Books I have read in January 2023 & my opinion on them !
Discours sur les sciences et les arts, Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes & Discours sur l’économie politique, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1749 & 1755 | Mentally preparing to (re)read The Social Contract next month.
Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872 | Liked it! Kinda want to read more classics written in English!!
Mémoires, Louise Michel, 1886 | Very well written, a bit repetitive towards the end but really, what a woman ! Her writing shows just how full of life she was, even when she thought she had nothing left but a heart of stone after her mother died. I loved the descriptions of New Caledonia. Her ideas on revolution, especially the role of women - and life in general are still fresh. Really, the best book I have read this month.
Andréas and other stories, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1907-1927 | Nice short stories. The settings vary a lot so the atmospheres were very different but all of them were somewhat obscure and dark. I wasn’t a fan of Hofmannsthal’s poetry but those were much more to my taste!
The Stone Face, William Gardner Smith, 1963 | I think this was recommended to me here but I am not sure. I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. The theme of the book is brave and interesting, considering the Algerian war of independance is still a very touchy subject in France (a lot of ppl don’t call it a war). But the narration is so didactic the book felt like a moral lecture (which I don’t need as I am an adult capable of critical thinking and drawing nuanced conclusions). Some details are just unnecessary and weird and not making any of this believable. It takes a lot away from the ending, which is more interesting and touching. Overall, the statements the book makes are lacking nuance and depth.
Sur Lautréamont, Maurice Blanchot, Julien Gracq et J. M. G. Le Clézio, 1987 | Forgot how much I loved Les Chants de Maldoror, kinda want to read it again.
L’évenement, Annie Ernaux, 2000 | I don’t know what to think of this. Some really beautiful parts, some I didn’t really like (authors writing about them writing is not my thing at all, even if in this book, it doesn’t come off as self-centered all the time). The ending is more bitter than I expected, which I liked (I saw the movie inspired by the book last year and the ending felt a bit fake). Maybe it’s the kind of book that will stay in my mind for longer than expected but I doubt it.
Une histoire de la Révolution française, Eric Hazan, 2012 | In short, a good synthesis of many different authors who worked on the Frenc Revolution. It has the quality of displaying various interpretations of historical events and sometimes adding new interpretation. Not as complete as Soboul’s book, not a ton of the author’s original ideas. I knew a lot of what is presented already but it was still a good read.
