L'art français de la guerre Audiobook By Alexis Jenni cover art

L'art français de la guerre

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

L'art français de la guerre

By: Alexis Jenni
Narrated by: Philippe Caubère
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.94

Buy for $22.94

"Quand j'ai rencontré Victorien Salagnon, il ne pouvait être pire, il l'avait faite la guerre de vingt ans qui nous obsède, qui n'arrive pas à finir, il avait parcouru le monde avec sa bande armée, il devait avoir du sang jusqu'aux coudes. Mais il m'a appris à peindre. Il devait être le seul peintre de toute l'armée coloniale, mais là-bas on ne faisait pas attention à ces détails. Il m'apprit à peindre, et en échange je lui écrivis son histoire. Il dit, et je pus montrer, et je vis le fleuve de sang qui traverse ma ville si paisible, je vis l'art français de la guerre qui ne change pas, et je vis l'émeute qui vient toujours pour les mêmes raisons, des raisons françaises qui ne changent pas."

Lauréat du Prix Goncourt 2011

©2011 Éditions Gallimard (P)2012 Éditions Gallimard Historical Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...
La grande histoire du monde Audiobook By François Reynaert cover art
La grande histoire du monde By: François Reynaert

Critic reviews

À propos de ce titre
Prix Goncourt 2011.
All stars
Most relevant
C’est qui gâte ce roman c’est d’être trop long par un bon tiers ce qui fait que que idées importantes sont perdues. les acteurs sont trop souvent des caricatures - le médecin juif mondain , sa belle fille vulnérable, le soldat peintre etc.

Beaucoup, beaucoup trop long

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is the boldest French novel I have heard/read in a while. I can see why it earned the author - an unknown biology teacher from Lyon - not only a book deal with Gallimard, but also the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 2011.

First and foremost, the novel holds no punches in examining crucial questions of French identity. This includes an exploration of the relationship between French citizens and the military, racism and de Gaulle.

More specifically, it tells the story of a soldier, Victorien Salagnon, who fights in wars for a twenty-year period (in WWII, Indochina and Algeria) between 1942 to 1962. At the same time, it follows the narrator of the story in modern France as he grapples with the effects of these years (and the lack of open discussion about them) on his own life and France in general.

Though the narrative can sometimes drag (or maybe that was just my French listening skills that made it seem so), the book really comes alive as the narrator presents his often brilliant and thought-provoking analyses of modern France in various asides throughout the novel.

The audiobook is abridged, but not significantly. For every 100 pages of text maybe 5 are skipped.

Instant classic, does not shy away from big topics

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.