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czarnola's review against another edition
4.0
I love the way Le Tellier writes. While reading The Anomaly, I had the impression that it was a bit ironic, but here his sarcasm reached a completely different level. This book was provocative and witty, self-mocking and thus self-aware. At no point did the author write entirely serious or entirely tongue-in-cheek. You have to decide for yourself what to take in earnest and I really like that. The whole memoir wasn't too long, which is basically standard when it comes to this genre (after all, who doesn't love writing about themselves?). I feel like Le Tellier is aware of that and decided not to repeat himself, which I admire him for.
stef369's review against another edition
3.0
Gelezen in originele versie - Na de Prix Goncourt "L'anomalie", wilde ik nog wel iets van Le Tellier lezen. Deze roman - waarvan de titel verwijst naar de beroemde openingszinnen van Tolstoï's Anna Karenina - is een luchtige, licht sarcastische roman. Van de familie van de auteur blijft na het lezen van dit boek niet veel over, behalve flink wat wrok. Le Tellier is niet mals voor zijn ouders, grootouders, ooms en tantes. Wil hij met dat boek met hen afrekenen? (doet me wat denken aan de romans van Edouard Louis...). Niettemin heb ik toch soms goed gelachen, er is zeker sterke humor aanwezig. Het einde is mooi en onverwachts nostalgisch en weemoedig...
catandherbooks's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Dementia
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
danni_faith's review against another edition
5.0
After having let this book sit with me for some time, I can say this is my favorite memoir. Generally speaking, memoirs are deemed worthy of being published by their uniqueness. Prior to reading this book held that to be true. This changed disabused me of that belief.
Herve Le Tellier and Adriana Hunter team up again—Hunter previously translated his novel, Enough About Love. The title of this book borrows from the opening line of Anna Karenina, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," and lurks in the background of this entire book. Le Tellier tells us about his time growing up in Paris, living mostly with his mother and stepfather but mostly being raised by this grandparents. He shares his family tree, divulging a bit about their inner-lives of his biological and adopted families. He does this with the distanced afforded by old age (also the passing of his father and stepfather and the dementia of his mother), tender honesty, and dry humor.
At the heart of this tale of a mother with undiagnosed mental illness, an enabling servile stepfather, and an absentee father is a stance against the notion that children must love their parents regardless of whether the parents are worthy of love. I was impressed by how Tellier was not preachy nor bitter. He was neither physically abused, robbed of opportunity, nor encouraged to a sordid life. By all accounts, his upbringing was unremarkable and so normal. His parents like all parents had flaws, and he simply didn't have a loving relationship with them. This is quite a common experience. This is what makes this memoir so worthy of praise. Parents, especially mothers, are revered, which is understandable and in many cases deserved, but it leaves little room for one to share that they are not close to their parent(s). When someone does reveal that they are met with well-intented suspicion (What did you do? But that's your mom/dad! How could you not love them?). I love that this is titled, All Happy Families because although Tolstoy asserts that all happy families are alike, in actuality all families are like in the way that Le Tellier is describing: Parents are imperfect and are supposed to be loved irrespective of personality and behavior.
This memoir was at times sober, critical, and flat-out funny. I read this book in 24-hours. I laughed for most of that time. Le Tellier is a fantastic storyteller. I think this is the best memoir for its capture of a quietly whispered but well-lived truth.
Herve Le Tellier and Adriana Hunter team up again—Hunter previously translated his novel, Enough About Love. The title of this book borrows from the opening line of Anna Karenina, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," and lurks in the background of this entire book. Le Tellier tells us about his time growing up in Paris, living mostly with his mother and stepfather but mostly being raised by this grandparents. He shares his family tree, divulging a bit about their inner-lives of his biological and adopted families. He does this with the distanced afforded by old age (also the passing of his father and stepfather and the dementia of his mother), tender honesty, and dry humor.
