What do You think about The Lemoine Affair (2008)?
The conceit of style is ridiculed in this book more than anything else. The Mask of the Intellectual, is taken off for literature. You can read or watch George Will to see a current practitioner; it sounds like he’s saying something; he looks like he knows what he’s talking about; but behind the noise, the elongated linguistics, nothing original, nothing of merit.As for this novella: a rarity for literature. You have one of the most noted stylists admitting most of what he said was…nothing that special. This by way of seeing himself in his contemporaries prose posturing, dressing up cliché with verve, putting out social comment with sarcasm instead of having the guts to go for it with sincerity.And who thought self-loathing was only reserved for Americans!
—Walter
This is the first and perhaps the last book that I have read entirely on the subway, and it is possible that the venue of its reading may account for Proust's inability to grab my attentions and sustain them. But I doubt it. I don't have a deep enough knowledge of French literature to have been amused by what I am sure are delightful imitations of each writer's style, but this book failed to transcend its own novelty to impart any real interest in terms of its subject matter. It's a bore my dear, a bore.
—Chelsea
Humorous, sorta. Feel like maybe the translator got it wrong, or maybe it's just a lackluster book. I mean, not everyone always has stellar output. Feel like the imitations of the other authors was okay, but really believe that this may be the kind of book that's meant to be read only in the original. I mean, I guess I'm not entirely sure I trust this translator to not only translate accurately but also to replicate the styles of balzac, flaubert, etc as they are commonly translated in English. Seems like a ton of research, no translator's note to back it up. The cover is a pretty color, though.
—Brendan
