Search -
Paths to Contemporary French Literature, Vol. 2 (Volume 2)
Paths to Contemporary French Literature Vol 2 - Volume 2 Author:John Taylor The first volume of "Paths to Contemporary French Literature" offered a critical panorama of over fifty French writers and poets. With this second volume, John Taylor continues this ambitious and critically acclaimed project. Praised for his independence, curiosity, intimate knowledge of European literature, and his sharp reader's eye, John Tayl... more »or is a writer-critic who is naturally skeptical of literary fashions, overnight reputations, and readymade academic categories. Charting the paths that have lead to the most serious and stimulating contemporary French writing, he casts light on several neglected postwar French authors, all the while highlighting genuine mentors and invigorating newcomers. Some names (Patrick Chamoiseau, Pascal Quignard, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Jean Rouaud, Francis Ponge, Aime Cesaire, Marguerite Yourcenar, J. M. G. Le Clezio) may be familiar to the discriminating and inquisitive American reader, but their work is incisively reevaluated here. The book also includes a moving remembrance of Nathalie Sarraute, and an evocation of the author's meetings with Julien Gracq. This second volume also examines a number of non-French writers (such as Gherasim Luca, Petr Kral, Armen Lubin, Venus Ghoura-Khata, Piotr Rawicz, as well as Samuel Beckett) who chose French as their literary idiom.« less