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rachel_the_managing_editor's review
4.0
4.67 stars
I read this slim book without knowing Levé's fate and only discovered the end after I turned the last page to reveal the bio. I guess I should have known given the title of one of his other books. Does that change what I was originally going to write? ("A celebration of life in all its idiosyncrasies.") I don't think so, but it makes me want to read it again to see if anything changes. I liked this. I like the way his mind works on the pages. Because it's the accumulation of the small things, isn't it?
I read this slim book without knowing Levé's fate and only discovered the end after I turned the last page to reveal the bio. I guess I should have known given the title of one of his other books. Does that change what I was originally going to write? ("A celebration of life in all its idiosyncrasies.") I don't think so, but it makes me want to read it again to see if anything changes. I liked this. I like the way his mind works on the pages. Because it's the accumulation of the small things, isn't it?
yuefei's review
3.0
Archived
"Autoportrait" is a series of factual statements which, over the course of 117 pages, build to a portrait of the author which goes far beyond the superficial without ever crossing into subjectivity. It could be seen as a really strange way of writing an orderless autobiography that borders on abstraction though it is made entirely out of facts. We get the feeling that we know Léve better, perhaps, than those closest to him, as if he used this idea as a way to pour himself onto paper either for a great catharsis or so that he himself can exist without having to do so in a physical body. He did state that he finds that he reveals more about himself to stranger in the course of 2 hours than he ever has to his friends. Anyways, it's a strange little book, delving many times into controversial subject matter without the batting of an eye or sentimentality of any sort. Having said all that, the book leaves me somewhat indifferent. It's an interesting experience, but one that hasn't affected me much in any way apart from perhaps the exposure to the peculiar ideas that Léve tends to have. It's not mediocre by any means, but it isn't of greatness either. It could be a terrible book when all is said and done, but that just makes it all the more interesting, which is the best way to describe this work.
"Autoportrait" is a series of factual statements which, over the course of 117 pages, build to a portrait of the author which goes far beyond the superficial without ever crossing into subjectivity. It could be seen as a really strange way of writing an orderless autobiography that borders on abstraction though it is made entirely out of facts. We get the feeling that we know Léve better, perhaps, than those closest to him, as if he used this idea as a way to pour himself onto paper either for a great catharsis or so that he himself can exist without having to do so in a physical body. He did state that he finds that he reveals more about himself to stranger in the course of 2 hours than he ever has to his friends. Anyways, it's a strange little book, delving many times into controversial subject matter without the batting of an eye or sentimentality of any sort. Having said all that, the book leaves me somewhat indifferent. It's an interesting experience, but one that hasn't affected me much in any way apart from perhaps the exposure to the peculiar ideas that Léve tends to have. It's not mediocre by any means, but it isn't of greatness either. It could be a terrible book when all is said and done, but that just makes it all the more interesting, which is the best way to describe this work.
bettyvd's review against another edition
3.0
Een bijzonder experiment. Ik vraag me af: bedoelde de auteur dit werkelijk als een zelfportret? Heeft hij literaire criteria laten meespelen in deze nevenschikking van mededelingen, oordelen, observaties en beschouwingen?
awildfawn's review
5.0
I'm astonished. Reading this book was as if I were in this conversation with the auther where he said random facts about himself (The structure of the book is really interesting. Multiple unrelated, non-narrational independent sentences.) and at some points it made me want to say my version of the fact, at some made me say "I KNOW!" Or "EW". So I dare to say, A great place to look for yourself. You might even mistake my book with a notebook. Only a more private one. More of a diary. Full of annotations.
I enjoyed reading it a lot. Made me think, made me compare my life and tought me a new perspective on life. It may not be practical but getting to know his perspective was really great.
One of my absolute favorite books so far. Gonna re-read it many times in the future and will have it with me wherever I move.
I enjoyed reading it a lot. Made me think, made me compare my life and tought me a new perspective on life. It may not be practical but getting to know his perspective was really great.
One of my absolute favorite books so far. Gonna re-read it many times in the future and will have it with me wherever I move.
charliej99's review
1.0
this book is just "no homo, but in french" written six thousand times over and over. i'm nauseous.
bryanmyoung's review
5.0
"Pointillist autobiography" is an accurate description of this wonderful tiny book that has restored my faith in the memoir. Recommended.
roach's review
dark
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
4.0
To describe my life precisely would take longer than to live it.
Levé's Autoportrait is a unique sort-off memoir. It's not a chronological retelling of the author's life or an assortment of memories guided by a coherent thread. This book is a string of random individual thoughts from the person about the person. Little glimpses into a personality.
