Sunday Scribbles from The FBC Paris
Welcome 2023.
Happy new year, readers. You may be big on resolutions or you may not like them at all. I’m somewhere in the middle. Last January, I committed to getting strong and losing some weight. It’s nice to hit the one year mark, measure my progress and focus on getting stronger this year. But I’m not here for the pressure that can come with the start of a new year, so just take it at the pace that suits you best.
January Book Club
“The fact that my personal experience of abortion, i.e. clandestinity, is a thing of the past does not seem a good enough reason to dismiss it. Paradoxically, when a new law abolishing discrimination is passed, former victims tend to remain silent on the grounds that “now it’s all over”. So what went on is surrounded by the same veil of secrecy as before.”
This month, book club will meet to discuss Happening / L’événement by Annie Ernaux, the first French woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022, at the age of 82. First published in 2000, Happening recounts the author’s experience of having an abortion in 1963 when it was illegal. Annie Ernaux writes with clarity, questioning out loud her memory of events vs concrete evidence.
I re-read it over the weekend and underlined most of the book, oops. What struck me most was the passiveness of doctors she encountered, who should have been advocating for women’s health and rights. Annie Ernaux first wrote about abortion in her 1974 novel Cleaned Out / Les armoires vides, which focuses on the aftermath of a back-street abortion through the eyes of 20-year-old Denise Lesur, a university student from a middle-class background.
Each week this month, I will be sharing information related to Annie Ernaux, in case, like me, you want to know more about her. For now, I will leave you with some film recommendations that link to the theme of the book:
Happening: a 2021 film produced by Audrey Diwan, based on Annie Ernaux’s text.
Annie Colère / Angry Annie: a 2022 film that retraces the epic journey of the Movement for Freedom of Abortion and Contraception, which helped thousands of women in the early 1970s. Thank you to Jacqueline and Maria-Laura from The Immigrant Book Club for the recommendation. Their advice is to not watch the trailer!
Simone, le voyage du siècle: a 2021 biopic about French politician Simone Veil, a seminal figure in legalising abortion in France.
Join the waitlist for in-person book club.
Join the virtual session.
Discover Annie Ernaux’s translated titles at Fitzcarraldo Editions.
Currently…
Reading: I have just discovered Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto, the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto, who explores "the exhaustion of young Japanese in contemporary Japan". I think I will start with Kitchen, which appears to be her most popular title.
Listening to: Sweet Bobby, a podcast that investigates an elaborate case of catfishing.
Watching: Happy Valley. An ironic title because it is far from cheerful. It is set in West Yorkshire (where I am from) and follows police sergeant Catherine Cawood who I would describe as a tough cookie. There’s some excellent acting but it is generally pretty dark.
Until next week,
Lou
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