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A review by afi_whatafireads
The Young Man by Annie Ernaux
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
4.25
I aspire to be as nonchalant and as confident as this woman when im 54 :')
And me choosing to listen Ernaux's sordid affairs on a Friday morning on my way to work after a week not going into the office really sets off the mood of the day (haha)
But the thing with Ernaux's books, with even a book about an affair 30 years with a man younger, her observations through the stages of life and in self-discovery is one that I always find myself going back to her books. Ernaux's writing always gave me that sense of validation (that I didn't even know I needed).
The question of morality in a world of dominance, gender and power dynamics.
And me choosing to listen Ernaux's sordid affairs on a Friday morning on my way to work after a week not going into the office really sets off the mood of the day (haha)
But the thing with Ernaux's books, with even a book about an affair 30 years with a man younger, her observations through the stages of life and in self-discovery is one that I always find myself going back to her books. Ernaux's writing always gave me that sense of validation (that I didn't even know I needed).
The question of morality in a world of dominance, gender and power dynamics.
"My body had become ageless. It took a heavily disapproving look from customers sitting next to us in a restaurant to apprise me of it, a look which far from making me ashamed, reinforced my determination no to hide my affair with a man 'who could have been my son', when any fifty-something guy could carry on openly with a woman obviously not his daughter without arousing disapproval....... -
- Men have known this forever, and I saw no reason to deprive myself.
As slim as this book is, Ernaux wrote through the lens of a woman who holds power. In the age of dominance of a man who is only starting to live his life in his 20s, in which challenges the social norms of power dynamics in a relationship used to people at the time. She gave an air of nonchalance but its also how with this particular relationship, she gained back a sense of herself that was lost.
I have come to a conclusion that whatever that Ernaux writes, she will always succeed in reeling me in her stories. Its in the small details of what she feels at the time, present, and what she reminiscene of the past that makes up a story that will hook you in to the very end.
4.25🌟