriti pärast romaani lõppu.
Väga nautisin raamatu keelelist poolt, autor kohtleb lugejat kui külastajat, kellel võtab käe alt kinni ning viib reisile. Unelevad, pehmemad episoodid vahelduvad valusate meenutuste või momentidega, mis mõjuvad šokeerivalt ning lõikavad hinge.
Omapärane rahulikus tempos kulgev valus romaan.
Kiitus tõlkijale!!
August 5, 2020
Nauding tõlkest, keelest! Ka lugu ise paeluv, kuigi teemad valusad. Kui millegi üle nuriseda, siis ehk selle üle, et paljuks läks kogu seda valu ja haavade lahti kiskumist. Minevikust hüppas aina uusi ja uusi koledusi välja, mõjus natuke võltsilt kuidagi.
April 15, 2023
Il y a eu un petit creux passé le début du livre, mais il faut continuer. L’intérêt revient rapidement et l’histoire est autant captivante que touchante.
September 20, 2023
'Nous avançons grotesquement, à cloche-cloche, écartelés : un pied dans nos petites histoires et l'autre dans l´Histoire du siècle.'
October 3, 2023
La plot twist de l’humanité. C’était étrange af
August 31, 2024
Kirja, josta en tiennyt mitään muuta kuin sen, että se oli ainakin vuoden ollut sisustuselementtinä minun ikkunalaudalla. Alku herätti mielenkiinnon, mutta pian se jo muuttui vastenmielisyydeksi, inhoksi. Silti kirja piti sisällään elämän sekä ihmisen kauneuden ja kauheuden. Eritoten sen kauheuden.
July 1, 2021
I am struggling with this review a little bit. I certainly didn't hate the book but there are so many things I'm giving a bit of a "wtf" attitude to.
Quick rundown: Saffie is a young, German girl of twenty who arrives in France in 1957. Answers an ad by Raphael for a maid, gets hired. He falls for her, they get married, have a baby. She starts an affair with an instrument maker named Andras. Tale ends in tragedy.
First off, I've yet to see anyone even mention the fact that Raphael basically rapes Saffie. I was already annoyed by the fact that he starts announcing he is in love with her after meeting her for all of five minutes. A meeting in which she barely even speaks and just stands there like a shadow. Then suddenly, a few days later, he basically just pulls her on the bed and "sticks it in"? She doesn't protest, but she doesn't act like it's enjoyable. Then after the second time he asks her to marry him. She says yes but I think it becomes fairly obvious to the reader that she wants to shed her German identity.
Saffie gets pregnant and it's very clear from the get-go she's not happy about it. Raphael thinks a baby will make her happy because, ya know, women can't live fulfilling lives otherwise.
At first Saffie doesn't connect with the child but eventually their relationship grows. She meets Andras and once again it is love at first sight and they begin their affair. They get away with it for FIVE YEARS. And she brings her son, Emil, with her every time so he also builds a relationship with Andras. Which is a bit messed up but whatever.
Raphael eventually spots them out together and takes Emil on a train ride to "visit his grandmother" (aka interrogate him on Saffie's relationship with Andras). Long story short Emil falls to his death after Raphael hangs him out an open door while the train is moving. Saffie disappears. And that is basically it. Wtf?
So yeah. None of the main characters (besides Emil) are good people. They aren't bad per se but I think a little honesty could have gone a long way.
Quick rundown: Saffie is a young, German girl of twenty who arrives in France in 1957. Answers an ad by Raphael for a maid, gets hired. He falls for her, they get married, have a baby. She starts an affair with an instrument maker named Andras. Tale ends in tragedy.
First off, I've yet to see anyone even mention the fact that Raphael basically rapes Saffie. I was already annoyed by the fact that he starts announcing he is in love with her after meeting her for all of five minutes. A meeting in which she barely even speaks and just stands there like a shadow. Then suddenly, a few days later, he basically just pulls her on the bed and "sticks it in"? She doesn't protest, but she doesn't act like it's enjoyable. Then after the second time he asks her to marry him. She says yes but I think it becomes fairly obvious to the reader that she wants to shed her German identity.
