She was 54, he was 30 years younger. Yet she had never experienced a similar glow in any love affair before him. In September, Annie Ernaux turns 82, and only now, as a truly old lady, is she publishing the story of the intense time with “A”, and of how the pure young student made her experience her whole life anew. The short text becomes a mirror that also reflects Annie Ernaux’s writing. Because what does she do in these few, well-chosen pages? She writes about herself, and how she has moved from the working class to the bourgeoisie. She describes the meeting with a person who makes her think about who she is and who she was, in the world and today, and from these thoughts she creates literature worth reading. Literary superstar In France, Annie Ernaux has long shone in the starry sky of literature. Here at home, the flashes of light first hit a wider audience three or four years ago, especially with the publication of the two books “The Years” and “Hendelsen”. The success of the young writer Edouard Louis, who openly refers to Ernaux as his main source of inspiration, has also contributed to a renewed interest in her. Both use their own lives in a sociological exploration of gender, class and writing. When the Litteraturhuset in Oslo just before the summer released tickets for an event with Ernaux, which is in Oslo this week, the tickets were snapped up in minutes. The event was moved to the University auditorium to make room for more people. As if that wasn’t enough: In September, the film “The Incident”, which is based on the small book in which she describes an illegal abortion she went through in the 1960s – and which almost cost her her life – will be screened in Norwegian cinemas. The narrative has become brutally topical if we read it through American glasses. Ernaux refers to the actual event in the book. The lover’s student dormitory is across the street from the hospital in Rouen, where she was rushed to after the illegal operation when she herself was a young student of his age. The past meets the present, and it is as if Ernaux consciously uses the contemporary to really take over and remember the past. Remembrance is a term that sticks with Annie Ernaux, who has also written beautifully about her own parents. The woman on top The author is painfully aware that she is the one who has the power in the relationship. She has the role that society has far more often assigned to men: She has experience, education, money. He has energy and beauty, he gives her the feeling of being young and desirable himself. Free of shame Ernaux registers how provocative such an alliance is on society. It’s as if the people around them see their intimacy almost as something incestuous, she thinks. She herself has no shame. Then it is also she who ends the relationship. Don’t talk about her being left as a decrepit and scorned woman. No, she’s free! She has found her material that longs to be written down. She says that the text comes into being almost in a euphoric state of inspiration and insight, right after she has said thank you and goodbye to her young lover. Only 30 years later does the story come out between two covers. The physical passion and the passion of writing are twins competing for the writer’s attention. Too hardly But is this great literature? Well, it’s a well-considered and concise text about an unbalanced, erotic relationship that triggers mental realizations. Ernaux writes well about writing her own life, as she has done for so many years. Among other things, it is about seeing oneself through others, and that is all well and good and beautiful, also in Henninge Margrethe Solberg’s Norwegian translation. But to call this a novel is misleading. The book comprises just under 30 small pages, in addition there are ten pages of critical praise of previous books from Ernaux’s hand. “The young man” is an essay that reflects an essence of the author’s life and work. In this sense, the text is valuable for someone who already knows the authorship. If this is the first thing you read by Annie Ernaux, it is not at all surprising that some people will feel cheated. news reviewer Photo: Gyldendal Title: “The young man” Author: Annie Ernaux Genre: Novel Translator: Henninge Margrethe Solberg Publisher: Gyldendal Number of pages: 48 Date: August 2022
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“The young man” by Annie Ernaux – Reviews and recommendations
