The Lover – Marguerite Duras (1984)
NUMBER: 75
Genre: Fiction; Origin: France; Pages: 100
Satisfaction rating: 9.5
OVERVIEW:
Set in the prewar Indochina of Marguerite Duras’s childhood, this is the haunting tale of a tumultuous affair between an adolescent French girl and her older Chinese lover in the waning days of France’s colonial empire.
MATTHEW’S COMMENTS:
I copied the above synopsis from Google Books. I left unchanged because I found it interesting that it considers The Lover to be a tale of an affair. While I agree that this storyline makes up a good portion of the plot, there are many layers to this impressive work. In contrast, I would suggest that this is first and foremost a story of family and its juxtaposition against the relationship.
These two dynamics are oppressive to say the least. Be it the mother, her two brothers or lover, each is obsessed with their own wants and desires, while the girl trades these experiences as a way of independence, or possible liberation. Yet, part of the appeal (at least from my reading) is that we are never really given the full context of these complex relationships, let alone the brief insights the reader is given to her boarding school classmate – another object of her affection.
Story aside, Duras displays the greatest skill in narrative structure. Sharing similar traits to some work I’ve read by Ondaatje and (Graham) Swift. I think the greatest achievement is the way in which the narrator’s disjointed recollections invade the central story, protracting the plot, but also further develop character. I particularly like the way in which it takes the first 30 or so pages for the girl to cross the river. Much of the beauty comes through in these fractures and tangents.
FURTHER REFERENCES:
Comments (2 comments)
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sterling bank / July 1st, 2008, 3:36 am
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AlexM / August 17th, 2008, 12:11 am
What do you think?
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