Raphaël Enthoven: "I wrote to destroy my image"

INTERVIEW

His novel sparked controversy at the start of the school year.

In

, an autobiographical book, Raphaël Enthoven evokes the characters of his childhood and his life, in particular his father, Jean-Paul Enthoven, who denounced an "ocean of ingratitude".

Guest of

, Sunday, on Europe 1, the essayist has returned to this work at length, in which he claims not to spare himself. 

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"When words come to you so easily ..."

"I loved writing it all, I discovered that I had the possibility and the means to tell the stories and by telling them to dissolve the pain, to offer them to hearts other than mine", first explains Raphaël Enthoven, whose

first novel is

.

"I have never liked writing so much. I had written twenty books before that one (essays,

) and in a way, this one is the first. (...) When the words come to you if easily to describe what you went through, I know of few comparable emotions. "

The essayist still claims to have written "in just three months", following two rules.

"The first was to never lie. Not because the truth would be morally better than a lie, but because when you don't lie, as Jerphagnon says (Lucien Jerphagnon, historian of Greek and Roman philosophy,

) , you can say anything. (...) And the second was not to ask myself the question of the effects of the book when I was writing it. "

"The difference between my father and my mother"

The effects, however, are now undeniable.

Asked about the words of his father, who said he was "in mourning" after the publication of the book, Raphaël Enthoven believes that "some people do not want to be loved for what they are".

"Some people absolutely want to be loved for the image they convey of themselves. And when you are Aragonian, this is my case, that is to say when you consider that the one who has never been disappointed knows nothing of true love, you strive to look at people, even the gods of your childhood, that is to say your parents. (...) There are people in whose eyes such a step is unforgivable , unspeakable. Others see it as a declaration of love. That's all the difference between my father and my mother. " 

And Raphaël Enthoven underlines that

is not kind to anyone, and especially not himself.

"I did not write this book to give myself a good image, to bask my face, to improve things. (...) When you write, you don't stop yourself. (...) I wrote to destroy my image, or at least to abuse it, to hurt it, to make it bleed. "