Catharsis
Dreamlike, psychedelic, a bit offbeat. For years, Joann Sfar’s work has been the dream of millions of readers. But on October 7, the machine jammed. The artist seems broken by the rise of anti-Semitism in France and the West, the hardening of the Israeli government, the silence of the masses, the small cowardices of everyday life, the polarization of opinion, political recuperation. His only way out? Write and draw at a breakneck pace. The result is an album in which he describes his daily life unvarnished, meeting Israelis, Palestinians, intellectuals and ordinary citizens. Joann Sfar summons the memory of her father, her grandfather, her idols Joseph Kessel and Romain Gary to try to rediscover faith in humanity. The book should be put in the hands of everyone, especially those who imagine that what has been happening since October 7 is only a current event. It’s the beginning of dark days for everyone. Including the dreamiest of cartoonists.
We will live, investigation into the future of the Jewsby Joann Sfar, Les Arènes BD, 450 pages, 35 euros
Meta Boss
Who is Sam Bankman-Fried? The fanciful boss of FTX, a cryptocurrency trading platform that caused its clients to lose $9 billion, is an enigma to everyone who has worked with him, even his closest collaborators. A perilous exercise therefore for the American writer Michael Lewis to try to tell his life story. Is the person who was convicted of fraud in 2023 an inveterate crook or a very bad manager? In any case, it’s difficult not to recognize a form of genius in this man who nevertheless has great difficulty with social relationships. Unable to display facial expressions naturally, he is the specialist in missed (sometimes very important) appointments. Beyond his inscrutable personality, Sam Bankman-Fried is also a product of his time. He is part of the supporters of the utilitarian movement or the “effective altruism” movement, the aim of which is to analyze the best ways to have an impact on the world. An entire program !
Going Infinite – FTX, the rise and fall of the cryptocurrency tycoonby Michael Lewis, Talent Editions, 336 pages, 21.90 euros
Literary UFO
Although classified in the “novels” category, it is difficult to precisely give a literary genre to the new work of the 2014 Goncourt Prize Lydie Salvayre. Anti-capitalist pamphlet, philosophical essay on the right to stroll, prose poem which juggles between sustained and familiar style… We have always loved Sundays stands out as a literary curiosity. Perhaps quite simply because the author gives free rein to her thoughts as we can do on this last day of the week. The mind escapes, makes associations of ideas, recalls memories, beloved artists, but above all rebels. Because, in this time when we are not hindered, laziness makes its bed. However, this one “is the cradle of thought“. For Lydie Salvayre, it is also the cradle of revolt. The writer stands up against “apologists-for-the-work-of-others” which make us believe in the moral value of work. A book to discover on the weekend or… at the office!
We have always loved Sundays, by Lydie Salvayre, Seuil, 144 pages, 16.50 euros
Glory to the victims!
For decades, the heroes, the daring, the builders occupied a central place in the political narrative of parties of the left or right. Now the figureheads are the victims. Sexual, religious and ethnic minorities are at the center of everything, especially in so-called progressive circles. For what? How did the shift take place? The philosopher Pascal Bruckner tries to find an answer. Above all, it warns of the risks that this social fact poses to society: refusal of effort, victimized competition, loss of the art of dialogue, recourse to coercive measures. The theses put forward by Pascal Bruckner are not innovative but make it possible to popularize a basic trend. Those who want to go further can read Understanding the woke revolutionby Pierre Valentin, or Unique in the world and The Civilization of the Cocoon by Vincent Cocquebert.
I suffer therefore I am, portrait of the victim as a heroPascal Bruckner, Grasset, 314 pages, 22 euros
Lucas Jakubowicz, Olivia Vignaud