Between mundane observations and trivial opinions is the occasional heavier facet of his life, but all of it is presented in a neutral way. It's funny at times, thought-provoking at others, and knowing some of Levé's other works and his ultimate fate makes certain parts stand out even more.
At one point, Levé writes "My death will change nothing." But I'm certain that his death changed how people read this book.
Coming to this after having read Levé's Suicide (twice) made the stream-of-consciousness writing seem very familiar. Reading Levé's candid thoughts about his own struggles with depression and experiences with suicide attempts buried between a hundred different mundane statements felt intimate. While Suicide always brought with it the question of whether the text might have been Levé's own musings about suicide or maybe a premature suicide note for himself, hidden in fiction, here with Autoportrait there is no game to play anymore. He's looking you right into the face and telling you, nonchalantly and seemingly unbothered, his casual feelings about his own struggles. Fiction and reality kind of connect here.
It's even more interesting when he proposes ideas for his future or offers assumptions about his later life which, as we as the reader now know, will never happen. He writes that he expects to die at 85, but his life ended at 42. He also claims that he will not lose his eyesight or hearing because he will die before that happens. That has become true. He writes that he would like to visit Japan before he dies but has a feeling that won't happen. Seeing that he died three years after writing this text, he was probably right.
He also thanks his parents for giving him the gift of life.
But he also writes that the hole is his "favorite part of a sock" and that he thinks "the big toe is doomed to disappear".
Near the end, during one of the longer tangents, he describes how he spent some of his favorite moments with a friend who he had many drunken conversations with in the past. He then continues to say that this friend, one day, told his wife he forgot something in the house when they were about to leave to play Tennis, went back into the house and shot himself with a gun placed in the basement.
It came out of nowhere, but I immediately recognized it as the setup for Levé's other book, the aforementioned Suicide, probably his internationally best-known work. I remember reading a lot of theories in the past about who people think that book might have been about. Seeing it here, described in this context, three years before he wrote that Suicide, ultimately linked the personal autobiography of sorts with his fictional text.
Autoportait makes for a brisk and at many moments entertaining read, but also gives a very candid and intimate look into a man's personality.
Édouard Levé was an interesting man. Not because he was special or glamorous, but because he was an ordinary person, with his own unique experiences and thoughts, which he decided to put to paper in such a straightforward way. His life ended way too soon, but parts of his mind are forever left behind for curious people to read.
Autoportrait is like a randomly shuffled deck of personal experiences which makes it a more intimate and human experience than some written-out, elaborate autobiographies that I have read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Vomit, Pedophilia, and Rape
ikovski's review against another edition
5.0
başlamadan önce bir şey diyeceğim, EN BOKTAN YAYINEVLERİNDEN BİRİSİN SEVGİLİ SEL*. iyi kitapları basıyor olman seni iyi yapmaz.
- bok gibi sayfa düzenin var.
- orjinalinde dipnot yoksa bile kahrolası fransızcaları, film, kitap isimlerini aşağıda dipnotla belirtmelisin ama yapmıyorsun.
- nedenini anlatsan bile anlayamayacağımı bildiğim şu huyun: cümlenin son kelimesinin son hecesini inatla çizgi çekip aşağı vermen, ya da bi sonraki sayfada başlatmak varken cümlenin ilk kelimesini ve hatta hecesini sayfa sonunda bırakman. nasıl sayfa editörleriniz var aq sizin? ÇEVİRİYİ COPY PASTE EDİP OTOMATİK HECELEME DEYİP MATBAAYA MI YOLLUYORSUNUZ?
- kitaplarınız genel boyuttan küçük, bunun üstüne kenar boşluklarınız daha da büyük, eşşoğlueşek kadar! sayfa değil çerçeve...
bence twitterda duyar ve siyaset kasmaktansa biraz bunlara dikkat edin, ki onu da beceremiyorsunuz, yanlı ve subjektifciler sizi.
sinirlendim bak. nys.
dönüp denilebilir ki, bir ve buçuk ay neden süründü bu kitap?
