Reviews

Elskeren fra Nordkina by Marguerite Duras

phoebe912's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

vaty's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

deaddolphins's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

adbeyneler's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

korrick's review against another edition

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3.0

Looking back on the time when I first became interested in Duras' [b:The Lover|275|The Lover (The Lover, #1)|Marguerite Duras|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1657544478l/275._SY75_.jpg|1009849], I can see how this interest was highly influenced by the complex alienation and exhaustion I was operating under. I was raised and continue to live in a very unique sector of the US that has a far greater Asian population than usual for that country, and nascent experiences with romantic relationships were largely of an interracial nature that was rarely, if ever, reflected in the annals of the sort of literature that I was, at that time, using as a life raft of self worth. So, to find [b:The Lover|275|The Lover (The Lover, #1)|Marguerite Duras|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1657544478l/275._SY75_.jpg|1009849], a colonial Lolita with far more complicated aspects of race and Orientalism, was a beacon to me, and is likely why I pushed through the novel narrative structure and themes that, if published today by someone without Duras' standing, would likely be far more controversial than it was way back when. Reading this, the purported sequel, a number of years later at twice the age of the narrative's protagonist was rather informative as I watched my US-bred, Puritanical/abstinence centered sex ed trained self throw alarm bells out and then subside as I continued to traverse through the prepubescent sex work, incest, and glib, practically flattered, auctioning off of girls for a family's welfare. Amongst all this were true spots of beauty, not to mention that I continue to value literature such as this that has an immense potential for generating analysis in academic directories. Even now, having finished the book several days ago, I feel the urge to watch at least one of those highfalutin types of films with their weird Frenchy focuses that this particular work is overtly framed as an uber-literary script for, but the story, for all its taboo material, is nothing special, and the build up of images was uprooted from its crescendo by a rather heavy handed ending. Perhaps that was what really happened in Duras' experiences: all I know is that it might have made for a better movie, but in prose, it lays it on rather thick.

Much as I've seen talk of the 21st century bringing back the Roaring 20s, the 20th century really will, in all its horror and wonder, never happen again. Here we have an esteemed author recounting a bildungsroman that is almost always framed as being destined to end in trauma, disease, and other forms of ruin, and yet the story is one that observes the taboo nature and then, in a sort of conscientious blitheness, moves on. Beyond that, the landscape and invoked balances of light and shadow and sound do appeal, and when Duras chooses to, she is capable of conjuring magically nostalgic vistas of a world that will never again exist, for even if an apocalypse resets humanity's clockwork, it won't fully wipe out the impact interconnected technologies and consequent burgeoning international anti-bigotry awareness has had in the hundred years or so that separated this work's child figure from the modern day. I won't deny how visually seductive the work is, but the impact that poverty, racism, and lack of comprehensive sexual education have on the mores of the work is physically tangible, and the fact that Duras survived and even prospered is not something that happens often, judging by how few other authors have dwelt on such a life and reached such a height of esteem. A gorgeously crafted dagger riddled with tetanus, rabies, and the devil knows what else, then, and this time around, Duras wasn't as successful at seducing me into appreciating the interplay of memory and form as she was seven years ago. Indeed, at this point, I believe I've had my fill of her works in general, so until some 1001-type list or other form of elitist indoctrination succeeds in swaying my reading choices, I'm content with leaving this author and her retold stories behind.

It was by fortune that I acquired this book out of a desire to give a long ago experienced woman in translation a second go and by fortune that I ended up reading it this year (a challenge required reading a book published during one's birth year, which in my case is far more contemporary than the challenge creators intended). After all these coincidences, I'm content to leave a record of how I responded to this singular work that, in many ways, was comparatively more informed and straightforward when juxtaposed with its prequel: something that can also be said when comparing I as a reader to my self of 2013. However, loss of mystique entails less opportunity for those who engage with this sort of material to lie to themselves, and in these fraught times of presentation and taboo, some have taken it upon themselves to scold those who write about their experiences for being explicitly honest about them. As it stands, this work covers ground similar to that of [b:Bastard of Carolina|25354|Bastard Out of Carolina|Dorothy Allison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1424648725l/25354._SX50_.jpg|51364], albeit with more Oriental ghosts and their residual poison (just look at Euro/Neo-Euro mass media treatment of a particular illness in China while (white) US anti-vaxxers bring the tremendously more contagious measles back from the grave on an international scale). With that, it's simply time to move on, until I next feel the need to revisit an author who, for lack of a better term, continues to haunt me.

eli_entrebrumas's review against another edition

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Habría estado mejor si lo hubiera leído hace unos añitos, cuando no me habría incomodado tantísimo absolutamente todo lo que cuenta y cómo lo cuenta :')

theresaandersen's review against another edition

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1.0

Pædofili og incest er begge elementer, der indgår i denne historie, og lad mig gøre det klart: jeg er ikke specielt begejstret. Hvis man ser bort fra dette (Som om, man kan.. men lad os nu lade som om) er jeg imponeret over, hvordan personernes øjne i denne historie ikke er tørret ud endnu. De græder HELE TIDEN.
Jeg læser denne historie i en historisk kontekst med fokus på Indokina, men wow... jeg hader alle personerne i denne historie (Thanh virker okay, indtil han begynder at kysse 'barnet' (med fokus på BARN)). Jeg ved, at den er baseret på rigtige mennesker, men det gør det langt fra bedre. Faktisk gør det det hele værre.
Bogen er skrevet smukt og beskrivelserne af sceneriet er interessante, men udover det: 1/5. ville ikke genlæse, men jeg er sikkert stadig nødt til at lave min store opgave på den.

kompostiprinssi's review against another edition

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So good. Cinematic images.

lalalibris's review against another edition

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3.0

If you enjoyed the film "The Lover," then you may also enjoy this more in-depth review of the author's childhood relationships in French Indochina. Marguerite Duras wrote this towards the end of her life, reflecting on her first experience with love (at a very early age). I found the descriptions of the scenery, Duras' writing style, and the relationship struggles to be the most interesting portions of the book (and they are throughout). This is neither a light book nor for the weak at heart!

espy's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5

Many thoughts. I think it's quite amazing how enamored Duras' writing made me feel even though this is (technically) a script; the notes Duras adds shook me out of the trance I was in to remind me of that. I think I liked this/ read this not for more context of "the North China Lover" but because I wanted to read more about Duras. I was so fascinated by the life she's led, the different society she knew compared to the one I know. I wanted to read "The Lover" without the prose and fluff. This book was very honest and I much appreciated that.