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veronicafrance 's review for:
Livret de Famille
by Patrick Modiano
Patrick Modiano is not a reliable narrator. This is a collection of autobiographical vignettes which are not necessarily literally true. Although Modiano is very well known (Goncourt, Nobel), I haven't read any of his other work; one reviewer here says this isn't the best place to start and I can believe that. Modiano has a lot of backstory and it probably helps if you're aware of that before the start. I remember seeing him interviewed by Bernard Pivot on Bouillon de Culture and he came across as a slightly odd and introverted person.
The title Livret de Famille evokes the theme well; Modiano explores family, identity and memory through these different episodes. Some of these "memories" are of his parents before he was born; others are perhaps based on real incidents but include a large dose of fantasy (notably the episode at the country estate).
I found it a bit uneven. Some chapters really engaged me; I particularly liked the opening one where he registers his newborn daughter's birth and by chance meets an old friend of his father, the one set in Switzerland, and the penultimate one where he visits the flat overlooking the Seine where he grew up. Others left me indifferent. Probably best read in short bursts, a chapter at a time.
The title Livret de Famille evokes the theme well; Modiano explores family, identity and memory through these different episodes. Some of these "memories" are of his parents before he was born; others are perhaps based on real incidents but include a large dose of fantasy (notably the episode at the country estate).
I found it a bit uneven. Some chapters really engaged me; I particularly liked the opening one where he registers his newborn daughter's birth and by chance meets an old friend of his father, the one set in Switzerland, and the penultimate one where he visits the flat overlooking the Seine where he grew up. Others left me indifferent. Probably best read in short bursts, a chapter at a time.