INTERVIEW – The writer publishes sleepless night (Grasset), where he opens up about his secret illness, insomnia. An interior monologue where he discusses his relationship with his father, literature and the far left. He judges that today anti-Semitism coming from this camp is more dangerous than that from the far right.
Bernard-Henri Lévy publishes Nuit blanche (Grasset).
LE FIGARO. – In this book, we discover a little-known aspect of your personality: you are insomniac. Why don’t you sleep?
Bernard-Henri LÉVY. – This is a question no insomniac can answer. Or he would be cured. There is a mysterious – and painful – inability to let go, to cut off from reality, to interrupt…
How has insomnia shaped your personality?
Less abandonment. Few dreams. A more feverish, more intense presence in the world. I like awareness, vigilance, being alert to things and others. I didn’t wait for the woke to be awake! Emmanuel Levinas, who was my master, says it: ethical conscience, concern for others, are always insomniac!
You mention a “brotherhood of insomniacs”, especially among writers. What link do you make between insomnia and literature?
The same as with ethics. The writers I admire are often people who don’t like…
-This article is reserved for subscribers. You have 88% left to discover.
Flash Sale
€4.99 per month for 12 months. No commitment.
Already subscribed? Log in
Related News :