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L'Impossible retour
160 pages
Published January 2, 2026
About the author
Amélie Nothomb
112 books6,325 followersAmélie Nothomb, born Fabienne Claire Nothomb, was born in Etterbeek, Belgium on 9 July 1966, to Belgian diplomats. Although Nothomb claims to have been born in Japan, she actually began living in Japan at the age of two until she was five years old. Subsequently, she lived in China, New York, Bangladesh, Burma, the United Kingdom (Coventry) and Laos.
She is from a distinguished Belgian political family; she is notably the grand-niece of Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, a Belgian foreign minister (1980-1981). Her first novel, Hygiène de l'assassin, was published in 1992. Since then, she has published approximately one novel per year with a.o. Les Catilinaires (1995), Stupeur Et Tremblements (1999) and Métaphysique des tubes (2000).
She has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 1999 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française; the Prix René-Fallet; and twice the Prix Alain-Fournier.
While in Japan, she attended a local school and learned Japanese. When she was five the family moved to China. "Quitter le Japon fut pour moi un arrachement" ("Leaving Japan was a wrenching separation for me") she writes in Fear and Trembling. Nothomb moved often, and did not live in Europe until she was 17, when she moved to Brussels. There, she reportedly felt as much a stranger as everywhere else. She studied philology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. After some family tensions, she returned to Japan to work in a big Japanese company in Tokyo. Her experience of this time is told in Fear and Trembling. She has written a romanticized biography (Robert des noms propres) for the French female singer RoBERT in 2002 and during the period 2000-2002 she wrote the lyrics for nine tracks of the same artist. Many ideas inserted in her books come from the conversations she had with an Italian man, from late eighties and during the nineties. She used the French Minitel, while he used the Italian Videotel system, connected with the French one. They never met personally.
Source: Wikipedia
She is from a distinguished Belgian political family; she is notably the grand-niece of Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, a Belgian foreign minister (1980-1981). Her first novel, Hygiène de l'assassin, was published in 1992. Since then, she has published approximately one novel per year with a.o. Les Catilinaires (1995), Stupeur Et Tremblements (1999) and Métaphysique des tubes (2000).
She has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 1999 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française; the Prix René-Fallet; and twice the Prix Alain-Fournier.
While in Japan, she attended a local school and learned Japanese. When she was five the family moved to China. "Quitter le Japon fut pour moi un arrachement" ("Leaving Japan was a wrenching separation for me") she writes in Fear and Trembling. Nothomb moved often, and did not live in Europe until she was 17, when she moved to Brussels. There, she reportedly felt as much a stranger as everywhere else. She studied philology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. After some family tensions, she returned to Japan to work in a big Japanese company in Tokyo. Her experience of this time is told in Fear and Trembling. She has written a romanticized biography (Robert des noms propres) for the French female singer RoBERT in 2002 and during the period 2000-2002 she wrote the lyrics for nine tracks of the same artist. Many ideas inserted in her books come from the conversations she had with an Italian man, from late eighties and during the nineties. She used the French Minitel, while he used the Italian Videotel system, connected with the French one. They never met personally.
Source: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 22, 2026
Je déteste Pep.
May 15, 2026
Histoire d’un amour impossible : madame Nothomb et le Japon.
Ce récit, chargé d’un sarcasme bien dosé, ne raconte pas une nouvelle histoire chez l’autrice, mais plutôt elle expérimente une sorte de réconciliation avec son pays d’origine; à la fois familier et étranger.
Le combo Nothomb-Pep parle, à son tour, d’une amitié basé sur l’intimité, les décennies et le respect.
Le pays du soleil levant nous touche avec ses mœurs, ses tonalités, ses goûts… Cette révision intime de l’histoire nippone de Nothomb vaut le coup.
Ce récit, chargé d’un sarcasme bien dosé, ne raconte pas une nouvelle histoire chez l’autrice, mais plutôt elle expérimente une sorte de réconciliation avec son pays d’origine; à la fois familier et étranger.
Le combo Nothomb-Pep parle, à son tour, d’une amitié basé sur l’intimité, les décennies et le respect.
Le pays du soleil levant nous touche avec ses mœurs, ses tonalités, ses goûts… Cette révision intime de l’histoire nippone de Nothomb vaut le coup.
April 21, 2026
Enfin un retour a du vrai Amélie Nothomb.
J’ai adoré le livre.
Toutefois, je suis chagrinée de voir qu’Amélie maintient cette amitié toxique.
Pep prend, de toute évidence, du plaisir à la rabaisser et à lui interdire toute émotion ou expression excessive de joie. C’est franchement fatigant. Je plains Amélie de croire que cette femme est une vraie, voire une bonne amie.
Vous méritez mieux, Amélie!
J’ai adoré le livre.
Toutefois, je suis chagrinée de voir qu’Amélie maintient cette amitié toxique.
Pep prend, de toute évidence, du plaisir à la rabaisser et à lui interdire toute émotion ou expression excessive de joie. C’est franchement fatigant. Je plains Amélie de croire que cette femme est une vraie, voire une bonne amie.
Vous méritez mieux, Amélie!
April 6, 2026
No importa lo que escriba, siempre la leo con gusto. Me he reconocido en su nostalgia casi patológica y en sus silencios deliberados, en mi opinión inteligentes, aunque a veces se interpreten como vacíos de actividad.
He disfrutado de la pequeña muestra de Japón que ofrece a través de sus palabras.
Sigo confirmando que, con cada libro, la conozco más y mejor. Me encanta.
He disfrutado de la pequeña muestra de Japón que ofrece a través de sus palabras.
Sigo confirmando que, con cada libro, la conozco más y mejor. Me encanta.
June 11, 2026
Bardzo ciekawa książka, przyjemnie się ją czyta. Autorka opisuje swoją podróż do Japonii w której spędziła swoje dzieciństwo i kilka lat jako dorosła kobieta. Kilka ciekawych niesztampowych refleksji o powrotach dokąd i o odkrywaniu na nowo miejsc z dzieciństwa.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews