The Lover
by Marguerite Duras | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0060975210 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0060975210 Global Overview for this book
This book is in a Controlled Release!
3 journalers for this copy...
Set in Sa Dec, French Indochina, in the 1930s, this ostensibly autobiographical novel details fifteen-year-old French girl Hélène Lagonelle’s relationship with a wealthy Chinese man twelve years her senior. This taboo sexual relationship unfolds against the backdrop of her unstable and largely unhappy family life. Living with her depressive mother and two older brothers, Hélène and her family exist in a poverty induced by her eldest brother’s drug and gambling addictions. His sadistic treatment of her, and the disturbing pleasure he derives from her mother’s abuse of her, lend the novel an unsettling dimension that is perhaps underplayed by the adult voice of the narrator. While her family disapprove of the interracial relationship, they benefit financially from it, and their awkward meetings with her lover throw into relief the tensions generated by the French colonial regime and the differences in their status and cultural backgrounds. Challenging sexual stereotypes, Hélène instigates the relationship, she is the partner able to detach the physical from the emotional, and despite being a child and financially insecure, she is ultimately the one with the upper hand in the relationship.
With its shifts between the first and third person, the use of flashbacks, and its impressionistic, disrupted style, Duras’ writing is very cinematic, influences by the french nouveau roman of the 1950s. The novel was turned into a movie in 1993, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. — Juliet Wightman in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
With its shifts between the first and third person, the use of flashbacks, and its impressionistic, disrupted style, Duras’ writing is very cinematic, influences by the french nouveau roman of the 1950s. The novel was turned into a movie in 1993, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. — Juliet Wightman in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
Thanks so much for your donation Vasha!
This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the 1001-library bookshelf.
Journal Entry 3 by Vasha at A BookCrosser, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Released 14 yrs ago (1/18/2010 UTC) at A BookCrosser, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sent to svoight, who has more shelf space than I do.
Sent to svoight, who has more shelf space than I do.
Received this 1001-Library book to free up shelf space for another member. The book is Available for check out for any Library member!
This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing svoight:)
If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.
moving on
