The Lover by Marguerite Duras Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Lover
Book Review: An examination of the role of memory in self-determination.
Summary: 5 Stars
A success on many levels this is by far the best of Duras. A novel that tackles the ways and wheres of our self construction and the role of memory and event in relation to each other...how do we use one relationship in our life to express our feelings about other unresolved relationships (here I am referring to the protaganists position in her family and society). Where do we find ourselves, can we find ourselves...and what is the role of stories/authors and the memories that all of us carry with us.Book Review: An interesting deconstruction of power
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed the work. I'm glad I read it before I saw the cheesy, softcore movie, which doesn't do justice to the writing. The narrative is interesting in it's refusal to be pinned down to first or second person. We move in and out of Marguerite's frame of reference frequently, as she refers to her self both as a person, and as a possession, and struggles to define herself as one or the other.It's this role of self versus other that I found most interesting. The writing takes on many points of view at once, and it does so unapologetically. Through Duras's family it shows us the scorn and the contempt that the French had for the Vietnamese, (and Asians in general,) and her effeminization of her Chinese lover does likewise. And yet this structure is in decay, and Duras' own family is next to poverty. While this structure falls apart, we sense an impending power vacuum, that must (and will) be filled with turmoil. Likewise, we are shown the view of the young girl transitioning to womanhood, and her acute awareness of her identity and her ability to wield, and her desire to relent to sexual power. In this midst fo this, her male lover (who is never named) is shown as soft, inable to resist his domineering father, yeilding... a slave to love, and the idea of love. Everything a traditional woman should be, while Marguerite is the one who is cold, calculating, and seemingly, remorseless. It's this play with expectations, done so openly and with such frankness, as if it were the only natural thing to do, that makes this work so very powerful, and in my opinion, a wonderful read.
Oddly, I could not help but make comparisons to Hwang's marvelous play M. Butterfly... Not only for it's role reversals, but also for it's treatment of society, and the clash of Eastern and Western cultures, specifically in the realtionship between France and China.
Book Review: Autobiography or Imagination?
Summary: 3 Stars
Duras must be a complicated character if we are to believe that this a real reflection of her childhood. It is disturbing and original, almost unbelievable, confronting racism,paedophilia and incest.Yet the lateness of arrival of this piece in relation to Duras's career and life, contradicts her audacious and honest manner of conveying these subversive issues in the text, does her exotic past embarass or pain her more than she wants the reader to think? And is this why she chooses to be so vague with time, date , order of events and place. The dysfunctionality of her upbringing is parodied by the lack of structure and disjointed writing style of this novel, this makes it both convincing and unconvincing as an autobiography, a genre which relies heavily on the correctness of facts and chronological order. Do not attempt to read this book without being prepared for an insight into a mind, not a life.Book Review: Beautifully Written
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book in one day. This was my first introduction to Duras. What an incredible story! Her writing is like poetry, like a song, filled with lyrical descriptions of her surroundings as well as her feelings, filled with gorgeous imagery and constant forshadowing towards the demise of her own family. The story itself would be totally unacceptable by today's (or the entire 20th century's) standards, being that of an illicit love affair, set in prewar Indochina (today's Vietnam) between a 15-year-old French girl and a 27-year-old Chinese son of a millionaire. However, it is what it is, it happened, and the way the story is told is beautiful and impassioned.
What's most amazing here is the evolution of the girl's psyche. In many ways, she was obviously mature way beyond her years, fatalistic and dark, all brought on by the loneliness and frustration of life with her mother and brothers. At the same time, she was naive in the sense that she thought she was strong enough to handle this affair without falling in love. The girl tried to convince herself that money was the only objective in this affair (when in fact, money was the only reason why her mother(!) allowed her to continue see her lover--ouch!).
Duras' writing reminds me of that of Maxine Hong Kingston's (or is it vice versa?). Many thoughts are repeated throughout the pages, like refrains or choruses. She switches the narrative from first to third person. She switches time frames from past to present and back again. It's as if the whole novel was written completely stream-of-consciousness, or possibly a parallel to the unpredictable horrors of her own mother's madness.
The young girl grew up in a sad, unloving and erratic home, with an unstable mother, whose unhealthy allegience to her devious and abusive older brother created an almost intolerable environment for the author and her younger brother. Additionally, the time frame was such that a relationship between a white woman and a Chinese man, (let's face it: An adolescent and a grown man) was completely reprehensible. In the face of all these obstacles, it was clear that the author sought refuge with this young man, and that for her, this first taste of sexual passion would be the standard in which all of her future loves would be measured. She never sugar-coated the various facets to this affair, the degrading moments, the moments where the love and passion was so infinite, or when the roles of power and possession were reversed from time to time. Yet, it's clear that this affair, which lasted a year-and-a-half, was very deep and meaningful to both parties, a tragic and impossible love that would haunt them both for the rest of their lives.
Book Review: Beyond the controversy - an excellent coming of age tale
Summary: 5 Stars
This controversial book presents a beautiful coming of age story in which a young French girl and a Chinese aristrocrat have an affair in French Indochina. Beyond a story of love and sex, this tale exquisitely depicts the development of a teenage girl during the most formative time of her life. As Duras usually does in her novels, the story presented is semi-autobiographical, focusing on all of the conflicts of the character's life - from family drama with her brothers to being an outcast at school.
What touched me most about this book was not the love the girl had for her Chinese lover, but the capicity she had to love others in her life - specifically her younger brother and best schoolfriend. Even more touching is that Duras held these memories close to her throughout her life, and as an old woman was still deeply effected by eventually losing those she loved - both emotionally and physically.
Any review of this book that does not mention the talent Duras has for prose would do it a great injustice. Although a small amount of the beauty is lost in the translation into English, much of Duras' poetic yet succinct word play remains in tact.