Comments on: J.M.G. Le Clézio: Terra Amata

By: ?Dreams?of?Shadow?

?Dreams?of?Shadow? — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 08:49:04 +0000

Thanks for this post …. I’ve read the book already 4 times. it strikes me. There is always something new …

By: booklit

booklit — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:01:08 +0000

[…] welcome recommendation from the Swedish Academy, like J.M.G. Le Clézio last year, who I have since read and enjoyed. I now look forward to reading one of Müller’s works in the near […]

By: Stewart

Stewart — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:31:13 +0000

Is there a plot to this book?

Yes, but it’s thin. Essentially, it follows the life of Chancelade, from boy to old man. The unique take is that Chancelade is looking back on the life he blundered through before, marvelling at the rich seam running through it that completely missed him, the first and only time he lived.

I’ve got almost all of his translated books, so hope to get to another one shortly.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:17:37 +0000

Thanks for this review. Le Clezio sounds very… French. I like reading in translation and have usually been impressed by Nobel winners in the past (I was delighted to discover Orhan Pamuk this way, for example). On the other hand, I don’t want to be told that my life would be complete if only I learned to appreciate the joy of smoking. Is there a plot to this book?

By: Stewart

Stewart — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:54:23 +0000

Tom, what struck me as even more amazing was realising, a day or so after finishing, was that he was still in his twenties when he wrote Terra Amata. Most of the newly reprinted books in the UK come from that era, twenties, early thirties. I recently bought another, Wandering Star, that is much more recent, although it still harks back to the early nineties.

By: Tom C

Tom C — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:54:32 +0000

It is amazing that someone so prolific could be so little known! Thanks for introducing me yet again to another new (to me) author. Having read your fine review, I shall seek him out.