Do You Hear Them?

Nathalie Sarraute

Literature & Fiction

Calder and Boyars

Fools Say.

Braziller

Fiction. Translated from the French by Barbara Wright. In this classic later work from French novelist Nathalie Sarraute, one finds a "delectably austere, beady-eyed book.... Phrases that give rise to the scenes or episodes are ordinary enough until Sarraute imagines for them a context which turns them from bland civilities into weapons of psychological warfare. Friends meet and converse, in a cafe or in the street, and are all sociability; except underneath, where the best of friends can be the most savage of opponents. Sarraute resorts sardonically to metaphor to indicate what words will not capture: the shameful and ineffable animosities that...imperil our urbanity" (The Times Literary Supplement).

The use of speech

John Calder

Contemporary

Calder Publications Ltd

An art lover who prizes his collection faces the derision of his children whose values are completely different

Do You Hear Them? (English and French Edition)

George Braziller

Fiction. Translated from the French by Barbara Wright. In this classic later work from French novelist Nathalie Sarraute, one finds a "delectably austere, beady-eyed book.... Phrases that give rise to the scenes or episodes are ordinary enough until Sarraute imagines for them a context which turns them from bland civilities into weapons of psychological warfare. Friends meet and converse, in a cafe or in the street, and are all sociability; except underneath, where the best of friends can be the most savage of opponents. Sarraute resorts sardonically to metaphor to indicate what words will not the shameful and ineffable animosities that...imperil our urbanity" (The Times Literary Supplement).

The Use of Speech

George Braziller Incorporated

As one of the leading proponents of the nouveau roman, Nathalie Sarraute is often remembered for her novels, includingThe Golden Fruits, which earned her the Prix international de litterature in 1964. But her carefully crafted and evocative memoirChildhood may in fact be Sarraute’s most accessible and emotionally open work. Written when the author was eighty-three years old, but dealing with only the first twelve years of her life,Childhood is constructed as a dialogue between Sarraute and her memory. Sarraute gently interrogates her interlocutor in search of her own intentions, more precise accuracy, and indeed, the truth. Her relationships with her mother in Russia and her stepmother in Paris are especially heartbreaking: long-gone actions are prodded and poked at by Sarraute until they yield some semblance of fact, imbuing these maternalistic interactions with new, deeper meaning. Each vignette is bristling with detail and shows the power of memory through prose by turns funny, sad, and poetic. Capturing the ambience of Paris and Russia in the earliest part of the twentieth century, while never giving up the lyrical style of Sarraute’s novels, this book has much to offer both memoir enthusiasts and fiction lovers.

Childhood

Biographies & Memoirs

Memoirs

In this major work of avant-garde literature, first published by Braziller in 1958, Nathalie Sarraute probes deeply into the nature of human relationships through her depiction of an elderly father and his spinster daughter. In his preface to Portrait of a Man Unknown, Jean-Paul Sartre applauded Sarraute for writing an "anti-novel," one that resists the traditional premises of plot and character. The narrator, a neurotic neighbor obsessed with the pair, shows the persistence of a sleuth, taking every opportunity to snoop and eavesdrop. He follows the couple's every step, awaiting the final explosion: the ultimate confrontation between the two characters over money necessary for the daughter's medical needs.

Portrait of a Man Unknown

Portrait d'un Inconnu (French Edition)

French & European Pubns

Translated by Maria Jolas. Preface by Jean Paul Satre. Dust jacket design by Sydney Butchkes. Her fourth book.

Georges Braziller

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Nathalie Sarraute. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Nathalie Sarraute

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Nathalie Sarraute. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Do You Hear Them?

Fools Say.

The use of speech

Do You Hear Them?

Do You Hear Them? (English and French Edition)

The Use of Speech

Childhood

Portrait of a Man Unknown

Portrait d'un Inconnu (French Edition)

Portrait of a Man Unknown