Two Parisian shrinks -- Anna, 40-something with a couple of kids and an eminent physician husband, and Thomas, 40-something but still single following the suicide of a young love -- are about to leave the cool realm of the psychoanalyst's chair and fall into a hot pit of emotional upheaval that shatters their happy lives. Anna falls for Yves, a celebrated and single writer, while Thomas falls for Louise, a human-rights lawyer with a couple of kids and an eminent scientist husband. In spare yet evocative prose, Le Tellier recounts the affairs from start to finish -- the early trysts, the introductions to the children, the cuckold's discoveries and civilized attempts to confront the other man. Le Tellier is an experimental writer, interested in finding new ways to tell stories, and I did not find these characters emotionally engaging. But while emotional engagement is necessary to make me passionate about a novel, skillful writing also draws me in, and Le Tellier is a skillful writer. The paired affairs begin similarly -- married women pursued by unmarried men -- but end quite differently, and while the reader who follows their trajectories through this book won't be thrilled as the pages pass, most will be satisfied when they reach the end. Enough About Love is one of those books with something so unique that I can’t remember the last time I have seen it: it has a totally unbiased narrator. In fact, the voice of this book is more like a journalist. He/she sees what these characters do, and he just reports.The opinion-less narrator is essential for this novel because most of the characters act less than morally. In fact, Enough About Love to me wasn’t really about love in the truest sense of the word. It was instead about sex, secrets, and regrets. Full of affairs and psychoanalysis, this novel focuses on the negative sides of long term relationships.Hervé Le Tellier should be commended for his quality and unique writing style. Enough About Love tackles the large question can we ever really know the other person in our relationship in a real and honest way.But it was this honesty that made the novel difficult to read at times. Just like our real love affairs Enough About Love was gritty and complicated.
What do You think about Assez Parlé D'amour (2010)?
3 1/2 Liked the French atmosphere, liked the adultery. Well written, fast read.
—Annabell
Quite wonderful in a modest way. Almost enough to make one want to be in love.
—Nicholas
Sort of nauseating. But a sweet, romantic french novel.
—samanthab4life
