“The Cévennes in 70 dates”, by Jean-Paul Chabrol and Frédéric Cartier-Lange, as well as “My cabin without pain”, by Alain Guyard, were awarded a Cabri d’or on Friday November 8, 2024.
Between the ” Maga, make Alès great again ”by the historian Jean-Paul Chabrol, and another witticism from the philosopher Alain Guyard, “Cévennes, Cévennes you are Mediterranean Scotland”the co-winners of the 38e Cabri d’or made a large audience laugh and smile.
And this, after having given a lot of trouble to the nine jurors, already buried under the thirty works received, and incapable, finally, of deciding between The Cévennes in 70 datespublished by Alcide, the first, and My cabin without difficultypublished by Le Dilettante, of the second.
Make Alès great again, MAGA
It is therefore a double distinction awarded by Marion Mazauric, publisher and president of the jury, this Friday, at the town hall of Alès. Or even triple since the illustrator Frédéric Cartier-Lange accompanies with the finesse of his drawings this work synthesizing with force and erudition the history of the Cévennes published by the demanding Nîmes publisher Yann Cruvellier.
Alain Guyard has the art of making us think differently about things that we think thoughtlessly.
From the work of Alain Guyard, “terroir philosopher”Marion Mazauric evokes “a form of autofiction, a story which is a lesson in philosophy and at the same time satire on travel writers, the “cabanists”, those who withdraw into nature. An extremely funny book, which makes us more intelligent, a true homage to the Cévennes, through the earth, the stones, the real. He is provocative enough to awaken our spirit and never as funny as when he speaks ill of others but, at the same time, with a sense of self-deprecation. which makes we understood that he too is a cabanist. He has the art of making us think differently about things that we think in an unreflective way.
The work of Jean-Paul Chabrol, a formidable work of popularization, a diachronic vision of the incredible territory
Concerning the work of Jean-Paul Chabrol, “this reading in 70 dates of the Cévennes is a wonderful work of popularization, a diachronic vision of the incredible territory, easy to read. We learn with each line and this can satisfy the most demanding readers. An essential book for everyone in the Cévennes.”
A cheerful ceremony, therefore, of which the president of the Cévennes Academy Thierry Martin, summoning the figure of the Alésien and poet Albert Arnavieille, underlined “the virtuous initiative, since 1984”date of the creation of this Cabri d’or surviving the passing of time and sorrowful spirits…
A persistence underlined by the president of Alès Agglomération, Christophe Rivenq, using Mark Twain's phrase, “They didn't know it was impossible, so they did it.”as motivation to support this €5,000 prize. Saving thus “psychiatry” these viewers immersed in front of a TV “who annoys us” will rightly castigate the city's mayor Max Roustan. Turn off your screens, grab a book…
