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Michel Butor (1926–2016)

Author of A Change of Heart

180+ Works 1,272 Members 23 Reviews 6 Favorited

About the Author

Michel Butor was born near Lille, France on September 14, 1926. He studied philosophy and literature before becoming a teacher and working mainly abroad in Egypt, England, Greece, and the United States. He built a multi-faceted body of work that included books, essays, and poems. His books include show more A Change of Heart, Mobile, Degrees, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ape: A Caprice, and Frontiers. La Modification (Second Thoughts) won the Renaudot Prize. His literary and art criticism are contained in Repertoire I to IV and Illustrations I to IV respectively. He died on August 24, 2016 at the age of 89. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Works by Michel Butor

A Change of Heart (1957) — Author — 180 copies
A Change of Heart, followed by Mythological Realism (1957) — Contributor — 177 copies
Passing Time (1956) 176 copies
Degrees (1960) 74 copies
Mobile (1962) 56 copies
Passage de Milan (1954) 39 copies
Les mots dans la peinture (1969) 24 copies
Essais sur le roman (1969) 24 copies
Inventory; essays (1968) 19 copies
Repertorio (1960) 15 copies
Essais sur les modernes (1992) 14 copies
Letters from the Antipodes (1981) 12 copies
Zoo (2001) 9 copies
Niagara, a novel (1965) 9 copies
Le génie du lieu (1994) 9 copies
Anthologie nomade (2004) 7 copies
Description of San Marco (1963) 6 copies
Frontiers (1984) 5 copies
Calder (1994) 4 copies
Essais sur "Les Essais" (1988) 4 copies
L'art des États-Unis (1992) 4 copies
Ophold (1973) 4 copies
Le temps découpé (1991) 3 copies
Degisme (2015) 3 copies
La Rose des vents (1970) 3 copies
Scs de la vie fnine (1998) 2 copies
Travaux d'approche (1972) 2 copies
Dereceler (2015) 2 copies
Degustación (1993) 2 copies
Seize lustres: poésie (2006) 2 copies
Réseau aérien (1962) 2 copies
Roma (Spanish Edition) (2005) 2 copies
Répertoire IV (1974) 2 copies
Matière de rêves (1975) 2 copies
Résistances (1983) 1 copy
早稲田文学 2号 (2008) 1 copy
MONTAIGNE:ESSAIS 1 (1964) 1 copy
DEĞİŞME 1 copy
サルトル ; ビュトール ; — Author — 1 copy
Rêveuse Riviéra (1983) 1 copy
Illustrations (4) (1976) 1 copy
Quadruple fond (1981) 1 copy
Sira Disi Öykü (2015) 1 copy
Orte 1 copy
Inventory. 1 copy
Zone franche 1 copy
Patience (1991) 1 copy
Genève (1987) 1 copy
Vergers d'enfance (2004) 1 copy
Saggi sulla pittura (2001) 1 copy
Explorations 1 copy
Le chien roi 1 copy
Repertoire V 1 copy
Avant goût V (2009) 1 copy
Votre Faust 1 copy
Octogénaire (2006) 1 copy
Stravinsky au piano (1995) 1 copy
Avant-goût I (1984) 1 copy
Chantier 1 copy
Répertoires 1 copy

Associated Works

Paris Tales (2004) — Contributor — 108 copies
The Award Avant-Garde Reader (1965) — Contributor — 31 copies
Die letzten Dinge: Lebensendgespräche (2015) — Contributor — 11 copies
La Modification, Butor (Profil d'une œuvre) (1986) — Contributor — 7 copies
Comment travaillent les écrivains (1978) — Contributor — 3 copies

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Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

His first novel, written in his mid-20s, and probably the weakest of the four, but it's still a shame it hasn't been fully translated into English yet. Your French is shaky, but you're determined to read them all? Muddle through the first 180 pages, piecing together the cast of characters, then revel in the last third, which was translated:
-Chapters 7-10 in the Award Avant-Garde Reader (available on archive.org)
-Chapters 11-12 in The Carleton Miscellany, available on Carleton College's digital repository… (more)
 
Flagged
mcastagne | 2 other reviews | Jul 31, 2023 |
An interesting but minor stepping stone on the way to the pleasures of Niagara.
 
Flagged
mcastagne | Jul 31, 2023 |
I'd encourage trying to read it in the original French, with the aid of the translation if your French is shaky (both versions are on archive.org). There's not a lot of text and the French is very poetic and flows beautifully, with all sorts of lovely improvisations on the sounds of words. Unfortunately, Miller's translation is often odd and awkward, with some outright translation errors at times (those "badgers"...).
 
Flagged
mcastagne | Jul 31, 2023 |
An entirely worthwhile excursion that points towards the experiments of Mobile, though probably not a great place to start with Butor.
 
Flagged
mcastagne | 2 other reviews | Jul 31, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
180
Also by
19
Members
1,272
Popularity
#20,158
Rating
3.9
Reviews
23
ISBNs
229
Languages
12
Favorited
6

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