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A review by bookeboy
Diary of a Body by Daniel Pennac
5.0
At once highly original and deeply familiar, this enjoyable book takes the form of a diary but, instead of detailing the events of the life of the writer, it chronicles the life of Daniel Pennac's body. It's like the TV show Embarrassing Bodies crossed with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ - written by a French philosopher.
This doesn't seem as strange as it sounds once you get going, because, as this book quickly reminds us, we are obsessed with our own bodies. To the point where our lives are almost reactions to the changes our bodies undergo.
Childhood is almost all body. Our strange behaviour as adolescents is fuelled by hormones. Our early adulthood is nearly entirely driven by desire. We reproduce. Then our bodies begin to play cruel tricks on us. We get older and older, start falling apart, then die.
Pennac's diarist is refreshingly open about all of the subjects few of us ever share. Even with our partners. And as the book covers an entire lifetime, we get to explore a great many of life's challenges and joys.
Daniel Pennac is a star in France and Europe but little known here, which is a shame. Diary of a Body has the potential to change this.
This doesn't seem as strange as it sounds once you get going, because, as this book quickly reminds us, we are obsessed with our own bodies. To the point where our lives are almost reactions to the changes our bodies undergo.
Childhood is almost all body. Our strange behaviour as adolescents is fuelled by hormones. Our early adulthood is nearly entirely driven by desire. We reproduce. Then our bodies begin to play cruel tricks on us. We get older and older, start falling apart, then die.
Pennac's diarist is refreshingly open about all of the subjects few of us ever share. Even with our partners. And as the book covers an entire lifetime, we get to explore a great many of life's challenges and joys.
Daniel Pennac is a star in France and Europe but little known here, which is a shame. Diary of a Body has the potential to change this.