Reviews

Shame by Annie Ernaux

lucyhbmort's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

4.0

logantmartin's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

3.5

I felt like Ernaux kind of lost the plot with this one. A book called Shame with a disgustingly green cover advertises a very specific tone that I was really excited for. The famous opening line of the book had me absolutely foaming at the mouth to get into it. But after the first section of the book, where Ernaux details her father's attempt to kill her mother, the tone simply falls over, becoming yet another rehashing of Ernaux's childhood, which she has covered much more intimately in her previous work. She vaguely describes the shame she feels about her upbringing and the homicide attempt of That Summer, but the shame is incidental to the story, not its focus.

cccsss's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

L'evento e L'altra figlia sono sicuramente più forti e più d'impatto ma anche in questo libro la penna diretta e asciutta ma a tratti poetica della Ernaux riesce ad esprimere tantissimo e a farci entrare nella vita dell'autrice. 

Ho solamente trovato un po' pesantina la parte subito dopo l'inizio.

gindodge's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

bookmateriality's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

3.75

laquellegeix's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

4.5

starlit013's review against another edition

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3.75

 *insert gordon ramsay saying "finally some good fucking food" here*
°•
Was particulary struck by how Ernaux can convey how shame works as its own social institution and as the key mechanism maintaining social hierarchy. Is it anything new? No but the book was more cohesive this time because of this subject serving as the nucleus (rather than just her life story told again through sporadic fragments). Love the line "The worst thing about shame is that we imagine we are the only ones to experience it"

anders_holbaek's review against another edition

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5.0

"Det er som om jeg stadig forsøger at skrive på det materielle sprog fra dengang og undgår ord og sætningskonstruktioner som ikke kom til mig, som ikke ville være kommet til mig dengang. Jeg lærer aldrig metaforernes fortryllelse, stilens jubel at kende.

Der var næsten ingen ord til at udtrykke følelser. Jeg følte mig snydt til at udtrykke skuffelse, jeg havde det skidt til at udtrykke skuffelse, jeg havde det skidt til at udtrykke misfornøjelse. Det var jeg ked af blev både brugt om ærgrelsen ved at efterlade noget kage på tallerkenen og om sorgen over at miste en kæreste."

Ernaux' udfoldning af klasseskammen rammer - med hendes vante blanding af erindringsfiktion og popkultur - lige ind i kulturdialogen om klasse anno 2023 og trækker linjer fra det, Glenn Bech og Edouard Louis skriver om i dag, direkte og elegant tilbage til 1952. Fortællingen om hendes første erkendelse af, at der findes to verdenen, og at hun hører til i det nedre, bliver skrevet frem i enormt stærke og fællesmenneskelige billeder.

andreacrgp's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

3.5

lavrendy's review against another edition

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4.0

Finding a new series of translated memoirs about girlhood feels like striking gold at the moment !!