I am grateful for the fact that as we read these books throughout the year, the time each is written in is getting more and more modern, and thus I feel like the language used is almost easier for me to understand as well. However what strikes me is the material of much of the literature that we do read, perhaps it is by chance, but why do so many of the works include weird sexual themes and perverse elements?
I realize that for many of the books in this course like The Lover, the story is written as a semi-autobiographical piece and that these events did probably occur. Are people who experience events like these driven by something to write about them? The translator of this book states that the relationship with the older man gave the author something to write about, to fulfill her dream as a writer. Maybe these events highlight the uncomfortable nature of human life, that these elements do exist and through literature, we can learn how they affect us (as a reader and writer). Many of the books we’ve read so far have included sexual themes such as cheating or pedophilia, and I wonder how society has changed regarding these topics, and that my reaction to reading these books could be the same or different than someone reading it at the time it was written.
As mentioned in the lecture it is unclear who is “predating” on whom and the narrator does state a sense of control in her encounters with the older man, but no matter how much she says she’s in control I can’t help but feel that that isn’t the case. Possibly Duras writes this book to put her own power on the events that happened long ago.
I do think that this book was written quite well, with little actual dialogue (the use of “”), it strengthens the feeling that the narrator is recalling her life, and thus the recollection is often disjointed and jumps around time. Like the other books we have read so far, I enjoy reading this style of narration, where it seems like the narrator is a human too and I am simply next to them to hear them tell their story. I feel like the lack of dialogue also emphasizes a sense of silence, that in the bustling city, there is someone who lives often in her own head. 3.5/5
For this week’s question: There is a movie adapted in 1992 for this book, do you think that any of the other books we have read can be made into a critically-acclaimed movie today?