One man's place...

by Eva Vaitanaki

One man’s place

Annie Ernaux

96 pages

Seven Stories Press

Paperback: $11.79 (Amazon)

Source : http://chantalserriere.blog.lemonde.fr

                One interesting fact about this book is the way Annie Ernaux writes about her life with a neutral and distant tone, even when she broaches the saddest moments in her life such as her father’s death.

Annie Ernaux is a French writer and Professor of Literature. Most of her writings are autobiographical and usually deal with sociology. Born in 1940, Annie Ernaux belongs to the middle-class. Her parents who were laborers became storekeepers by owning a coffee-grocery store. Mrs. Ernaux had been rewarded for many of her writings, which even resulted in the creation of the Aninie-Ernaux Prize.

One of her book that was really interesting to me is One man’s place (1983), for which she received the Renaudot Prize. In this book, the author describes her life from her birth to the death of her father, which is both the beginning and the end of One man’s place. All along the book, Annie Ernaux tells the reader in which environment she used to grow up, an environment she hated, an environment that was not always stable, where her parents argued a lot too much concerned by insecurity-related issues. This environment differs a lot from her high school, where she spends time with people from the upper middle class.

Source : Amazon.com

The book is written differently compared to autobiographical books we can read nowadays. The tone is always cold and distant which gives the readers a diverse approach to her story. In other words, the cold and distant tone used in her book does not make the reader feel some pity towards her, even in the worst moments.

With this autobiography, Mrs. Ernaux comes back to several events that marked her life. She seems to do an analysis of her life, what made her do what she does now, and especially the peculiar relationship she had with her father who passed away. I would recommend this book simply because the story is interesting as well as the way it is written in both formal and familiar language.

You can either buy this book on Amazon or on Google Books (E-version).