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Loading... The Manuscripts of Pauline Archange (Exile Classics series) (original 1968; edition 2010)by Marie-Claire Blais, Derek Coltman (Translator), David Lobdell (Translator), Barry Callaghan (Introduction)
Work InformationThe Manuscripts of Pauline Archange by Marie-Claire Blais (1968)
New Canadian Library (116) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Quebecois author Marie-Claire Blais may be the best writer I had never heard of, if her 1969 novel The Manuscripts of Pauline Archange is a good representation of her work. These are the writings of young Pauline, the oldest daughter of a poor family in what I am guessing is mid-century Montreal. Her world is a world of rules that are almost always broken, neighbors who live too close, a sick and disapproving mother (who deep down is very much like Pauline herself), passionate friendships, clinging Catholicism, and a desire to experience and create art that her circumstances seem destined to deny. Written with an adult sensibility and frequently slipping out of Pauline's mind into the dialogues and thoughts of those around her, this is a fever dream of a book that conjures a rich portrait of Pauline and her world. Not sure how it reads in the original French, but this translation is complex and surprising, just like Pauline herself. ( ) no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesNew Canadian Library (166) Awards
Pauline tells her personal story of growing up through paradoxes and insights that blend social, religious, and moral textures. Her world is populated by people who turn to violence or sink into quiet despair-it is a world damned. Pauline, her family, schoolmates, teachers, and friends are driven by tempestuous individual imperatives and the social deprivation they encounter. Full of satire, fantasy, energy, and lyricism, this chronicle portrays a reality that neither poetry, nor dreams, nor Pauline's fantasies can weaken. No library descriptions found. |
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