Sunday, March 8, 2015

Patrick Modiano at the Cornelia Street Cafe- 2/25/15


We were thrilled to dedicate 
our latest French Night to Patrick Modiano’s novels.

Patrick Modiano was born in 1945.
He wrote his first novel when he was 22
and never stopped writing.
His bibliography includes almost 30 books. 

He received the Nobel Prize of Literature in 2014
just after publishing his latest novel. 

We enjoyed having

 old friends 

and new ones
new readers
and old ones

new translators and old ones

who came to join us despite the cold and the snow.

We picked three of Patrick Modiano's novels 
to follow him through his entire career. 
The first one was
 published in 1978 for which he received the Goncourt Award - 
one of the most famous awards in France since 1903. 

This novel was translated in 2005 by Daniel Weissbort 
and published by Verba Mundi


The second one was

This novel was published in 2008 
Its translation is by Chris Clarke 
and will be published 
by NYRB Classics in February 2016.

And last but not least, 
His latest novel
It was
published in September 2014 by Gallimard. 
Some excerpts were translated by 
Emmanuelle Ertel's translation workshop students 
 in NYU.


We got started by excerpts of  In The Cafe of lost Youth 
 read by Chris Clarke its translator and Frédéric-Charles Baitinger

Louki is the character people are looking for. 
Her husband hires a detective 
and we follow him in the second chapter of the novel

In the two last chapters of the book, the search goes on when 
one of Louki's partner tries to find her.

They scour Paris, going from place to place 
looking for Louki where she has been and where she might be,
but they never find her.

We went on with
 Rue des Boutiques Obscures,
 whose title in French is so captivating.

 Richard Normandon read in French
as Tom Radigan read the English translation
As in many of his other novels, we follow the search of a missing person,
 but this time the narrator, Guy Roland, is looking for himself. 

He has no memory. When Hutte, 
the boss of the detective agency he works for, 
retires,  he searches for clues in an attempt to discover his own identity. 
This quest leads him to uncover many characters 
who could have been part of his former life 
and could possibly identify him.

Then 
 Emmanuelle Ertel
and her students,
 from her translation workshop in NYU


Stephanie Queiroz

Tamar McCallan-Finkelman

Chelsea Flanagan

and
Jeremy Lakin
read their translation of
Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier.
"So you don't get lost"

while Emmanuelle read the French text.

Missing Person as a title could suit any of Modiano’s books
and in this latest novel there is a search as well.
The novel tells the story of an old writer - Jean Daragane - 
who is going to look for his own past 
because of an old address book 
someone returns to him. 



Some mysteries are never solved.

See below a link to a radio show 
where excerpts of Modiano's books are read 
by Guillaume Galllienne and Catherine Deneuve.
http://www.franceinter.fr/player/reecouter?play=1048019


Our next French night 
will take place 
in the Spring.

We'll be pleased to see you 
on Wednesday April 22
at 6 pm
for
a theater play.


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