For a fortnight, Madame Figaro makes us discover the Books that famous people like to give away. Augustin Trapenard, presenter of the literary program La Grande Librairie, explains why he often chooses Fragments of a love speech de Roland Barthes.
“This essay was published in 1977, when I was not yet born, but it is timeless. And essential from an intimate point of view: love has always been the center of the world for me. It brings about a revolution on the body and mind that I have always found fascinating. I have often been helpless in the face of sadness in love, whether it is mine or whether it concerns my family, my friends or the people I speak to. But when people ask me what to read in the event of a breakup or bereavement, it's this book that I recommend. Through this intimate and theoretical alphabet book which goes from ''To be damaged'', to ''Wanting to seize'', via ''Absence'', ''Embrace'', or ''Jealousy'', Roland Barthes transmits to us the idea that love is first and foremost a quote.
Through magnificent references, such as Proust's Albertine, the young Werther or Sapho, he inscribes the feeling and the discourse of love in a cultural and literary history. With this central idea: healing is our business, not someone else's. By understanding these repeating mechanisms, we question everything and get through it. In any case, the book had this effect on me: I read it for the first time at 16, after a heartbreak. It was given to me and as literature must be passed on and shared, I often give it as a gift in turn. I always favor the Pocket format, ideal for always having it with you. Heartbreak can grip us when we least expect it!” M.L
Sp.
France
Books
