Nathalie Sarraute

The latest work by the distinguished French writer Nathalie Sarraute, Here recreates the frustration of attempting to recall a forgotten word. Just beyond the grasp of memory, the elusive name of a person, a tree, or of a well-known artist is pursued through the dialogues, repetitions, and silences of everyday speech. The struggle to remember brings out the many interpretations and misunderstandings caused by the simplest and most banal of phrases - a theme found throughout Sarraute's work. As in previous books, she explores the minute, almost imperceptible responses to spoken words and thoughts, describing them with a minimum of concrete or social context. Although highly abstract, Here is surprisingly sensual in its analogies: intimidating laughter from the ever-present, threatening crowd is frantically mopped up with a sponge and a bucket of disinfectant; the words of subdued politeness are like low-fat foods lacking in real nourishment; the suggestion of obscure menace is experienced as a whiff of cheap make-up.

"The setting of Nathalie Sarraute's Do You Hear Them? is a dinner conversation between a father and his old friend about a recently acquired pre-Columbian statue. As they discuss the merits of the piece and art in general, the father hears his children upstairs, giggling. This mirth is barbaric and devastating to the father, for in their laughter he hears them mocking his "old fashioned" viewpoint and the energy he wastes on collecting lifeless objects. In his mind, they have no respect for what has been of greatest importance to him in his life."--Jacket.

"Le monde de Jessica s'effondre le jour où son mari, Alexandre Leroy, mathématicien franco-américain de renommée internationale, se tire une balle dans la tête. Comment a-t-il pu la trahir ainsi, décevoir leurs deux fils, détruire leur bonheur? L'acte est d'autant plus incompréhensible qu'il ne ressemble pas à l'homme qu'elle a connu. Mais l'a-t-elle vraiment connu? Elle reçoit de plein fouet un premier coup quand elle découvre que la photo de ses beaux-parents a été trafiquée. Alexandre a menti! Il a falsifié son identité, il s'est inventé un passé, il est même parvenu à tromper la communauté scientifique sur son génie mathématique. Comment une telle forfaiture a-t-elle été possible? Et surtout, pourquoi?"--Page 4 of cover.

"The many narratives of The Planetarium, told from various points of view, revolve around a seemingly simple conceit: a young man has his heart and ambition set on his aunt's large apartment. But, as in Sarraute's other books, this plot forms only the surface of what is really happening. Instead, Sarraute focuses on the emotional lives and internal thoughts of her characters in a way that goes beyond what Virginia Woolf did years before. The spite the young man feels toward his mother-in-law for offering him and his wife cheap chairs for their apartment; the terror inspired during a confrontation between the same young man and his aunt; and the need for approval he feels when he's around his Gertrude Stein-like literary icon are some of the many internal conflicts that move the narrative forward through the minds of the conflicted and clashing characters. Always deeply engaging, The Planetarium uses a simple plot to reveal the disparity between the way we see ourselves and the way others see us."--Publisher's website.

Sous l'apparence conventionnelle de deux personnages - un vieil 'avare' et sa fille - sous leurs attitudes, leurs paroles, leurs pensées, celui qui raconte cette histoire découvre un monde invisible. C'est comme une vision au microscope. Mais ce qui se révèle ainsi est tellement complexe, rapide, insaisissable qu'il finit par être contraint d'abandonner et de revenir à l'apparence, aux conventions. Une passionnante exploration que ne permettent pas les formes du roman traditionnel.