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Sans la miséricorde du Christ
«S'il y avait eu un autre témoin, je lui céderais volontiers la place, ici, pour qu'il mène à bien le récit de la vie d'Adélaïde Marèse, telle qu'elle me la laissa entrevoir au fil des quelques mois où nos exils coïncidèrent. (...) Je tâcherai de décrire le cheminement d'une femme depuis les jours de ce qu'elle appelait le continent austral (...) et qui est morte un dimanche, il y a quelques semaines, à Paris, dans l'une des nefs de l'hôpital Saint-Louis, après avoir vécu ses derniers mois dans le quartier du faubourg Saint-Denis où quelques personnes garderont, avant de s'en aller à leur tour, juste le souvenir de sa silhouette d'institutrice.»
352 pages, Pocket Book
First published January 1, 1985
3 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Hector Bianciotti
40 books13 followersHector Bianciotti was an Argentine-born French author and member of the Académie française.
Born Héctor Bianciotti in Calchin Oeste in Córdoba Province, Argentina, Bianciotti's parents were immigrants from Piedmont, who communicated among themselves in the dialect of that region but who forbade its use with their son. Instead, they spoke Spanish to him. Bianciotti began his study of French in 1945. He arrived in France in 1961 and completed his French naturalization in 1981. In 1982, he stopped writing in any language but French, his favorite.
Bianciotti was elected to the Académie française on 18 January 1996 to Seat 2, succeeding André Frossard.
(from Wikipedia)
Born Héctor Bianciotti in Calchin Oeste in Córdoba Province, Argentina, Bianciotti's parents were immigrants from Piedmont, who communicated among themselves in the dialect of that region but who forbade its use with their son. Instead, they spoke Spanish to him. Bianciotti began his study of French in 1945. He arrived in France in 1961 and completed his French naturalization in 1981. In 1982, he stopped writing in any language but French, his favorite.
Bianciotti was elected to the Académie française on 18 January 1996 to Seat 2, succeeding André Frossard.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 8, 2014
I think I need to improve my French.
There were some striking passages in this book! Lots of folded down corners so I could turn back to beautiful prose.
Lots of f***ed up stuff happens in the plot.
It's French, although the author isn't really French, but I think he was pretty French by the time he wrote this.
Oh yeah, and one time I was reading it on the train (in the USA) and some teenage French girl saw me reading it. I saw her see me. When she was standing near me, about to get off at her stop, she said, "Vous parlez francais?" We briefly chatted. She said this book looks really hard, even for a French person. No kidding, French girl. What you said.
Explaining the plot, such as it is, about Adelaide, "la-bas," Rosette, Monsieur Tenant, Mme Mancier-Alvarez, the people from Adelaide's childhood, Rosette's parents, the clientele, etc., isn't really the point...in fact, this is kind of like a French film in that plot really takes a backseat to everything else going on, and it was the meditative observations on life, language, memory, geography, connection, souls, and all that that drew me in.
But what do I know? I need some intermediate French reading, I think. This was hard. I'm going to take a French class.
There were some striking passages in this book! Lots of folded down corners so I could turn back to beautiful prose.
Lots of f***ed up stuff happens in the plot.
It's French, although the author isn't really French, but I think he was pretty French by the time he wrote this.
Oh yeah, and one time I was reading it on the train (in the USA) and some teenage French girl saw me reading it. I saw her see me. When she was standing near me, about to get off at her stop, she said, "Vous parlez francais?" We briefly chatted. She said this book looks really hard, even for a French person. No kidding, French girl. What you said.
Explaining the plot, such as it is, about Adelaide, "la-bas," Rosette, Monsieur Tenant, Mme Mancier-Alvarez, the people from Adelaide's childhood, Rosette's parents, the clientele, etc., isn't really the point...in fact, this is kind of like a French film in that plot really takes a backseat to everything else going on, and it was the meditative observations on life, language, memory, geography, connection, souls, and all that that drew me in.
But what do I know? I need some intermediate French reading, I think. This was hard. I'm going to take a French class.
October 3, 2017
"Talvolta il tutto si agita, e il terrore o la bellezza sopraggiungono. Non c’è altro da dire…" (p. 81)
"L’uomo […] è un animale che si distrae da se stesso e c’è solo il dolore, e talvolta l’amore, che lo inchiodino al suo posto." (p. 116)
"La prima esperienza della felicità è feroce: quando scompare, tutto manca nello stesso tempo." (p. 274)
"L’uomo […] è un animale che si distrae da se stesso e c’è solo il dolore, e talvolta l’amore, che lo inchiodino al suo posto." (p. 116)
"La prima esperienza della felicità è feroce: quando scompare, tutto manca nello stesso tempo." (p. 274)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews