THE YEARS by ANNIE ERNAUX

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 Reading by Eileen Tabios

THE YEARS by Annie Ernaux

(Gallimard Editions/Seven Stories Press, 2008)


Since I'd not cared for the first book I'd read by Annie Ernaux (SIMPLE PASSION), I'm not just delighted but relieved to rave over the second book of hers that I've read: THE YEARS. It's a memoir that elevates the "we" from the "I" in a way no less than transcendent. It's also an exquisite and superb balance of desire and loss when the latter reflects the reality that to live is to lose. I'm going to share the back cover info because it nicely sums up my own opinion of this stellar work. Of particular interest to writers always looking (as, cough, I am) to disrupt genres from their norms.




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