“If you decide to attack, turn to 323”, “If you wish to advance towards the north gate, turn to 137, if you prefer to advance towards the south gate, turn to 225”. Here are extracts taken from volume 6 of the “Lone Wolf” saga, entitled The Stone of Wisdomand which perhaps mean something to you, if you are a fan of books including YOU are the hero (LDVEH).
This is the case of Laurent, 42, who discovered these books mixing role-playing and children’s literature when he was 7 years old, “certainly in a library or at the CDI”he remembers. Since then, his passion for this collection has not left him. “It’s still going onhe admits. I took a long break when I moved, because everything was packed away in boxes.”but three years ago, “I reread some collections with great pleasure and I wanted to get back into the collectionshe explains. There was a little taste of nostalgia, but that never really left me.”
If Laurent is so attached to these books, it is because they revolutionized children’s literature when they were released in 1984. Published within the Folio Junior collection at Gallimard, they allow the reader to literally immerse themselves in history. . For example, “your character has to join the king of the kingdom, and the main character has to get out of his monastery, run away while he is under attack from enemies. You have to choose the right path. Should I crawl, should I go for direct confrontation ? Maybe go through underground passages or wells ?”details the forty-year-old. A real “immersion”which immediately appealed to the child he was at the time.
“It’s something that we already have a little less in classic novels. That’s what really kept me hooked.”
Laurent, collectorat franceinfo
“It really feels like you’re in the game. I remember feeling apprehensive at the time, was I going to go the wrong way ? Wasn’t I going to open the wrong door? ?”, Laurent recalls with amusement.
Today, the father has become a real collector, with nearly 190 copies, both old editions and new ones. For several years, Gallimard has been republishing certain volumes every year, sometimes with limited editions, or even unpublished ones.
“For the May salvo, we are going to revamp two titles and release a new one, from the Lone Wolf saga”announces Aurélie Pregliasco, literary director at Gallimard Jeunesse. A way to keep the flame of passion alive, and even, why not, to recruit new readers. Gallimard Jeunesse sells between 30 000 et 50 000 copies per year.
“It completely restarts the adventure, both for new readers and for those who already know the series inside out, but are excited to embark on a new adventure.”
Aurélie Pregliasco, literary director at Gallimard Jeunesseat franceinfo
A desire to rejuvenate the audience on the part of the publisher, but which does not necessarily catch on. Hervé, an early fan of the books in which you are the hero, tried to introduce them to his daughter when she was ten years old, “but she didn’t hang on too much”he admits.
“She found her own version with her friends, she reads The War of the Clans, Guardians of the Lost Cities, traditional books, heroic fantasy, dark fantasy or dark romance, things that are perhaps more adapted to the new generation”believes Hervé. New genres which, in turn, are revolutionizing children’s literature. The dark fantasy which translates to black fantasy or even dark romance, on the border between stories of love and violence, are among the biggest sales in France.
And if Hervé has not succeeded in passing on his passion to his daughter, he continues to live it through regular restockings, he who learned to love reading with this collection even though he was dyslexic. It was also these readings that made him want to be a physics and chemistry teacher today.
