One man's place...
by Eva Vaitanaki
One man’s place
Annie Ernaux
96 pages
Seven
Stories Press
Paperback: $11.79
(Amazon)
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Source : http://chantalserriere.blog.lemonde.fr
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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.
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Source : Amazon.com
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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).
