Daughter of the Burning City – Amanda Foody

09 lundi Oct 2017

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Romans étrangers

Étiquettes

Amanda Foody, Critique de livre, Daughter of the Burning City, FairyLoot, idées de lecture, lecture, Livre, quoi lire, roman, Young Adult

Les premières phrases

« I peek from behind the tattered velvet curtains at the chattering audience, their mouths full of candied pineapple and kettle corn. With their pale faces flushed from excitement and the heat, they look as gullible as dandelions, much like the patrons in the past five cities. The Gomorrah Festival hasn’t been permitted to travel this far north in the Up-Mountains in over three years, and these people look like they’re attending the opera or the theater rather than our traveling carnival of debauchery.

The women wear frilly dresses in burnt golds and oranges, buckled to the point of suffocation, some with rosy-cheeked children bouncing on their laps, others with cleavage as high as their chins. The men have shoulder pads to seem broader, stilted loafers to seem taller and painted silver pocket watches to seem richer.

If buckles, stilts and paint are enough to hoodwink them, then they won’t notice that the eight « freaks » of my freak show are, in fact, only one. »

Circonstances de lecture

Livre reçu avec ma première FairyLoot Box !

Impressions

Rien que la couverture donne envie de se plonger dans ce roman Young Adult ! Une belle édition reçue dans ma box FairyLoot. Un véritable plaisir de lecture aussi. Amanda Foody plonge le lecteur dans l’univers déjanté d’un festival itinérant aux allures de ville maléfique. Son héroïne, Sorina, est la fille adoptive du propriétaire du Festival de Gomorrah. Elle est née sans yeux, ce qui ne l’empêche pas de voir le monde aussi bien que tout autre être humain. Et elle possède un don : celui de pouvoir créer des illusions plus vraies que nature. Elle s’est ainsi créée une famille, chaque membre étant doté de particularités dignes d’un « Freak Show ». Tout se passe pour le mieux, jusqu’au jour où l’une de ses illusions est retrouvée assassinée. Mais comment est-il possible de tuer une illusion ? Et qui a commis ce crime ? Commence alors une course poursuite pour déterminer qui en veut à sa famille et pourquoi.

J’ai aimé l’univers immersif empreint de magie qu’a imaginé Amanda Foody. Vivement son deuxième roman !

Un passage parmi d’autres

Nicoleta jabbers a spiel about the wonders of my sight, as if my lack of eyes allows me to see more than everyone else. Between my forehead and cheekbones is flat skin, but I can see just the same as the rest of the world. I’m an illusion-worker, the rarest form of jynx-worker, gifted in mirages real enough to touch, smell, hear and taste. My most intricate illusions are my family and the other members of the freak show: living figments of my imagination.

I’ve never met another illusion-worker – only read about them – but as far as I know, I am the only one born without eyes who relies on my jynx-work to see. No doctor or medicine man can explain how this works. Maybe I don’t see like everyone else does – it’s not as if I could test that out – but I see, color and all, and I’m not the one to question things I don’t really need answers to.

Amanda Foody – Daughter of the Burning City – juin 2017 (Harlequin Teen)

Enregistrer

The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

30 samedi Sep 2017

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Romans étrangers, SF

≈ Poster un commentaire

Étiquettes

Critique de livre, idées de lecture, lecture, Livre, Margaret Atwood, quoi lire, roman, The Handmaid's Tale, Vintage

Les premières phrases

« We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. The floor was of varnished wood, with stripes and circles painted on it, for the games that were formerly played there; the hoops for the basketball nets were still in place, though the nets were gone. A balcony ran around the room, for the spectators, and I thought I could smell, faintly like an afterimage, the pungent scent of sweat, shot through with the sweet taint of chewing gum and perfume from the watching girls, felt-skirted as I knew from pictures, later in mini-skirts, then pants, then in one earring, spiky green-streaked hair. Dances would have been held there; the music lingered, a palimpsest of unheard sound, style upon style, an undercurrent of drums, a forlorn wail, garlands made of tissue-paper flowers, cardboard devils, a revolving ball of mirrors, powdering the dancers with a snow of light. »

Circonstances de lecture

Parce que ce livre fait énormément parler de lui depuis son adaptation en série TV et l’arrivée de Donald Trump au pouvoir aux Etats-Unis.

Impressions

Avec « The Handmaid’s Tale » (« La Servante Écarlate »), Margaret Atwood nous entraîne dans une société américaine où les femmes se voient privées de toute liberté. Offred fait partie de la caste des « servantes », autrement dit elle est réduite au rôle de mère porteuse. Tout plaisir sexuel est prohibé. Sa seule « distraction » : sortir faire les courses alimentaires de la maison du Commandant qu’elle sert en compagnie d’une autre servante. Lire, écrire, se divertir sont tout simplement interdits.

J’ai aimé cette dystopie, même si le récit est assez lent et même si j’attendais un peu plus d’action et une conclusion moins ouverte. Un bon roman de SF, publié en 1986, qui fait réfléchir sur l’évolution possible de nos sociétés et de la condition des femmes.

Un passage parmi d’autres

The Japanese tourists come towards us, twittering, and we turn our heads away too late: our faces have been seen (…)

The interpreter turns back to the group, chatters at them in staccato. I know what he’ll be saying, I know the line. He’ll be telling them that the women here have different customs, that to stare at them through the lens of a camera is, for them, an experience of violation.

