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senzacca's review against another edition
L'unica cosa che ho da dire è che a me questo libro non è proprio piaciuto. Abbandonato a pagina 31.
bean__'s review against another edition
3.0
I don't know how to feel about this book and I don't think I ever will.
girlincrisis's review against another edition
5.0
“…That's her kind of beauty, tattered, chilly, plaintive and in exile, nothing suits her, everything's too big, and yet it looks marvelous. Her clothes are loose, she's too thin, nothing fits, yet it looks marvelous. She's made in such a way, face and body, that anything that touches her shares immediately and infallibly in her beauty.”
so very beautifully written and thought-provoking. The descriptive language and subtle themes greatly engaged me…
so very beautifully written and thought-provoking. The descriptive language and subtle themes greatly engaged me…
wipeout's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, and Classism
Minor: Miscarriage
bj66rk's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
"our first confidants, though the word seems excessive, are our lovers"
— i would give this a 4 but after thinking it over i couldnt bring myself to do that and settled on a 3.75 LOL.. this book gets a bit hard to follow along as it continues and i found myself grazing over long paragraphs after losing interest. i do enjoy the collection of memories and switches between povs as the narrator reflects on snippets of her childhood, watching the young girl from her adult eyes and the eyes of the reader.
her relationship with her adult lover is strange. i feel for her with her relationship with him and her mother, how it felt like she clinged onto him because of her upbringing and societal belief that she as a young girl was nothing but a sexual object. you question whether it was love or merely just desire needing to be met—many things the lover did made me feel ill. its reminiscent of a lolita type relationship, but told from the pov of dolores.
the racism and whiteness is something i as a poc had trouble coming to terms with, but nonetheless it was a quick book i couldn't put down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Racism
merramarie's review against another edition
4.0
NUNCA BUENOS DÍAS, NUNCA BUENAS TARDES, BUEN AÑO. NUNCA GRACIAS. NUNCA UNA PALABRA. NUNCA LA NECESIDAD DE PRONUNCIAR UNA PALABRA
marguerite duras tiene ese no sé qué, ese sí sé qué y es que hace tan putrefacta las cosas como la infancia y la familia y el romance. Al mismo tiempo qué erotismo cuando habla de HELENE LAGONELLE dios, dios dios! Recuerdo no haber gustado de El amor, pero capaz muy seguramente estaba en otra (yo). Esta novela en párrafos que no siguen una cronología, que tengo que ir armando hasta de quién realmente está hablando, yo! que soy una persona que ha leido poco pero me quedo con ella, tan poética y enquilombada y mortal, y sí, es marguerite duras, enojada con Dios
marguerite duras tiene ese no sé qué, ese sí sé qué y es que hace tan putrefacta las cosas como la infancia y la familia y el romance. Al mismo tiempo qué erotismo cuando habla de HELENE LAGONELLE dios, dios dios! Recuerdo no haber gustado de El amor, pero capaz muy seguramente estaba en otra (yo). Esta novela en párrafos que no siguen una cronología, que tengo que ir armando hasta de quién realmente está hablando, yo! que soy una persona que ha leido poco pero me quedo con ella, tan poética y enquilombada y mortal, y sí, es marguerite duras, enojada con Dios
james1star's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I admit I did build this book in my mind and expectations as one I was going to love. It’s about a doomed love with the longing that comes with it in the form of French auto-fiction but ummm… what was this?!? Hugely disappointing and honestly a very unpleasant read.
The book follows our narrator (basically a younger Duras) as she begins a love affair with an older Chinese man during her time in French Indochina (Vietnam) and how this develops. This is one part of the story where the relationship with her mother and strangely abusive (why?) older brother takes up more of the ‘The Lover’ then the actual lover parts (okay…) and we essentially learn who she is and her place in the family dynamic. There’s sort of more to the story but I don’t care for it.
The book is messy, there’s inconsistent time jumps and quite a lot of what’s being said just doesn’t make much sense - I felt like I had to go over passages time again to pinpoint what’s going on. The Chinese man is sometimes called by the mc and others as ‘a’ or ‘the’ Chinese which yes I get the time but if he’s someone you once loved or at least cared for wouldn’t you make the tiny effort to address him properly? No? Okay then. He’s also written/portrayed as weak and slightly cowardly in the way he won’t stand up to his father which is yeah great Asian representation in your book! This is bad but what I thought was just nope ewww dis-gus-tang was how later in the book Duras becomes this ‘child’ character and as I quote ‘He takes her as he would his own child. He’s take his own child the same way.’ (p. 107 of the harper perennial ed) which is just vile, like I cannot comprehend how or why her mind went there?!? It’s depraved and to want this to happen just nopeeeee.
The saving grace and why this book isn’t a 1 star is the writing is nice, I mean it’s French so this is somewhat the standard now. It’s lyrical and flows but the actual content is confusing and very frustrating at times. I do also appreciate the way it portrays the French-Viennese relations and also the way women were viewed and expected to do things.
