Philippe Grimbert

Sympathetic resonance occurs when an object such as a violin produces a single note or a tone. Depending on its frequency, nearby objects may vibrate because they share that frequency (or a closely similar one). Thus, a string may cause other strings to vibrate and produce tones. An organ can cause windows or other glass to vibrate “sympathetically.” Even to shatter. And so it is with great books: they produce “tones”—thoughts, ideas, feelings—that resonate with the reader—with show more my past, my values, my thoughts. By the end of this book (and several times before), I was in tears. The writing (I presume), and certainly the translation, is measured, terse, and haunting. Grimbert’s language is understated, lyrical, nostalgic, and builds an undercurrent of disquiet that eventually leads to an emotional shattering of sorts. It is the more powerful for being largely autobiographical. The story is told (in retrospect) of the narrator’s youth in occupied France during WWII. Philippe is the fragile child of athletic and beautiful parents, a child who has always felt that he didn't fit in and that he was a disappointment. As he learns his family’s secrets, he begins to understand the critical, essential story of where he came from and who he is...and what came before him; his discoveries replace the stories and history he has constructed for himself because he learns that the past is infinitely more complex than he had imagined. I found the book wistful and bittersweet and exquisitely told. What is true and what is fiction is impossible to discern and, ultimately, irrelevant. The book, titled Un Secret in France and in England was inexplicably retitled “Memory” by its US publishers. The author’s title is far more apt. The book won the 2004 Prix Goncourt des Lycéens and was apparently an extraordinary best-seller throughout Europe; it is easy to see why. It was later made into a highly successful film; the New York Times’s review includes a description of the film that I believe is equally true about the book: “the film endows them, and everyone around them, with a dense and exquisite humanity, so that their story is freed from the pressure of making a point or teaching a lesson.” Under 150 pages, it is gem-like: polished, reflective, priceless...and shattering. I can only hope that it resonates with you and for you. show less

Although an only child, for many years I had a brother. Holiday friends and casual acquaintances had no option but to take my word for it. I had a brother. Stronger and better looking. An older brother, invisible and glorious.

The boy who narrates this small novel imagines having an older brother, one who is everything he is not: athletic, handsome, and beloved of their father. The brother figure is his alter ego, companion, and rival, someone with whom to wrestle with in the night in an show more effort to dominate and to acquire the characteristics that he himself lacks. He senses his father's disappointment in him and imagines a perfect life for his parents before he was born. But "the day after my fifteenth birthday, I finally learned what I had always known." This knowledge that a family friend shares with him changes everything: his identity, his relationship with his parents, and his place in the world. He must re-imagine everything, and in doing so he creates a new truth, which is cathartic for both himself and his father.

The author of this autobiographical novel is a psychoanalyst, and he delves into issues of identity, desire, guilt, and memory with a deft touch. In an interview that comprises the afterword, Philippe Grimbert says that in writing this book, "I was finally becoming the master of a story of which I had so long been the dupe." Yet he also admits that "I think I have discovered the truth of this story more than its reality, but in any case, this psychological truth was more important to me than the historical reality." (Italics are the author's.) An exploration of the past, both his own and his parents', Memory is a personal history, but also a perspective on an entire generation of children growing up in the shadow of World War II.

This novel has also been made into a 2007 award-winning movie called "A Secret". show less

A young boy, an only child, believes he has an older brother. He carries on imagined discussions with his brother, building him into a real person. One day he finds an old plush toy, a dog, in his family's attic.

A man meets the love of his life on his wedding day. He manages to keep this secret from his wife, even though the woman he loves is her sister-in-law.

A man who has never considered himself a Jew is forced to abandon his business and flee Paris after the Germans invade. He prepares show more a home for his wife and son who await their chance to escape. All goes well until his wife's sister-in-law arrives ahead of her own husband.

A desperate woman commits a Medea like betrayal.

What if the sequence of events that led you to unite with the love of your life included your own family's death?

Philppe Grimbert's novel Memory is not really about memory, nor is it really about secrets though its French title is The Secret. It's really about how much damage love can do.

Surrender to it at great risk. show less

I normally avoid books about World War 2 as they are so sad, but this book intrigued me. It is so powerful, so emotional, and yes, so sad. This is a fictionalized version of true events the author lived with - the knowledge that at one time he had a brother killed in a concentration camp in Germany, a secret his parents never told him but which he discovered anyway. He grew up thinking things that were not true, things hidden from him out of love and protection.

Wow, this book was sad and show more powerful. show less