Every Thursday, in “La Matinale”, the editorial staff of the “World of books” shares their favorites with you.
The World
This week, a selection of ten paperback books to end the year on a high note. A new translation of the Four Daughters of Doctor March, the provocative poetry of Jehan Rictus, the novels of the great Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, the exotic fantasy of Kij Johnson or the revolutionary thought of the architect Yona Friedman are on the program of the festivities.
CLASSIC. “The Four Daughters of Doctor March”, by Louisa May Alcott
Is nothing reliable in this world? The new translation of the Four Daughters of Doctor March makes it possible to become aware of the gap between the original text by Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) and that to which generations and generations of French readers have had access. The only choice of title – kept so as not to confuse the public – should have been enough to give us a clue, Little Women, “little women”, having become The Four Daughters of Doctor March, while the father of Meg (the earth down), Jo (the imaginative “tomboy”), Beth (the so sensitive) and Amy (the frivolous) March is not a doctor: he is a pastor. The translator had also allowed himself a few infidelities to the intrigue, destined to further enhance the brilliance of the character of the intrepid Jo.
Janique Jouin-de Laurens’ version does not make the future writer, with whom so many little girls and teenagers around the world have identified themselves for 150 years. But there is no age to vibrate in front of the destinies of the sisters whom we follow until adulthood, and who learn about the beauty of existence as much as of its cruelty, in seeking to find a place for itself in an era which leaves so little to women – and if the novel has aged so well, it is notably thanks to the lessons of relative independence that their mother administers to her offspring, and that Jo will remember perfectly . Raphaëlle Leyris
FANTASY. “The Dreamlike Quest of Vellitt Boe”, by Kij Johnson
To cross the lands of dreams in pursuit of a young madcap left for the world of awakening, a small leather bag not too loaded , a good pair of shoes and a walking stick are enough for Vellitt Boe – she has seen others. On the way ! To the reader (of the waking world), the Six Realms are rich in surprises, mysteries, wonders – and some pretty horrible things too. The talented American Kij Johnson signs here a fantasy novel as rare as it is ideal: it is short, and we do not see any dragon. A dream. Mathieu Strux
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