Saffie gets pregnant and it's very clear from the get-go she's not happy about it. Raphael thinks a baby will make her happy because, ya know, women can't live fulfilling lives otherwise.
At first Saffie doesn't connect with the child but eventually their relationship grows. She meets Andras and once again it is love at first sight and they begin their affair. They get away with it for FIVE YEARS. And she brings her son, Emil, with her every time so he also builds a relationship with Andras. Which is a bit messed up but whatever.
Raphael eventually spots them out together and takes Emil on a train ride to "visit his grandmother" (aka interrogate him on Saffie's relationship with Andras). Long story short Emil falls to his death after Raphael hangs him out an open door while the train is moving. Saffie disappears. And that is basically it. Wtf?
So yeah. None of the main characters (besides Emil) are good people. They aren't bad per se but I think a little honesty could have gone a long way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2011
No sé qué hacer con esta lectura.
Desde el comienzo sabes que estás entrando de lleno a la "novela del siglo XXI". Nada tan experimental como para ser incomprensible, pero, con esos guiños del narrador/autor que te ubican en una forma contemporánea de hacer literatura.
Al final, la novela, la autora, quien cuenta nos da un bofetadón y hace un planteamiento poco usual, ¿lo digo? ¿Realmente importa? Bueno, no lo haré, quizás sí lean el libro, aunque lo dudo.
Nunca me ha gustado contar la trama. La anécdota es simple, pero, poco importa. Habla del amor, de la paternidad, de la manera en cómo la historia, los acontecimientos, como las guerras, las revueltas, la segregación racial, religiosa, afectan la vida de las personas. Y como no podemos "escapar" o vivir ignorando nuestro entorno, que, como está conectado con todo, termina tocándonos, a veces, nos hiere, otras nos da felicidad.
Un poco trata de la alta cultura europea y como esta no es pareja (qué raro). Un poco de la "aportación" que hace, indirectamente, el arte a las divergencias políticas.
Tomé el libro porque alguien me habló de los "ángeles" y porque la solapa ensalzaba a la autora, lo leí porque papá, en quien confío para la biblioteca andante que es, tenía no sólo esta, sino otra novela más de la autora. Leemos a veces por las cuestiones más extrañas, inusuales, y lo que sí es seguro, es que no puedes ser la misma persona que comienza el libro que la que la termina. (Heráclito)
Durante los 20 días que me tomó leer esta novela, mi vida tomó varios giros inesperados, la mayoría de ellos, muy buenos, buenísimos. Y por eso, el final, no abrupto, pero sí radical de la obra, me deja perplejo, lleno de preguntas, y con la tranquilidad, la confianza que te la literatura de que puedes volver a ella, como quien vuelve a los clichés, a los lugares seguros, sabiendo que ellos no te explicaran cómo tomar la vida, pero que te permitirán acceder a otro punto de vista, a otra perspectiva.
Desde el comienzo sabes que estás entrando de lleno a la "novela del siglo XXI". Nada tan experimental como para ser incomprensible, pero, con esos guiños del narrador/autor que te ubican en una forma contemporánea de hacer literatura.
Al final, la novela, la autora, quien cuenta nos da un bofetadón y hace un planteamiento poco usual, ¿lo digo? ¿Realmente importa? Bueno, no lo haré, quizás sí lean el libro, aunque lo dudo.
Nunca me ha gustado contar la trama. La anécdota es simple, pero, poco importa. Habla del amor, de la paternidad, de la manera en cómo la historia, los acontecimientos, como las guerras, las revueltas, la segregación racial, religiosa, afectan la vida de las personas. Y como no podemos "escapar" o vivir ignorando nuestro entorno, que, como está conectado con todo, termina tocándonos, a veces, nos hiere, otras nos da felicidad.
Un poco trata de la alta cultura europea y como esta no es pareja (qué raro). Un poco de la "aportación" que hace, indirectamente, el arte a las divergencias políticas.
