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Désirs et réalités: textes choisis, 1978-1994
Entre désirs et réalités, par quelques textes passionnés, Nancy Huston jette des ponts qu'il faut traverser pour aller au coeur de son oeuvre romanesque.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
12 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Huston
115 books314 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 13, 2025
J’ai eu une certaine difficulté avec la première partie du livre… challenging read. Mais à part de certes passages qui n’ont pas trop bien vieilli j’ai aimé. Surtout la dissertation sur Kundera et n’importe quoi qui a porté au manque d’identité canadienne
April 24, 2012
Nancy Huston is an Anglo-Canadian who has made her life in Paris and writes in French. The third section of this book of essays (in French) explores language, exile and identity from this unique perspective: the pleasures she takes in being a foreigner in her new 'home' country and the pains of always being a foreigner also, alongside the impossibility of a return to her native Alberta.
I read this book after Nord Perdu; Suivi De, Douze France, a slightly later exploration of the same themes, and mostly read this anthology because Nord perdu is so moving and resonant. These essays are slighter, sketches towards ideas on why one chooses bilingualism and its exiles, yet include some fascinating comments. The brief personal remarks are especially evocative, particularly regarding how Huston may have been affected by her mother's decision to leave the family when Huston was a young girl, taking away her 'mother tongue'. In the earlier section the essays on motherhood are full of insights; I enjoyed the essay La mi-mère, voiced in parallel columns by a child and her step-mother, the discussion of Simone de Beauvoir, and the essay on the ethics of motherhood for a novelist, Le dilemme de la romamancière (the pun in that last title gives away its roots in 80s feminist criticism, but the writing doesn't feel dated to me).
The essays are interesting so I feel a bit ungenerous in only giving 3 stars. The book may deserve more, but it felt a bit tentative. Also, and I really hesitate to say this, there were times when the criticism of the French or of Canadians became uncomfortable (for all that I'm an anglophone living in Paris, so naturally drawn to her perspective). If you've enjoyed Huston's other writings then there's lots of elegant and thoughtful reading here - it's worth a read. If you're new to her, I'd recommend Nord perdu first.
I read this book after Nord Perdu; Suivi De, Douze France, a slightly later exploration of the same themes, and mostly read this anthology because Nord perdu is so moving and resonant. These essays are slighter, sketches towards ideas on why one chooses bilingualism and its exiles, yet include some fascinating comments. The brief personal remarks are especially evocative, particularly regarding how Huston may have been affected by her mother's decision to leave the family when Huston was a young girl, taking away her 'mother tongue'. In the earlier section the essays on motherhood are full of insights; I enjoyed the essay La mi-mère, voiced in parallel columns by a child and her step-mother, the discussion of Simone de Beauvoir, and the essay on the ethics of motherhood for a novelist, Le dilemme de la romamancière (the pun in that last title gives away its roots in 80s feminist criticism, but the writing doesn't feel dated to me).
The essays are interesting so I feel a bit ungenerous in only giving 3 stars. The book may deserve more, but it felt a bit tentative. Also, and I really hesitate to say this, there were times when the criticism of the French or of Canadians became uncomfortable (for all that I'm an anglophone living in Paris, so naturally drawn to her perspective). If you've enjoyed Huston's other writings then there's lots of elegant and thoughtful reading here - it's worth a read. If you're new to her, I'd recommend Nord perdu first.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews