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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
When I put down the book, I felt like I was in a haze. I felt like I was walking back home in a cold, quite night through empty streets after sitting all night with Duras in a dim cafe, listening to her speak, oh so poetically; reliving a memory so distant that she could only look back on it through a layer of fog and the dust of times past. A memory that felt more like a dream than anything else; so much so that sometimes she spoke in first person and sometimes third. She called herself The Girl – The Child.
Fifteen and a half, she was. With her mother and two brothers in french indochina. "The beast, my mother, my love."; A troubled woman haunted by her own soul. And the older brother, the monster. The girl wishes for his death.
The girl, fifteen and a half, meets a man. A Chinese. He's twelve years older than him. He loves her. She loves his wealth. And there is no future to this love, they both know. They will never get married. The girl is white, the man is a Chinese. His dad won't allow it, and the little white girl agrees. He knows he can't keep her to himself but he loves her still.
It's a haunting narrative, truly, written in the most beautiful way. It filled my heart with so many different emotions. It was wrong and it was heartbreaking. Her life was heartbreaking. And when she writes about it, she seems distant. Like it's not her story, like she's taught herself not to feel.
It is a story of life, without fairy dust sprinkled all over it. It is the harsh truth of being, written in a way that captures your soul.
Fifteen and a half, she was. With her mother and two brothers in french indochina. "The beast, my mother, my love."; A troubled woman haunted by her own soul. And the older brother, the monster. The girl wishes for his death.
The girl, fifteen and a half, meets a man. A Chinese. He's twelve years older than him. He loves her. She loves his wealth. And there is no future to this love, they both know. They will never get married. The girl is white, the man is a Chinese. His dad won't allow it, and the little white girl agrees. He knows he can't keep her to himself but he loves her still.
It's a haunting narrative, truly, written in the most beautiful way. It filled my heart with so many different emotions. It was wrong and it was heartbreaking. Her life was heartbreaking. And when she writes about it, she seems distant. Like it's not her story, like she's taught herself not to feel.
It is a story of life, without fairy dust sprinkled all over it. It is the harsh truth of being, written in a way that captures your soul.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've read the book in English and part of my experience is surely created by the translator. Still, I hope I was able to catch the spirit of the book itself, the melancholic and matter-of-fact flow of memories - coming back and forth, the story starting at some point and ending at another, with futures and pasts woven in between.
I've read this book straight after I read "A girl with a teddy bear" by Domontovych - and it strikes me how luckily they happened to be one after another, since both are about love between a grown-up man and a teenage girl. Even thoughts and feelings are sometimes repeated in almost exact words. Only the narrator roles are the opposite: in "The lover" the girl reminisces, in "A girl with a teddy bear" - the man. Therefore the same ideas come out of different mouths.
"He says, you've come here with me as you might have gone anywhere with anyone."
"I wonder how I had the strength to go against my mother's prohibition. So calmly, with such determination. How I managed to follow my ideas to their "logical conclusion"."
"He must make love a lot to flight against fear"
Overall I enjoyed this book, it's idea of the love not accepted, not understood and given up on - by lovers themselves.
I've read this book straight after I read "A girl with a teddy bear" by Domontovych - and it strikes me how luckily they happened to be one after another, since both are about love between a grown-up man and a teenage girl. Even thoughts and feelings are sometimes repeated in almost exact words. Only the narrator roles are the opposite: in "The lover" the girl reminisces, in "A girl with a teddy bear" - the man. Therefore the same ideas come out of different mouths.
"He says, you've come here with me as you might have gone anywhere with anyone."
"I wonder how I had the strength to go against my mother's prohibition. So calmly, with such determination. How I managed to follow my ideas to their "logical conclusion"."
"He must make love a lot to flight against fear"
Overall I enjoyed this book, it's idea of the love not accepted, not understood and given up on - by lovers themselves.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Written when she was 70yo, Duras recalls an affair she had as a teen with a Chinese man 12 years older than her while living with her mom and two brothers in French Indochina in the late 1920s. Duras’ prose is hypnotic. A beautiful and devastating story. Loved it.
I think this isn't the right time for me to read this, but I know I'll come back to it soon.