The Possibilities of the Novel: A Conversation with Noémi Lefebvre
A conversation with the breakout French author on shame, memory, Schoenberg, structural circularity, and all the rest.
A conversation with the breakout French author on shame, memory, Schoenberg, structural circularity, and all the rest.
Contrasting approaches by two famous French cartoonists—Georges Wolinski and Plantu—show differing ways of poking fun at the powerful.
Three contemporary French authors illuminate the president’s divisive neoliberal agenda and how a diversionary ‘Europe under attack’ narrative might be the key to his success.
Maylis de Kerangal’s “The Heart” combines the language of science, philosophy, and pop culture to create a novel that defies categorization—and frustrates certain literary élites.
Daniel Le Bailly de La Falaise on private caterings for celebrities, the sexuality of a peach, and how the simplicity of food is the ultimate luxury.
Is Michel Houellebecq’s writing improved when he’s translated into English?
Learn a new language and get a new soul— Czech proverb When Jacques was twelve years old, his mother began speaking to him only in French, his father addressed him only in Greek, and he was sent to an English-speaking day school in Paris. Of course, Jacques* was the same person whether he was discussing physics with his mother in Greek, economics with his father in French, or chatting about James Bond and the latest Die Hard with his friends at The American School of Paris. And yet, his personality seemed to ebb and flow. “I felt probably ruder and more aggressive in Greek, clear and concise in French, and creative and longwinded in English,” he said. “You don’t really feel the difference while you’re doing it, but you do after.”