a vida material by Marguerite Duras, Marguerite Duras

3.8 AVERAGE

quironimpromptu's profile picture

quironimpromptu's review against another edition

4.5
reflective
benjirs's profile picture

benjirs's review

3.0
reflective slow-paced

tatum7oaks's review against another edition

3.75
reflective medium-paced
lynaach's profile picture

lynaach's review against another edition

3.0
emotional reflective fast-paced
primannevi's profile picture

primannevi's review against another edition

3.75
dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

jeltje's review against another edition

3.0
Fijne collectie aan beschrijvingen en vertellingen. Wilde dit boek al zo lang lezen maar werd op gegeven moment beetje moe van Duras’ pessimisme wat me soms er heel erg uit haalde… maar goed blij dat ik het gelezen heb! Veel meegemaakt die vrouw tjongejonge. Zij is mega eerlijk en dat vind ik echt heel bewonderingswaardig. Denk nog betere ervaring geweest als ik haar andere werk had gelezen maar goed dat is echt nergens meer te vinden lijkt het haast
emiliamk's profile picture

emiliamk's review against another edition

4.0
il n’y a rien d’extraordinaire mais lire ce livre ne m’a pas fatiguée, j’adore le fragment sur Barthes🫢
cleram's profile picture

cleram's review against another edition

2.0
2-3 chapitres sont vraiment intéressants, mais en général j’ai trouvé que c’était plutôt long et un peu chiant :/

elhombrenuevo's review against another edition

4.0
It's fascinating hearing -- it feels more like listening than reading given as it records a series of conversations -- Duras' thoughts on all manner of things. We get an insight into both the political and the personal, both the public and the private: critiques of the patriarchy and the bourgeoisie, love, sex, being a well-known writer, alcoholism and going cold turkey, the memories carried by houses and furniture, and ever elusive feminine writing...

It helps massively having a knowledge of her body of work and the more notable moments of her life going into the collection. It might also be good to start with a selective reading before committing to the whole book -- Duras has a very particular style which I imagine can be grating.

Favourite sections:
L'autoroute de la parole
Le bloc noir
Le bleu de l'écharpe
Cabourg -- a single paragraph, and one that has haunted me since reading it.
Le livre
Le Coupeur d'eau
ekxv's profile picture

ekxv's review against another edition

3.5
informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced