Emmanuel Carrère delves into profound questions of identity, the construction of illusion, and the shaping of reality throughout his extensive body of work. His distinctive literary style fluidly bridges the gap between fiction and nonfiction, drawing readers into deep reflections on the human condition. Carrère masterfully weaves personal experiences with universal themes, crafting narratives that are both intimate and thought-provoking. His unique approach to storytelling marks him as a significant voice in contemporary French literature.
The diarist's father is killed and mother badly injured during an air strike, he is sentenced to 40 lashes for speaking out against a beheading, he sees a woman stoned to death. This book shows how every aspect of life is impacted - from the spiralling costs of food to dictating the acceptable length of trousers.
In Sri Lanka, a tsunami sweeps a child out to sea, her grandfather helpless against the onrushing water. In France, a woman dies from cancer, leaving her husband and small children bereft. What links these two catastrophes is the presence of Emmanuel Carrère, who manages to find consolation and even joy as he immerses himself in lives other than his own. The result is a heartrending narrative of endless love, a meditation on courage in the face of adversity, and an intimate look at the beauty of ordinary lives.
Read the definitive essay collection from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Adversary, dubbed 'France's greatest writer of non-fiction' (New York Times) 'The most exciting living writer' Karl Ove Knausgaard Over the course of his career, Emmanuel Carr re has reinvented non-fiction writing. In a search for truth in all its guises, he dispenses with the rules of genre. For him, no form is out of reach- theology, historiography, reportage and memoir - among many others - are fused under the pressure of an inimitable combination of passion, curiosity and intellect that has made Carr re one of our most distinctive and important literary voices today. 97,196 Words introduces Carr re's shorter work to an English-language audience. Featuring more than thirty extraordinary texts written over an illustrious twenty-five-year period of Carr re's creative life, the book shows a remarkable mind at work. Spanning continents, histories, and personal relationships, 97,196 Words considers the divides between truth, reality and our shared humanity, exploring remarkable events and eccentric lives, including Carr re's own. * A New York Times Notable Book *
This is a book about yoga. Or at least, it was. January 2015. High on literary success and familial bliss, Emmanuel Carr re embarks on a rigorous ten-day meditative retreat in rural France in search of clarity and material for his next book, which he thinks will be a subtle, upbeat introduction to yoga. But his trip is cut short, and he is brought down to earth with a thud when he returns to a Paris in turmoil in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack. From then on, Carr re's life - along with his novel-in-progress - begins to unravel in ever more unexpected ways. 'The story of how a life can fray, tighten itself into a noose, unravel... profound and moving' Geoff Dyer 'Extraordinarily compelling' Financial Times
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ADVERSARYOne morning, a man shaves off his long-worn moustache, hoping to amuse his wife and friends.
Based on the legendary evening at Lake Geneva that ostensibly inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Gothic Romance intertwines parallel stories of suspense set in the early 19th century and latter-day London.
En septembre 2021, Emmanuel Carrère couvre le procès V13 à Paris, suite aux attentats du 13 novembre 2015. À travers ses chroniques, il explore le traumatisme national, les perspectives des victimes et des coupables, et interroge les racines du terrorisme. Un récit poignant sur la quête de guérison d'une société bouleversée.
