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Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel Paperback | Pages: 164 pages

Present Of Books Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel

Title	:	Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel
Author	:	Marie-Claire Blais
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 164 pages
Published	:	2010 by Boréal (first published 1965)
Categories	:	Fiction. Cultural. France. Canada. Historical. Historical Fiction. Classics. Roman. Academic. School

Explanation Toward Books Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel

I have mixed feelings about this novel.

Firstly, I can certainly see why it's considered an important book in Canadian literature. I'm glad I read it.

However, I cannot say that I particularly enjoyed it.

It is not that it is dark, which it truly is - the lives these children are living is abysmal. I enjoy the dark and the macabre very much.

I think, in part, I do not have the historical knowledge of Quebec in this time frame to contextualize the book properly. I was grateful for the Afterword by Nicole Brossard to help situate the book a little more clearly for me.

I also firmly believe that any time you read a translation, you're bound to lose something in it. Obviously, many English readers love this book and I can see why they might. However, something about it just sits strangely with me, and I find myself at a loss regarding what to think about it.

Perhaps it was the reality of it that leaves me with these feelings towards it. I am sure that this book is not far from the truth regarding life in that time and in those circumstances, and that strikes me with a level of discomfort and grief for so many childhoods that were lost to such cruelty and poverty.

If you're Canadian, I do think it is worth your time to read this, as it is a glimpse of French-Canadian history that I don't believe we get to see in many other places. It is just a slim book, and shouldn't take much time out of your life.

Identify Books Supposing Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel

Original Title:	Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel
ISBN:	2890523667 (ISBN13: 9782890523661)
Edition Language:	French URL http://www.editionsboreal.qc.ca/catalogue/livres/une-saison-dans-vie-emmanuel-983.html

Rating Of Books Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel

Ratings: 3.25 From 615 Users | 54 Reviews

Judge Of Books Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel

I have now read this book twice because of the subtle humour that satisfies me so much. I shan't summarize because you can read the book yourself, but I will identify a couple of things that make this book stand out: 1) timelessness - the book is a parody of a Quebec "novel of the land," like Louis Hemon's Maria Chapdelaine (think of a depressing, Quebecois version of Anne of Green Gables). But in A Season in the Life of Emmanuel, there is no real indication of a specific time and place. We



The writing is uncanny and beautiful--with a minimalist, poetic quality. The events recounted are cruel, but the tone is at times light, at times amusing. An original work, with a touch of genius. A neglected classic.

Like everything else I've read by Blais, this is a short novel, essentially a novella. Also like the other works of hers I have read, there is a great deal of lyric symbolism with strong neo-Gothic overtones. It is a dark, moody piece, but there are shafts of light here and there, a good bit of humor, especially in the first half of the book. The poverty, sexual predation and desperation, the Roman Catholic guilt and hope, all of it works together well in this minor masterpiece of Quebecois

This book is a gem. From the first paragraph, I was captivated. I finished it in one reading and went back to the bookstore and bought it in French. It took me longer to finish it that time, but it was equally rewarding. It is on my list of favorite novels.

I think I enjoyed the concept of this book a lot more than the actual book. It barely constituted a book, it was more of a novella, jam-packed with as much depressing and disturbing shit that you can you think of. It feels like a fever dream. I started reading this book because my French tutor had a PDF of the first chapter and I was so interested that I requested the whole book from my school library. Jean Le-Maigre was my favourite character by far, and while he dies about 2/3 into the story,

Pages and pages of misery with humour laced in to lighten the burden. Poverty, oppression of the RC church, poor education, unforgiving weather and yet they all strive to survive. Admirable, piercingly written, captured a painful period of Quebec history.