Tomé el libro porque alguien me habló de los "ángeles" y porque la solapa ensalzaba a la autora, lo leí porque papá, en quien confío para la biblioteca andante que es, tenía no sólo esta, sino otra novela más de la autora. Leemos a veces por las cuestiones más extrañas, inusuales, y lo que sí es seguro, es que no puedes ser la misma persona que comienza el libro que la que la termina. (Heráclito)
Durante los 20 días que me tomó leer esta novela, mi vida tomó varios giros inesperados, la mayoría de ellos, muy buenos, buenísimos. Y por eso, el final, no abrupto, pero sí radical de la obra, me deja perplejo, lleno de preguntas, y con la tranquilidad, la confianza que te la literatura de que puedes volver a ella, como quien vuelve a los clichés, a los lugares seguros, sabiendo que ellos no te explicaran cómo tomar la vida, pero que te permitirán acceder a otro punto de vista, a otra perspectiva.
December 21, 2017
Out of the bookcase as I was looking for material I had not read and this beautiful and powerful story came to my hand and I am absolutely blown away!
What a story. A young German woman (Sapphie) comes to work as a maid for a young French musician (Raphael) who has a great deal of money. It is hard to say whether he falls in love with her at the start or whether he simply wants her. Nonetheless they had a sexual relationship which results in marriage and a child (Emil) which she does not want. He sends her to the instrument repair show where she meets a man (Andras) with whom she knows she has a bond which results in their making love almost immediately.
For five years this relationship continues as Huston explores her Germanness and his Jewishness and the horror of the French/Algerian war of independence. The ending is as bizarre as the opening. Raphael accidentally drops Emil over the side of the train and Sapphie disappears.
What a story. A young German woman (Sapphie) comes to work as a maid for a young French musician (Raphael) who has a great deal of money. It is hard to say whether he falls in love with her at the start or whether he simply wants her. Nonetheless they had a sexual relationship which results in marriage and a child (Emil) which she does not want. He sends her to the instrument repair show where she meets a man (Andras) with whom she knows she has a bond which results in their making love almost immediately.
For five years this relationship continues as Huston explores her Germanness and his Jewishness and the horror of the French/Algerian war of independence. The ending is as bizarre as the opening. Raphael accidentally drops Emil over the side of the train and Sapphie disappears.
November 14, 2013
SPOILER ALERT. painfully recognizable, this novel in a nutshell deals with war, french imperialism, love and betrayal. i had a very tough time getting through this story. i couldnt get into saffies mindset at all. spoiler alert ahead.
i dont care if she was unhappy with her husband. he meant well although he remains a flawed human being. you just dont betray people like this. im too much familiar with the dark side of love to enjoy reading about adultery so misschievously and heartbreakingly described in its simplicity. i really tried though.
i dont care if she was unhappy with her husband. he meant well although he remains a flawed human being. you just dont betray people like this. im too much familiar with the dark side of love to enjoy reading about adultery so misschievously and heartbreakingly described in its simplicity. i really tried though.
October 15, 2016
L'histoire de 2 personnes hantées, chacune à leur manière, par les atrocités de la guerre. Du point de vue des références historiques, ce roman est intéressant. Du point de vue d'une pauvre femme qui fait tellement pitié... pendant 15 ans! et qui s'épanouie par l'adultère, alors là je décroche.
Mais ça c'est moi. Les gens qui font dont pitiées et qui choisissent de vivre dans une mauvaise solution de rechange à long terme parce que c'est plus facile, ça me laisse complètement indifférente à leur sort.
Mais ça c'est moi. Les gens qui font dont pitiées et qui choisissent de vivre dans une mauvaise solution de rechange à long terme parce que c'est plus facile, ça me laisse complètement indifférente à leur sort.
August 21, 2019
The historical bits about WWII were the only redeemable parts of this shitshow of a book. The writing? Basic and godawful. The characters? Flat, not intriguing in any way, and thrown under the train(sorry) to further the plot. The beginning felt like a مودب پور novel.
July 29, 2017
Αληθεια, τι ειναι αγαπη και ερωτας;
May 11, 2018
Un livre qui se lit très vite, au style original, sur les années 50 et 60 en France (et sur une histoire d'amour et/ou d'indifférence et/ou de trauma).
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