As a French man you cannot merely admire. We have an eternal desire to make others look and feel ridiculous.”įargues agreed meanness was at the centre of the French way.
“It’s because we believe we could all be kings.
What is with that bored, disaffected, malaise that the French seem to have perfected?īarbery went first. Perhaps that’s why they were a good match for this session.Ĭhair Andrew Johnson started the sold-out discussion by asking about French stereotypes. They’re opposing factions – darkness and light. His characters are mean taunting karma and enraging the fates. Fargues on the other hand, writes with a pen dripping in scorn and insolence. Barbery writes in a delicate, pleasantly bubbling style of warm interactions and discoveries of human nature. Her latest novel, The Life of Elves has also been translated and just as Hedgehog made a delightful film, I believe Elves will, too.Īpart from the fact they’re both French, it would be hard to find two more different writers. Her novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog has been translated into many languages, it’s a New York Times best seller and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Muriel Barbery also writes beyond my level of comprehension, but at least she’s frequently translated. Alas Fargues’ writing is far above my rudimentary schoolgirl French. The problem was he read so slowly it drove me batty! I wanted to sit and have him read it to me all at once he wanted to do other things. I’ve heard so much about it, I even read a third of it with a friend when I was in Paris about a decade ago. Fingers crossed they’ll follow suit with the other 9. You see his latest book, I Was Behind You, has finally been translated into English. I had heard of Nicolas Fargues, though I’d only read one of his books.
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