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- Today, "Respond to me" by Mélanie Taquet, published on June 25, 2020 by Éditions Eyrolles.
Marceline Bodier, contributor to the reading group "20 Minutes Books", recommends you Answer me by Mélanie Taquet, published on June 25, 2020 by Éditions Eyrolles.
His favorite quote:
I can tell myself that you are only a friend, that everything is over for a long time, she is right: this link between us, even platonic, it is not healthy. Otherwise, I wouldn't have wanted to hide your existence from him.
Why this book?
- Because we all need, at certain periods of our life, to believe that love is possible, that resilience is certain, that the bonds between beings who have loved each other can last for decades. But the day we get caught up in reading this kind of story, we need it to be adorned with all the qualities: well written, catchy, addictive, sincere. And, to stand out from the crowd - pity! -, be more subtle than a trivial game on female fragility in the face of male domination. No hesitation: Answer me absolutely stands out ...
- Because it is a romance, a beautiful one, of which we suspect that the end will be happy, and that we will like it (but no, I will not reveal it). Everything is seen from the inside, from the point of view of the protagonists: we therefore have access not only to history, but also behind the scenes, and its ambivalences. Now, that's what we recognize a good author (of romance, but not only): it's not on the surface of things that he gives access, but behind the scenes. "So I left, not because something was wrong with you, as you seem to think, but because I was the monster. "
- Because since Dangerous Liaisons , we know very well that the letter-writing form is ideal for talking about love: it gives maximum proximity to the characters. Don't protest right away: of course, Answer Me is as refreshing as the book by Choderlos de Laclos is perverse. But don't trust it. If Florence is neither Cécile de Volanges nor Merteuil, while Nicolas is neither Valmont nor Danceny, so much the better! They are not timeless, but just contemporaries who confront their contradictions, giving us the opportunity to identify with them.
- Because reading a romance has real political meaning. "Desire always comes up against reality anyway, that's why we invented fiction. And romance novels. ”: This is what Nicolas Mathieu wrote after having walked the aisles of the first romance literature fair in Dunkirk and having expressed his surprise in the March issue of Zadig magazine . "If I don't have my dose, it won't work," summed up one of the many readers with whom he spoke. Answer me is a dose… to savor without any ulterior motive!
The essential in 2 minutes
The intrigue. "I needed to talk to you, that's all. I don't know if this answer suits you, but it's mine. ” This sentence sums up the book, and furiously reminded me of "Love is giving what you don't have to someone who doesn't want it" ... from whom, already? The answer, below, will surprise you!
Characters. If Nico spoke all the time about Flo, his ex, to Caro, his wife, and that was how she knew his importance for him, we would be in a banal romance. But it is quite the opposite: she guesses this importance because he never talks about it ... here, we are not in an ordinary romance!
Places. The country of our dreams. And those of the characters, who also become, for the time of a reading, ours.
The time. We really want to believe that Answer me could happen at any time when love is possible. But it is a resolutely contemporary novel which cannot therefore be transposed at any time. And who will complain? Certainly not today's readers…
The author. Mélanie Taquet is a surprising author: she writes romances, but it makes me want to quote Choderlos de Laclos, Nicolas Mathieu… and Lacan. Simple and accessible in form, but much more complex than it seems. Enough to make Answer Me a unifying novel for the summer!
This book was read with the feeling of having found something to escape from the ambient gloom ...
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