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Lettres d'amour et de guerre
Dans l'intimité d'un couple séparé par la guerre.
Séparés par la guerre en Ukraine, Viktoriyaet Pavlo Matyusha ont décidé de s'écrire des lettres, à l'heure des WhatsApp et des Facetime. Lui est romancier, et bien qu'il ne soit pas mobilisable – à 40 ans et père de quatre enfants –, il s'est enrôlé dès l'invasion russe. Viktoriya, agente littéraire et interprète, trouve refuge en France. Seule avec ses enfants dans un pays étranger, elle ne comprend pas que Pavlo reste au front. Cette correspondance devient pour eux un exutoire. Doan Bui, grand reporter à L'Obs et d'origine vietnamienne, trouve dans leurs dialogues un écho à l'histoire de ses parents, eux aussi déchirés par la guerre. Elle vient greffer sa voix off à leurs lettres, qui parlent de violence, de deuil, du chagrin des guerres,
mais pas seulement. Dans ces missives, il est aussi et surtout question d'amour.
Plusieurs de ces lettres ont déjà été publiées par Doan Bui dans L'Obs.
Séparés par la guerre en Ukraine, Viktoriyaet Pavlo Matyusha ont décidé de s'écrire des lettres, à l'heure des WhatsApp et des Facetime. Lui est romancier, et bien qu'il ne soit pas mobilisable – à 40 ans et père de quatre enfants –, il s'est enrôlé dès l'invasion russe. Viktoriya, agente littéraire et interprète, trouve refuge en France. Seule avec ses enfants dans un pays étranger, elle ne comprend pas que Pavlo reste au front. Cette correspondance devient pour eux un exutoire. Doan Bui, grand reporter à L'Obs et d'origine vietnamienne, trouve dans leurs dialogues un écho à l'histoire de ses parents, eux aussi déchirés par la guerre. Elle vient greffer sa voix off à leurs lettres, qui parlent de violence, de deuil, du chagrin des guerres,
mais pas seulement. Dans ces missives, il est aussi et surtout question d'amour.
Plusieurs de ces lettres ont déjà été publiées par Doan Bui dans L'Obs.
311 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 4, 2026
Lettres d`amour et de guerre is a book about intimacy under the stress of war. It evokes the power of literature to go beyond propaganda and to suggest to the reader the life and feelings of people living far away, in difficult conditions. Unfortunately, it is not a very popular book outside literary circles from where I found out about it, and I recommend it to anyone interested in going beyond simplistic ideas about the Russo-Ukrainian War, refugees and people caught in this tragedy. It is impressive and written with style.
Lettres d`amour et de guerre is built in two stages, united by the theme of imperialism. Doan Bui is a French journalist of (South) Vietnamese origin, who works for Nouvel Observateur on subjects like refugees. There are many parallels between Russian and Western European imperialism, one of them being the role played by language in the policies of the occupiers that attempt to erase native identities. As France tried in Indochine, Russia promoted its idiom and culture not only as a pragmatic device, but also as a sign of a supposedly more refined and modern civilization.
Lettres d`amour et de guerre goes into the depths of individual attitudes, during the war. It is a very humane and moving work, having in its center, Pavlo and Viktoria, a married couple with four children, who were separated by war. She had to take refuge in France, he volunteered to serve his country in the war against Russia, as an artillery instructor. They are literary people, Palvo, a rising star in writing and Viktoria, an editor and translator, and their letters represent most of the book`s content.
Writing letters in the age of the Internet is an intriguing device. Lettres d`amour et de guerre attests to the limit of communication by means of computers, and the texts were written by hand and passed on by Doan Bui from Pavlo to Viktoria and back. The reader sees a relationship going through ups and downs, people living under dire conditions, with a lot of death and suffering around them. There is also hope and humanity, nevertheless.
One also is struck by what Pavlo and Viktoria don`t tell, by the context of communication, the fact that they agreed to reveal their most intimate thoughts and feelings to strangers all over the (French) speaking world. There is a tale evolving in these letters, one that contains the promise that people will find a way out, even under dire conditions. The Romanian edition is very well prepared, with Mihai Traista, a Romanian writer of Ukrainian origin, providing the linguistic review. It is a book that will appeal to writers, yet I think that Lettres d`amour et de guerre is interesting for a wider audience, because of the universality of its message.
Lettres d`amour et de guerre is built in two stages, united by the theme of imperialism. Doan Bui is a French journalist of (South) Vietnamese origin, who works for Nouvel Observateur on subjects like refugees. There are many parallels between Russian and Western European imperialism, one of them being the role played by language in the policies of the occupiers that attempt to erase native identities. As France tried in Indochine, Russia promoted its idiom and culture not only as a pragmatic device, but also as a sign of a supposedly more refined and modern civilization.
Lettres d`amour et de guerre goes into the depths of individual attitudes, during the war. It is a very humane and moving work, having in its center, Pavlo and Viktoria, a married couple with four children, who were separated by war. She had to take refuge in France, he volunteered to serve his country in the war against Russia, as an artillery instructor. They are literary people, Palvo, a rising star in writing and Viktoria, an editor and translator, and their letters represent most of the book`s content.
Writing letters in the age of the Internet is an intriguing device. Lettres d`amour et de guerre attests to the limit of communication by means of computers, and the texts were written by hand and passed on by Doan Bui from Pavlo to Viktoria and back. The reader sees a relationship going through ups and downs, people living under dire conditions, with a lot of death and suffering around them. There is also hope and humanity, nevertheless.
One also is struck by what Pavlo and Viktoria don`t tell, by the context of communication, the fact that they agreed to reveal their most intimate thoughts and feelings to strangers all over the (French) speaking world. There is a tale evolving in these letters, one that contains the promise that people will find a way out, even under dire conditions. The Romanian edition is very well prepared, with Mihai Traista, a Romanian writer of Ukrainian origin, providing the linguistic review. It is a book that will appeal to writers, yet I think that Lettres d`amour et de guerre is interesting for a wider audience, because of the universality of its message.
Displaying 1 of 1 review