At the heart of this tale of a mother with undiagnosed mental illness, an enabling servile stepfather, and an absentee father is a stance against the notion that children must love their parents regardless of whether the parents are worthy of love. I was impressed by how Tellier was not preachy nor bitter. He was neither physically abused, robbed of opportunity, nor encouraged to a sordid life. By all accounts, his upbringing was unremarkable and so normal. His parents like all parents had flaws, and he simply didn't have a loving relationship with them. This is quite a common experience. This is what makes this memoir so worthy of praise. Parents, especially mothers, are revered, which is understandable and in many cases deserved, but it leaves little room for one to share that they are not close to their parent(s). When someone does reveal that they are met with well-intented suspicion (What did you do? But that's your mom/dad! How could you not love them?). I love that this is titled, All Happy Families because although Tolstoy asserts that all happy families are alike, in actuality all families are like in the way that Le Tellier is describing: Parents are imperfect and are supposed to be loved irrespective of personality and behavior.
This memoir was at times sober, critical, and flat-out funny. I read this book in 24-hours. I laughed for most of that time. Le Tellier is a fantastic storyteller. I think this is the best memoir for its capture of a quietly whispered but well-lived truth.
sarambles's review against another edition
4.0
Un récit honnête et pertinent qui se lit bien. Je pense que l'auteur avait pris le parti de tenter d'être aussi honnête que possible et a réussi son objectif. J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre, on sent vraiment le manque de chaleur dans lequel l'auteur a grandi et on développe une certaine empathie pour lui. En même temps le profil psychologique des parents et des grands parents de l'auteur est si bien dessiné que l'on a aussi l'impression de connaître sur un plan personnel des personnes venant d'une autre époque et d'avoir un petit aperçu de la génération d'après guerre, que je trouve très intéressant.
readerthenblogger's review against another edition
4.0
This was my first book by this author and I am glad that it was his memoir. He is open and raw about his family and his experiences growing up. His style of writing is beautiful and profound even with this being a translated work. He also has a dry sense of humor that is sprinkled throughout. I recommend this book.
danni_faith's review against another edition
5.0
After having let this book sit with me for some time, I can say this is my favorite memoir. Generally speaking, memoirs are deemed worthy of being published by their uniqueness. Prior to reading this book held that to be true. This changed disabused me of that belief.
Herve Le Tellier and Adriana Hunter team up again—Hunter previously translated his novel, Enough About Love. The title of this book borrows from the opening line of Anna Karenina, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," and lurks in the background of this entire book. Le Tellier tells us about his time growing up in Paris, living mostly with his mother and stepfather but mostly being raised by this grandparents. He shares his family tree, divulging a bit about their inner-lives of his biological and adopted families. He does this with the distanced afforded by old age (also the passing of his father and stepfather and the dementia of his mother), tender honesty, and dry humor.
At the heart of this tale of a mother with undiagnosed mental illness, an enabling servile stepfather, and an absentee father is a stance against the notion that children must love their parents regardless of whether the parents are worthy of love. I was impressed by how Tellier was not preachy nor bitter. He was neither physically abused, robbed of opportunity, nor encouraged to a sordid life. By all accounts, his upbringing was unremarkable and so normal. His parents like all parents had flaws, and he simply didn't have a loving relationship with them. This is quite a common experience. This is what makes this memoir so worthy of praise. Parents, especially mothers, are revered, which is understandable and in many cases deserved, but it leaves little room for one to share that they are not close to their parent(s). When someone does reveal that they are met with well-intented suspicion (What did you do? But that's your mom/dad! How could you not love them?). I love that this is titled, All Happy Families because although Tolstoy asserts that all happy families are alike, in actuality all families are like in the way that Le Tellier is describing: Parents are imperfect and are supposed to be loved irrespective of personality and behavior.
This memoir was at times sober, critical, and flat-out funny. I read this book in 24-hours. I laughed for most of that time. Le Tellier is a fantastic storyteller. I think this is the best memoir for its capture of a quietly whispered but well-lived truth.