On the whole, very underwhelming and it’s put me off reading more by her for a long time. Would most definitely not recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Pedophilia
Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation
dukegregory's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty prose and insubstantial content. Was just boring at times. I don't have anything of interest or eloquence to say. I'm ambivalent. Probably one of the odder ways of writing a novel about child prostitution. I'd rather watch Hiroshima, mon amour.
helgamharb's review
5.0
4.5
Je suis exténuée de désir.
I am worn out with desire.
It is extremely and refreshingly satisfying to read a book in its original language and appreciate the unblemished and literal words penned by the author.
Très vite dans ma vie il a été trop tard.
Very early in my life it was too late.
This haunting, sensual, melancholic, dreamlike and poetic autobiographical novel is about a forbidden love affair between a teenager, who is narrating the story and a man 12 years her senior.
Il la regarde. Les yeux fermés il la regarde encore. Il respire son visage. Il respire l’enfant, les yeux fermés il respire sa respiration, cet air chaud qui ressort d’elle. Il discerne de moins en moins clairement les limites de ce corps, celui-ci n’est pas comme les autres, il n’est pas fini, dans la chambre il grandit encore, il est encore sans formes arrêtées, à tout instant en train de se faire, il n’est pas seulement là où il le voit, il est ailleurs aussi, il s’étend au-delà de la vue, vers le jeu, la mort, il est souple, il part tout entier dans la jouissance comme s’il était grand, en âge, il est sans malice, d’une intelligence effrayante.
He looks at her. Goes on looking at her, his eyes shut. He inhales her face, breathes it in. He breathes her in, the child, his eyes shut he breathes in her breath, the warm air coming out of her. Less and less clearly can he make out the limits of this body, it’s not like other bodies, it’s not finished, in the room it keeps growing, it’s still without set form, continually coming into being, not only there, where it’s visible but elsewhere too, stretching beyond sight, toward risk, toward death, it’s nimble, it launches itself wholly into pleasure as if it were grown up, adult, it’s without guile, and it’s frighteningly intelligent.
Saigon, 1929.
She is a 15 year old French girl, from an impoverished family; he is a wealthy 27 year old Chinese man.
She is over-confident, mature, moody and desperate to escape a life of poverty.
He is weak, afraid, sentimental and easily intimidated by his domineering father.
Will their illicit love affair survive under the merciless social conditions?
Does love even exist in their affair or is it more of an infatuation or their need to satisfy the desire of the flesh?
Elle a dû rester longtemps la souveraine de son désir, la référence personnelle à l’émotion, à l’immensité de la tendresse, à la sombre et terrible profondeur charnelle.
For a long time she must have remained the queen of his desire, his personal link with emotion, with the immensity of tenderness, the dark and terrible depths of the flesh.
Je suis exténuée de désir.
I am worn out with desire.
It is extremely and refreshingly satisfying to read a book in its original language and appreciate the unblemished and literal words penned by the author.
Très vite dans ma vie il a été trop tard.
Very early in my life it was too late.
This haunting, sensual, melancholic, dreamlike and poetic autobiographical novel is about a forbidden love affair between a teenager, who is narrating the story and a man 12 years her senior.
Il la regarde. Les yeux fermés il la regarde encore. Il respire son visage. Il respire l’enfant, les yeux fermés il respire sa respiration, cet air chaud qui ressort d’elle. Il discerne de moins en moins clairement les limites de ce corps, celui-ci n’est pas comme les autres, il n’est pas fini, dans la chambre il grandit encore, il est encore sans formes arrêtées, à tout instant en train de se faire, il n’est pas seulement là où il le voit, il est ailleurs aussi, il s’étend au-delà de la vue, vers le jeu, la mort, il est souple, il part tout entier dans la jouissance comme s’il était grand, en âge, il est sans malice, d’une intelligence effrayante.
He looks at her. Goes on looking at her, his eyes shut. He inhales her face, breathes it in. He breathes her in, the child, his eyes shut he breathes in her breath, the warm air coming out of her. Less and less clearly can he make out the limits of this body, it’s not like other bodies, it’s not finished, in the room it keeps growing, it’s still without set form, continually coming into being, not only there, where it’s visible but elsewhere too, stretching beyond sight, toward risk, toward death, it’s nimble, it launches itself wholly into pleasure as if it were grown up, adult, it’s without guile, and it’s frighteningly intelligent.
Saigon, 1929.
She is a 15 year old French girl, from an impoverished family; he is a wealthy 27 year old Chinese man.
She is over-confident, mature, moody and desperate to escape a life of poverty.
He is weak, afraid, sentimental and easily intimidated by his domineering father.
Will their illicit love affair survive under the merciless social conditions?
Does love even exist in their affair or is it more of an infatuation or their need to satisfy the desire of the flesh?
Elle a dû rester longtemps la souveraine de son désir, la référence personnelle à l’émotion, à l’immensité de la tendresse, à la sombre et terrible profondeur charnelle.
For a long time she must have remained the queen of his desire, his personal link with emotion, with the immensity of tenderness, the dark and terrible depths of the flesh.