Someone I Loved

À soixante-cinq ans, il est à l'âge des bilans. Elle en a moitié moins et rumine son chagrin. Celui d'avoir été plantée là avec ses deux filles par un mari volage parti pour une "femme moins usée."

A priori, Pierre et Chloé n'ont pas grand chose à partager. Il en décide pourtant autrement, emmenant sa belle-fille sur un coup de tête pour quelques jours à la campagne. Au fil d'un long dialogue, ils vont peu à peu se livrer.

Tombe alors le masque du "vieux con" autoritaire et hautain attribué un peu hâtivement par Chloé à son beau-père. L'homme renfermé aux jugements définitifs révèle une blessure et une sensibilité à fleur de peau, tandis que la jeune femme pleine de vie reprend le dessus sur l'épouse show more éplorée.

"On biaise, on s'arrange, on a notre petite lâcheté dans les pattes comme un animal familier. On la caresse, on la dresse, on s'y attache. C'est la vie. Il y a les courageux et puis ceux qui s'accommodent. C'est tellement moins fatigant de s'accommoder..."
A-t-on le droit de tout quitter, femme et enfants, simplement parce que l'on se rend compte - un peu tard - que l'on s'est peut-être trompé? Adrien est parti. Chloé et leurs deux filles sont sous le choc. Le père d'Adrien apporte à la jeune femme son réconfort. A sa manière: plutôt que d'accabler son fils, il semble lui porter une certaine admiration. Son geste est égoïste, certes, mais courageux. Lui n'en a pas été capable. Tout au long d'une émouvante confidence, il raconte à sa belle-fille comment, jadis, en voulant lâchement préserver sa vie, il a tout gâché. show less

I adored this slip of a story. The prose is refined and sparse with not one superfluous sentence.

The inside jacket description reads as follows:

"With this deceptively simple novel Anna Gavalda delivers an uncommon romance about the unpredictability of love, the toll it takes on its victims - both innocent and guilty - and the unanticipated resilience of its survivors. Caustic, authentic and humanely sensitive, Someone I Loved is a revelatory work of fiction."

This completely sums up how I feel about Gavalda's book. The story grabbed me from the start and I felt as though I was a part of the tale - as a silent observer of events as they unfolded. I can see this story as a theatre production. I think it would be brilliant on stage. The show more dialogue is wonderfully sharp and the relationship of the two main characters, father-in-law and daughter-in-law, is an unusual angle of approach.

FYI - The story is actually only 158 pages in length. The book comes with the English translation as well as the original French version of the story. Together both versions make up the 338 pages. I was so surprised I had reached the end, but then went "Hmmm, yeah, that works."

Gavalda has been noted as one of France's best and most successful writers. Between Someone I Loved and Hunting and Gathering (which is still my favourite book read this year) I can understand where the praise is coming from and look forward to reading more of Gavalda's novels.

My favourite quote from the book is this one (pages 149/150):

"Life is stronger than you are, even when you deny it, even when you neglect it, even when you refuse to admit it...It's incredible but that's the way it is. Life is stronger than anything. And who are we to be so self-important? We bustle about, talk in loud voices, and for what? What happens, afterwards?" show less

Анна Гавальда (р. 1970) - ярчайшая "звезда французской словесности", чей успех в ряде стран уже затмил пресловутый "Код да Винчи". Ее называют "литературным феноменом", "нежным Уэльбеком" и "новой Франсуазой Саган". Ее книги, покорившие миллионы читателей по всему миру, отмечены целым созвездием литературных премий, переводятся на десятки языков, по ним ставят спектакли и снимают фильмы.Роман "Я ее любил / Я его show more любила" - пронзительно грустная и красивая книга о любви, раскрывающая самые острые и потаенные грани этого прекрасного и загадочного чувства. Книга, в "фирменном" авторском стиле сочетающая внешнюю простоту с внутренней глубиной, тонкий психологизм с безукоризненной точностью каждого слова.Перевод с французского Елены Клоковой. show less

I thought this book was really sad and poignant and true but I think that maybe it just speaks to me at this second. I have a feeling that maybe if I re-read it in a year, I might find it a bit trite.

A woman who has just learned that her husband is leaving her and their children for another woman is whisked off to a country house by her father in law. This dialog heavy novel eventually steers the conversation to his story of a love lost. Nearly a screenplay, it's not bad, but does get a bit sloggy until you fall off the edge of the end. (June 22, 2004)

Adrien leaves his wife and his father takes her to the family's country home with her children. He tells her a story of falling in love with a woman while he was married. He does not want her to leave the family.

I believed the father-in-law was sincere in his desire to help his daughter-in-law through her husband's leaving. With his story he draws comparison between him and his son. He had to open himself up and shows a man that his children have never seen. He also had to take a hard look at himself. I also believe he wanted to show her she wasn't losing much but that happier times would come.

This is a fast read. I enjoyed the characters. I would read more of her.

Chloe, casada y con dos hijas pequeñas, es abandonada por su marido, que decide irse con su amante, asi que ella acepta la invitación de su suegro para pasar unos días en la casa de campo de la familia. La novela, bastante breve, es un dialogo entre Chloe y su suegro en el que ella expresa su rabia y su desesperacion y en el que el le relata una parte de su vida de la que ella era ajena. El dialogo 'chirría' en la traducción, por lo que el placer de la lectura se ve bastante comprometido. La obra es una reflexion (no muy profunda) sobre la importancia de la fidelidad en el matrimonio, el significado de las aventuras extramatrimoniales y sobre las diferentes respuestas que se pueden dar a las necesidades y deseos del cónyuge/amante.