Enough About Love ~ by Hervé Le Tellier (reviewed by Shellie)
A dryly humorous and intellectual literary story about the fickleness of human love and all its entanglements.
About: Set in contemporary France we have Anna, who is a doctor, and Louise, an attorney. Anna's therapist falls for Louise, and Anna falls for a writer. Both women are beautiful, intelligent, Jewish and of very comfortable means. They also look so similar that they could be the same person or sisters. As these two women with loving families and husbands find romantic entanglement with different men (not their husbands), we see the complexity of their feelings, the inevitable consequences of their choices, and some of the inner workings of their lives – complex and mundane.
Creating a story which is – “enough about love”.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this literary novel partly because it’s not your ordinary romance and because it was perfect to read around Valentine’s day. As is often the case in real life romance all the character’s lives are intertwined, overlapped and connected. Labeling each chapter with the character’s names, Le Tellier tells us about their daily lives as they connect throughout the story.
The author also offers the reader elements with heart wrenching depth such as a glimpse inside the Jewish psyche – one an incredible metaphorical link, inside a legal speech given by Louise about the holocaust; another gives a view inside the daily workings of a woman’s mind. Le Tellier’s attention to details is intriguing - for example he lists the clothing purchases of one of the main character’s - where he cleverly juxtaposes the heavy (as in the holocaust speech) and the light (represented by the gorgeous descriptions of each item such as lingerie and shoes).
It is a quirky novel which is often the case with translations - which is why I adore them. I was challenged and did not understand every little element; I was shocked, amazed and laughed. I give this realistic novel 3 stars. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy translations, like an intellectual read, are intrigued by the French, or are looking for a large step away from fluffy romance.
Enough About Love ~ by Hervé Le Tellier US|UK|Canada. For more about the book – see our giveaway post for Enough About Love.
This book will be linked in various challenges – to be determined.
Thanks for reading!
2 comments:
I love quirky and translations, so this is right up my alley! And it sounds like a great read too! It's a great change of pace to be challenged by a novel, something more than fluff! Great review! Thanks for sharing! ... and adding another book to the shelves :-)
Suzanne -
Thank you. :)
This is definitely an intellectual read. Yet it remains fairly light with most of its content - which is unusual in my experience.
I do hope you enjoy it and will look for you thoughts. Its always fun to compare and get to know other reader's preferences.
Post a Comment