A Man's Place – WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

Name: A Man's Place – WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
Brand: Fitzcarraldo Editions
SKU: 9781804270547
Price: 24.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Annie Ernaux

3.88

( 27,970 ratings, 3,041 reviews)

Summary

A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux is a poignant exploration of the author's relationship with her father, as well as a deeply personal reflection on class, identity, and societal expectations in postwar France. Ernaux's narrative combines memoir and social critique, capturing the complexity of personal and collective memory.
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Format: Paperback / softback

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A Man's Place – WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might like this book if you appreciate poignant, autobiographical narratives that delve into the complexities of identity, societal expectations, and class dynamics. Annie Ernaux's insightful writing offers a deeply personal exploration of her father's life and social standing, providing a compelling perspective on culture and personal history.

A Man's Place – WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

Barely educated and valued since childhood strictly for his labour, Ernaux’s father had grown into a hard, practical man who showed his family little affection. Narrating his slow ascent towards material comfort, Ernaux’s cold observation in A Man’s Place reveals the shame that haunted her father throughout his life.

Description

A Man's Place, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a poignant and unflinching memoir by acclaimed author Annie Ernaux. Through precise and unembellished prose, Ernaux crafts a vivid narrative of her father's life. The story begins with a moment of deep personal contradiction: Ernaux's father passes away just two months after she earns her teaching certificate. This achievement, a milestone that marks her departure from the working-class world of her parents, sets the stage for a reflection on her father's life and identity.

Barely educated and valued since childhood strictly for his labour, Ernaux's father evolves into a hard, practical man who expressed little affection towards his family. Ernaux's narrative delves into his slow ascent towards material comfort and the internal struggles that accompanied this journey. Her father's sense of shame and inadequacy, stemming from his lack of formal education and his rural upbringing, is a recurring theme throughout the book.

Ernaux scrutinises the significance her father placed on manners and language, which felt alien to him as he endeavoured to better his family's social standing through running a grocery store and café in rural France. She observes his efforts to embrace a life of greater sophistication, recognising the personal sacrifices and inner turmoil this required. As Ernaux matures and becomes the sharp-eyed observer familiar to her readers, her father grows older, coming to terms with his life as it is and developing a cautious, even reluctant admiration for his daughter's achievements.

Without resorting to sentimentality, Ernaux provides a penetrating look at the complexities of familial love, social mobility, and the intersection of personal and collective histories. Over the course of the book, readers witness Ernaux's transformation from a child under her father's care to an independent and critically acclaimed writer. Her unsparing yet compassionate examination of her father's life offers profound insights into the human condition.

'Ernaux has inherited de Beauvoir's role of chronicler to a generation.' - Margaret Drabble

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux is celebrated for its unsentimental yet deeply moving portrayal of her father. Reviewers compare Ernaux to Simone de Beauvoir, praising her ability to capture the complexities of family dynamics and class struggles with emotional nuance and sharp analytical insight. The book is noted for its self-reflective inquiry into the act of writing memoirs and the inherent betrayals involved in documenting personal relationships. Overall, it offers a lacerating and intimate depiction that resonates profoundly with readers.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781804270547

Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 November 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Contributors:

Edited by Tanya Leslie

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 114.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 80

Collections

All Books Annie Ernaux Arts & Culture Biography & Memoir Non-Fiction

About the Author

Born in 1940, Annie Ernaux grew up in Normandy, studied at Rouen University, and later taught at secondary school. From 1977 to 2000, she was a professor at the Centre National d'Enseignement par Correspondance. Her books, in particular A Man's Place and A Woman's Story, have become contemporary classics in France. The Years won the Prix Renaudot in France in 2008, the Premio Strega in Italy in 2016, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2019. In 2017, Annie Ernaux was awarded the Marguerite Yourcenar Prize for her life's work.