When I am forced to, I sometimes read in French. It's a very exclusive sort of phenomenon, that usually has to do with some ouevre by Marguerite Duras that was never translated to Swedish (as I refuse to read her work in English). Or, as in this case, a new novel by Nina Bouraoui.
I cannot even start to describe what her (mid to later) work means to me. So while I'm not doing that I'll just share the fact that I have a really hard time viewing her stories from the outside. Hers is a voice that resonates within me to a degree I am afraid to really analyze any further.
Appelez-moi par mon prénom, which has a lot to do with M.D's Yann Andrea Steiner, is the story of a female writer and her younger reader. They have met briefly at a reading, but it is in the virtual world they begin their story.
P. existait dans une réalité que je ne partageais pas. Je m'enfermais dans un rêve. J'avais des projets mais je n'arrivais pas à travailler. Je gardais les mains vides, avançant sans mots.
The light of the novel is quite fair, almost summer blonde. There is not much resistance, it is mostly just a collection of thoughts and images. It is sweet.
Un peu plus tard:
I stumbled across this interview. And N.B. herself reading an excerpt of the novel over at Le blog à plumes!
And another interview:
