Today, our critics are back in literary territory to discuss two unique books of the new school year. The first is a literary stroll to explore the 18th arrondissement of Paris, proposed by Thomas Clerc, the second a cry of revolt written by Louise Chennevière crossing the destiny of two fallen stars: Britney Spears and Nelly Arcan.
“Paris, museum of the 21st century: the eighteenth arrondissement”: a literary traveling through the streets of Paris
In 2007, while he was publishing Paris, museum of the 21st century. The tenth arrondissementThomas Clerc already mentioned the scale of his project: to devote an extremely detailed exploration to each district of the capital. A project that undoubtedly echoes The Attempt to Exhaust a Parisian Place which Georges Perec engaged in in 1975.
It was in 2024, seventeen years after his announcement, that Thomas Clerc published Paris, museum of the 21st century: the eighteenth arrondissementthe second world work of his great project.
The author systematically explores the streets, squares, towns, avenues, gardens, boulevards, dead ends and passages of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. From the charm of Montmartre to the outskirts of the ring road, he offers a complete description of the old suburb of the city and reshapes it through his incursions, interventions, unexpected questions and reminiscences.
Critics’ opinions:
future.
“Paris, museum of the 21st century. The tenth arrondissement” published by Minuit.
“For Britney”: the broken destinies of young women stifled by the star system
This text interweaves the destiny and work of two women, Nelly Arcan and Britney Spears, who appeared on the world stage at the dawn of the 21st century, which should have been the century of their triumph but which was going to crush them. Nelly’s suicide, Britney’s confinement under the guardianship of her father, here are two striking proofs of the violence that is unleashed in this world against any woman who would have the audacity to think and live herself, powerful, free and wild.
Louise Chennevière writes her novel as an attempt at reparation. It is also a cry of revolt against the invasive figure of the young girl, who dominates the imagination and subjugates bodies. To this figure, the author opposes a “becoming a woman” who would be able to free herself from both fears and norms.
Critics’ opinion:
future.
“For Britney” was published by Gallimard.
Sound clips:
future.
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