Die Terroranschläge in Paris
September 2021: In Paris beginnt ein Jahrhundertprozess. Am Freitag, den 13. November 2015 (vendredi 13), hatten sich in der Konzerthalle Bataclan, auf den Terrassen mehrerer Cafés und vor dem Stade de France sieben IS-Kämpfer in die Luft gesprengt, dabei 131 Menschen in den Tod gerissen und fast 700 verletzt. Nach diesen Attentaten wurde in Frankreich der Ausnahmezustand ausgerufen – er blieb zwei Jahre lang verhängt –, und das Bild des Landes und der Gesellschaft veränderte sich von Polizeimethoden bis Parteienspektrum nachhaltig: ein nationales Trauma. Im von den Insidern »V13« genannten exemplarischen Prozess sollte dieses Trauma bearbeitet, sollten Hunderte von Perspektiven abgewogen und schließlich ein Urteil gefällt werden. Emmanuel Carrère besuchte den Prozess über neun Monate lang Tag für Tag, schrieb wöchentlich eine Kolumne aus dem Gerichtssaal, berichtete über Akteure, das Grauen, unverhoffte Menschlichkeit und die Maschine der Rechtsprechung. V13 ist das vielstimmige Porträt eines Prozesses, mit dem eine in ihren Grundfesten erschütterte Gesellschaft nach Heilung sucht. Die Bühne des eigens gebauten Gerichtssaals ließ alle Beteiligten zu Wort kommen, und so erzählt Carrère, was er gehört und erfragt hat: Wer waren die Opfer und die Täter? Wie entsteht Terrorismus? Warum ist passiert, was passiert ist? Mit V13 gelingt Carrère ein weiteres großes Buch, das durch tiefstes Dunkel geht, um genau dort Liebe, Hoffnung und Licht zu finden.
An einem kalten Februarmorgen 1993 sieht die Fotojournalistin Darcy Padilla eine Achtzehnjährige mit einem Neugeborenen im Arm in der Lobby des Ambador-Hotels in San Francisco stehen – barfuß. Sie bittet sie, ein Foto von ihr machen zu dürfen. Sie wird Julie die nächsten achtzehn Jahre bis zu deren Aids-Tod im Jahr 2010 als Chronistin ihres Lebens und Freundin fotografisch begleiten. Als Emmanuel Carrère die Fotos zum ersten Mal sieht, beschließt er, sich auf die Spuren der beiden Frauen zu begeben, und reist in die USA. Als Meister der dokumentarischen Erzählung beschreibt er Julies Lebensweg und die Freundschaft der beiden ungleichen Abhängigkeiten, familiäre Katastrophen, Beziehungen, Geburten und Abschiede, viele tragische und wenige heitere Momente in einem Milieu, aus dem es kein Entrinnen zu geben scheint. Denn Julie ist ein Fall von Padillas Bilder und Carrères Text werfen die Frage nach der sozialen Bedingtheit eines Schicksals auf, nach dem Gebot der Anteilnahme angesichts von Lebenswegen, die aussichtslos erscheinen.
Limonov non è un personaggio inventato. Esiste davvero: «è stato teppista in Ucraina, idolo dell'underground sovietico, barbone e poi domestico di un miliardario a Manhattan, scrittore alla moda a Parigi, soldato sperduto nei Balcani; e adesso, nell'immenso bordello del dopo comunismo, vecchio capo carismatico di un partito di giovani desperados. Lui si vede come un eroe, ma lo si può considerare anche una carogna: io sospendo il giudizio» si legge nelle prime pagine di questo libro. E se Carrère ha deciso di scriverlo è perché ha pensato «che la sua vita romanzesca e spericolata raccontasse qualcosa, non solamente di lui, Limonov, non solamente della Russia, ma della storia di noi tutti dopo la fine della seconda guerra mondiale». La vita di Eduard Limonov, però, è innanzitutto un romanzo di avventure: al tempo stesso avvincente, nero, scandaloso, scapigliato, amaro, sorprendente, e irresistibile. Perché Carrère riesce a fare di lui un personaggio a volte commovente, a volte ripugnante – a volte perfino accattivante. Ma mai, assolutamente mai, mediocre. Che si trascini gonfio di alcol sui marciapiedi di New York dopo essere stato piantato dall'amatissima moglie o si lasci invischiare nei più grotteschi salotti parigini, che vada ad arruolarsi nelle milizie filoserbe o approfitti della reclusione in un campo di lavoro per temprare il «duro metallo di cui è fatta la sua anima», Limonov vive ciascuna di queste esperienze fino in fondo, senza mai chiudere gli occhi, con una temerarietà e una pervicacia che suscitano rispetto. Ed è senza mai chiudere gli occhi che Emmanuel Carrère attraversa questa esistenza oltraggiosa, e vi si immerge e vi si rispecchia come solo può fare chi, come lui, ha vissuto una vita che ha qualcosa di un «romanzo russo».