Herve Le Tellier and Adriana Hunter team up again—Hunter previously translated his novel, Enough About Love. The title of this book borrows from the opening line of Anna Karenina, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," and lurks in the background of this entire book. Le Tellier tells us about his time growing up in Paris, living mostly with his mother and stepfather but mostly being raised by this grandparents. He shares his family tree, divulging a bit about their inner-lives of his biological and adopted families. He does this with the distanced afforded by old age (also the passing of his father and stepfather and the dementia of his mother), tender honesty, and dry humor.
At the heart of this tale of a mother with undiagnosed mental illness, an enabling servile stepfather, and an absentee father is a stance against the notion that children must love their parents regardless of whether the parents are worthy of love. I was impressed by how Tellier was not preachy nor bitter. He was neither physically abused, robbed of opportunity, nor encouraged to a sordid life. By all accounts, his upbringing was unremarkable and so normal. His parents like all parents had flaws, and he simply didn't have a loving relationship with them. This is quite a common experience. This is what makes this memoir so worthy of praise. Parents, especially mothers, are revered, which is understandable and in many cases deserved, but it leaves little room for one to share that they are not close to their parent(s). When someone does reveal that they are met with well-intented suspicion (What did you do? But that's your mom/dad! How could you not love them?). I love that this is titled, All Happy Families because although Tolstoy asserts that all happy families are alike, in actuality all families are like in the way that Le Tellier is describing: Parents are imperfect and are supposed to be loved irrespective of personality and behavior.
This memoir was at times sober, critical, and flat-out funny. I read this book in 24-hours. I laughed for most of that time. Le Tellier is a fantastic storyteller. I think this is the best memoir for its capture of a quietly whispered but well-lived truth.
brona's review against another edition
3.0
All Happy Families wasn't the memoir I was hoping it would be. Le Tellier is upfront from the beginning, letting us know that he doesn't feel love for his parents. I was therefore expecting a heartfelt exploration into all the whys and wherefores of his troubled childhood. Instead, we simply got a recital of the family tree with some anecdotes about things that were said and done.
Don't get me wrong, Herve's family was pretty ghastly. His mother would now be diagnosed with a pretty major personality disorder and his step father with codependency. His biological father obviously spent the rest of his just being grateful that he got out. Herve had lots of very good reasons to distance himself from the family of his birth as soon as he could, but the problem was, he also kept us, the reader, at a distance.
Memoirs, these days, are expected to provide various psychological insights as well as catharsis for the author. One of the very best that I've read in recent times is, Nadja Spiegleman's I'm Supposed to Protect You From All This. Le Tellier's book has obviously been cathartic for him, but I didn't feel like I got to know him at all. His lack of curiosity about why his mother and other family members acted the way they did was, well, curious. This complete detachment was no doubt his survival technique, but I wanted him to draw this bow too and show us how he had embraced his life away from the parental home. How does one go on to develop empathy, caring kindness and healthy relationships when one has a childhood lacking in all of the above?
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2019/07/all-happy-families-memoir-by-herve-le.html
Don't get me wrong, Herve's family was pretty ghastly. His mother would now be diagnosed with a pretty major personality disorder and his step father with codependency. His biological father obviously spent the rest of his just being grateful that he got out. Herve had lots of very good reasons to distance himself from the family of his birth as soon as he could, but the problem was, he also kept us, the reader, at a distance.
Memoirs, these days, are expected to provide various psychological insights as well as catharsis for the author. One of the very best that I've read in recent times is, Nadja Spiegleman's I'm Supposed to Protect You From All This. Le Tellier's book has obviously been cathartic for him, but I didn't feel like I got to know him at all. His lack of curiosity about why his mother and other family members acted the way they did was, well, curious. This complete detachment was no doubt his survival technique, but I wanted him to draw this bow too and show us how he had embraced his life away from the parental home. How does one go on to develop empathy, caring kindness and healthy relationships when one has a childhood lacking in all of the above?
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2019/07/all-happy-families-memoir-by-herve-le.html
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