bi kere bu aralar edebi kitap okuyamam her ne türde veya hafiflikte olursa olsun, sınırdayım. (düşünmeye sevk etmemesi lazım)
ama asıl, kitap şey gibi, yüz yüze yeni tanıştığınız internet kankinizle kurtubaya falan gitmişsiniz (kitap-kafe), oturup muhabbet ediyorsunuz. muhabbetiniz, hem zaten birbiriniz hakkında bildiğiniz şeylerden oluşuyor hem geçmişinizden hem de bilinmeyen sırlardan ve hatta en gereksiz bilgilerden havadan, sudan, gündemden... aynen böyle bir his veriyor size. o yüzden mümkün olduğunca uzattım sayın leve ile olan muhabbetimi.
cümle yapısı basit, kurallı ve bitişi hep 'yaptım, yapardım, yaparım, yapmam, yapıyordum'larla oluşan cümleler (yap fiili örnek)
yalnız şunu belirteyim sohbet kitabı değil bu. içinde bir gram siz yoksunuz. ama hissiyatı kesinlikle veriyor, siz susmuş onu dinliyorsunuz yani, ve adam karşınızda çırılçıplak, utanmıyor ve tamamen yalın samimiyet.
aşağıda yazacaklarımı kasti mi yaptı bi fikrim yok. çünkü zaten manyak herifin teki leve ve ben bayılıyorum. neyse.
1. en dikkat çekici şeyi, konudan konuya atlaması, bir düzen veya sıra kaygısı gütmemesi (kronolojik, konu, kavram vesaire) bu şuna yol açıyor (yaptığı oluyor tabi), aklınızda daha çok kalıyor. mesela siyasi şeylerden bahsederken pat diye 'muz sevmem' diyor, sonra da yeniden siyasi şeylere devam ediyor (ya da yine değişiyor) işte dolayısıyla benim aklımda muzu sevmediği kaldı.
2. öyle bir anlatıyor ki bazı şeyleri siz çıkarıyorsunuz, bu tıpkı karşınızdaki insan hakkında tahminlerde bulunmak ve onu tanımaya çalışmakla aynı. mesela, hazcı bir insan olduğunu size, sizin fark etmenizden sayfalar sonra söylüyor ama söylemeseydi de biliyor olurdunuz leve'nün hazcı olduğunu emin bir şekilde.
AYRICA;
1. bir konuyu, olguyu anlatırken asla 2 cümlede anlatmıyor. zaten cümleleri genelde kısa ama gerekirse bağlaç ve iki noktayı tercih ediyor. yani her "şey" kendi başına, başlı başına bir cümle. kesip çıkartmalık.
2. size bildiğiniz şeyleri söylüyor, mesela çok suda durunca buruşan parmaklar. "parmaklarım suda çok durursa buruşur." size güzel bir hatırlatma değil mi?
3. bir de hani biri diyene kadar fark etmediğimiz ama bildiğimiz şeyler vardır. mesela makine sesi. "bir makineden rahatsız olduğumu, ancak uğultusu kesilince anlarım." bunu biliyorsunuz. bunu en azından bir kere de olsa 'ayy nasıl da gürültülüymüş' olarak dile getirmişsinizdir, mesela difriz için.
4. ben zaten sürekli altını çizerek, notlar alarak okuyan biriyim. size kitabın muhabbet gibi olduğunu söylemiştim, sizin susup karşınızdakini dinlediğiniz tarzda. en başından ben, benimle birebir uyanların altını çizmeye başladım zaten. bi' süre sonra benle benzer olan cümlenin altını çizip ok çıkararak benden farklı olanını belirttim. yani sizi, kendiniz hakkında düşünmeye, siz olmasınız n'apardınız, sen ne düşünüyorsun, sen ne yapmıştın, sen nesin şu şu konuda diye sorgulamaya itiyor, ALIN SİZE KİŞİSEL GELİŞİM.
sel*, serseri ve gereksiz aykırı varoluşundan dolayı, kitap için intihara giden yol dese de bence bu kitap "nasıl bu hale geldim?" sorusunun cevabı. 'intihar bir hal değil midir?' diye sorabilirsiniz, hayır, Leve için değil, Leve çok daha fazlası. bunu bir Bukowski'nin [b:Ekmek Arası|9269334|Ekmek Arası|Charles Bukowski|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1382264404s/9269334.jpg|958661] için demiştim, bir de buna diyebilirim. çünkü öyle detay, öyle umulmadık şeyler ki, size kim olduğunuz sorulduğunda söyleceğiniz şeyler değil belki çoğu ama sizi siz yapanlar. bu yüzden adı otoportre.
Bu herifin fotoğraf çalışmalarına, özellikle Pornography(2002)'sine bakın derim. kitapları kadar sinir bozucu. :')
Leve eş değiştirmeye bayılıyor.
xoxo
iko