Episode 30|2: Petit Pays

Searching for Justice: Proust and the Dreyfus Affair – Les Bookworms

We're back on the Proust train. This episode covers the first chapter of Volume 3 – The Guermantes Way (Le Côté de Guermantes). We focus on the Dreyfus Affair and its role in French society at the time of Proust and today.

1. Searching for Justice: Proust and the Dreyfus Affair 40:50
2. Through the Pages of Time 55:01
3. In Search of Lost Podcasts: Les Bookworms Revival 28:08
4. 2 Down 5 to Go: Reflections on Volume II of Proust 30:07
5. A mix of gumption and courage: Paris memoirs 26:56

Aperçu du livre

 Ce roman raconte d’une façon la vie d’un garçon de dix ans et d’une autre façon l’histoire d’Afrique brutalement malmené par l’histoire. Je ne peux pas faire mieux que Gaël Faye. Comme il l’a lui-meme declare: 

“J’ai écrit ce roman pour faire surgir un monde oublié, pour dire nos instants joyeux, discrets comme des filles de bonnes familles…J’ai écrit ce roman pour crier à l’univers que nous avons existé, avec nos vies simples, notre train-train, notre ennui, que nous avions des bonheurs qui ne cherchaient qu’à le rester avant d’être expédiés aux quatre coins du monde et de devenir une bande d’exilés, de réfugiés, d’immigrés, de migrants.”

C’est ça le roman qui est inspiré de sa vraie vie. 

Pays

le Burundi

Les thèmes déterminants

1. L’innocence
2. L’interconnectivité
3. L’identité coloniale

Comment ce livre raviver, approfondir, ou contester ton idée de la francophonie?

Absolument oui. Ce livre raconte une histoire récente avec plusieurs aspects importants. Ceci n’est pas seulement une histoire du Burundi mais aussi du Rwanda. Faye aborde des sujets comme le racisme, le système colonial, les mariages mixtes, l’ethnie, la guerre, le genocide, l’enfance, le divorce, la famille, les amis, machin machin. De la même façon des fantômes du roi Léopold, je savais qu’il y avait des guerres civiles et ethniques pendant les années 90 mais ce roman a donné un contexte personnel et plus de détails qui m’aident à comprendre d’une autre façon. Je recommande fortement ce livre!

Moon of the Crusted Snow

Author

Waubgeshig Rice

Back Cover

As one society collapses, another is reborn. With winter looming, a small northern Anishnaabe community goes dark. Cut off from power and communication with no foreseeable resolution, only very few residents truly realize the community’s shortfalls. When unexpected visitors arrive, escaping the crumbling society to the south, tensions rise and allegiances are divided. The harsh winter months pass slowly, and the food supply dwindles as the death toll and panic rise, but the greatest threat to the survival of the reserve might come from within the community itself.

Our Thoughts

A slow thriller, this book is unlike anything I’ve read in years. We meet our likeable and extremely capable protagonist Evan with his young family focused on balancing raising children, taking care of the communities and preparing for winter. The mystery begins with every millennial’s nightmare; a total power outage. The general annoyance grows to concern and finally panic with rationing beginning. The arrival of visitors from the south is clearly a bad sign and begins to unravel the shaky peace and control the town Chief has over the community. I loved the way the book progressed like a good old-fashioned mystery. The reader knows something has gone wrong, but we never really find out what and how. Rice explores questions of community and fairness. Why do those who have properly prepared for winter now have to share with those who haven’t? What does it mean to be in community with people you don’t respect or who don’t pull their own weight? However by far the best writing comes with the description of the unwanted visitor, a clear threat from the moment we meet him. Rice uses dreams and folklore to paint a terrifying example of outside threat and the evil of selfishness. Not only was I riveted from beginning to end, but I literally went out and bought canned food and a first aid kit. I became very aware that in an event such as this, I would be nearly helpless and dependent on the competence and generosity of community. Highly recommend this book and following the author on twitter (@waub).

Genre

Apocalyptical/Dystopia/Thriller

Pages: 218

Split Tooth

Author

Tanya Tagaq

Back Cover

A girl grows up in Nunavut in the 1970s. She knows joy, and friendship, and the love of her parents. She knows the tedium of the everyday world, and the raw, amoral power of the ice and sky, the seductive energy of the animal world. She knows the ravages of alcohol, and violence at the hands of those she should be able to trust. She sees the spirit that surrounded her, and the immense power that dwarfs all of us. When she becomes pregnant, she must navigate all this. Haunting, brooding, exhilarating, and tender all at once, Split Tooth moves effortlessly between fiction and memoir, myth and reality, poetry and prose. Tagaq conjures a world and a heroine readers will never forget.

Our Thoughts

This book scared me at first. The subject matter is undoubtedly dark, so I was concerned this would be a heavy read. But I was so impressed with how the author moves from dark imagery immediately to nostalgic or heartwarming scenes. It was an incredible way to express survival through oppression and struggle. You keep going. There’s a mix of poetry and memoir style reflection. You need to let go of any expectation of a linear novel or plot to really appreciate the lyrical and poetic nature of Tagaq’s style of writing. Completely unlike anything I’ve ever read but worth it and certainly a strong candidate for a yearly re-read.

Genre

Poetic/Memoir/Freeform

Pages: 189