I’m looking down, at the sidewalk, mesmerized by the women’s feet. One of them is wearing open-toed sandals, the toenails painted pink. I remember the smell of nail polish, the way it wrinkled if you put the second coat on too soon, the satiny brushing of sheer pantyhose against the skin, the way the toes felt, pushed towards the opening in the shoe by the whole weight of the body. The woman with painted toes shifts from one foot to the other. I can feel her shoes, on my own feet. The smell of nail polish has made me hungry.

« Excuse me, » says the interpreter again, to catch our attention. I nod, to show I’ve heard him.

« He asks, are you happy, » says the interpreter. I can imagine it, their curiosity: Are they happy ? How can they be happy? I can feel their bright black eyes on us, the way they lean a little forward to catch our answers, the women especially, but the men too: we are secret, forbidden, we excite them.

Ofglen says nothing. There is a silence. But sometimes it’s as dangerous not to speak.

« Yes, we are very happy, » I murmur. I have to say something. What else can I say?

Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale – 1986 (Vintage)

Enregistrer

Hold still – Nina LaCour

16 mercredi Août 2017

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Romans étrangers

≈ Poster un commentaire

Étiquettes

Critique de livre, hold still, idées de lecture, lecture, Livre, Nina LaCour, Penguin, quoi lire, roman, Speak

Les premières phrases

» I watch drops of water fall from the ends of my hair. They streak down my towel, puddle on the sofa cushion. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my ears.

“Sweetheart. Listen.”

Mom says Ingrid’s name and I start to hum, not the melody to a song, just one drawn-out note. I know it makes me seem crazy, I know it won’t make anything change, but it’s better than crying, it’s better than screaming, it’s better than listening to what they’re telling me.

Something is smashing my chest—an anchor, gravity. Soon I’ll cave in on myself. I stumble upstairs and yank on the jeans and tank top I wore yesterday. Then I’m out the door, up the street, around the corner to the bus stop. Dad calls my name but I don’t shout back. Instead, I step onto the bus just as its doors are shutting. I find a seat in the back and ride away, through Los Cerros and through the next town, until I’m on an unfamiliar street, and that’s where I get off. I sit on the bench at the bus stop, try to slow my breathing. The light here is different, bluer. A smiling mom with a baby in a stroller glides past me. A tree branch moves in the breeze. I try to be as light as air. »

Circonstances de lecture

Parce que j’avais adoré « We are Okay » du même auteur.

Impressions

Nina LaCour sait décrire les émotions avec une grande justesse. Comme dans « We are Okay », on se met très vite à la place de son héroïne et on a bien du mal à lâcher ce roman. Ici, Caitlin essaie de reprendre le chemin du lycée après le suicide de sa meilleure amie, Ingrid. Reprendre goût à la vie après une telle perte relève du parcours du combattant. Et lorsque Caitlin découvre le journal d’Ingrid, caché sous son lit, elle commence petit à petit à entrevoir la face cachée de sa meilleure amie. Une très belle histoire d’amitié et de survie.

Un passage parmi d’autres

I get down on the carpet to look under my bed. I stick my arm under and feel around, find a couple mismatched socks, and something I don’t recognize—hard and flat and dusty. I pull it out, thinking maybe it’s a yearbook from elementary school, and then I see it and my heart stops.

Ingrid’s journal.

For some reason, I feel afraid. It’s like I’m split down the middle and one half of me wants to open it more than I’ve ever wanted to do anything. The other half is so scared. I can’t stop shaking.

Did it get kicked under the bed one night by accident?

Did she hide it?

I stare at it in my hands forever, just feeling its weight, looking at the place where one Wite-Out wing is starting to flake off. Then, once my hands are steadied, I open to the first page. It’s a drawing of her face—yellow hair; blue eyes; small, crooked smile. She’s looking straight ahead. Birds fly across the background. She drew them blurry, to show movement, and across the top she wrote, Me on a Sunday Morning.

I turn the page.

As I read, I can hear Ingrid’s voice, hushed and fast, like she’s telling me secrets.

Nina LaCour – Hold still – 2010 (Speak)

Enregistrer

We are okay – Nina LaCour

21 dimanche Mai 2017

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Romans étrangers

≈ 1 Commentaire

Étiquettes

conseils de lecture, Critique de livre, Dutton Books, idées de lecture, Livres, Nina LaCour, Penguin Random House, quoi lire, We are okay

Les premières phrases

» Before Hannah left, she asked if I was sure I’d be okay. She had already waited an hour past when the doors were closed for winter break, until everyone but the custodians were gone. She had folded a load of laundry, written an email, searched her massive psychology textbook for answers to the final exam questions to see if she had gotten them right. She had run out of ways to fill time, so when I said, “Yes, I’ll be fine,” she had nothing left to do except try to believe me.

I helped her carry a bag downstairs. She gave me a hug, tight and official, and said, “We’ll be back from my aunt’s on the twenty-eighth. Take the train down and we’ll go to shows.”

I said yes, not knowing if I meant it. When I returned to our room, I found she’d snuck a sealed envelope onto my pillow.

And now I’m alone in the building, staring at my name written in Hannah’s pretty cursive, trying to not let this tiny object undo me. »

Circonstances de lecture

Livre qu’une amie m’a prêté. Merci Alex !

Impressions

J’ai dévoré ce livre en deux jours ! Dès les premières phrases, j’ai été transportée dans la vie de l’héroïne, Marin, une jeune fille qui se retrouve à passer les vacances de Noël seule dans son campus universitaire, à New York. Seule, à l’exception de 3 jours durant lesquels sa meilleure amie, Mabel, sera là, à ses côtés. Mais Mabel vient pour obtenir des réponses et savoir pourquoi Marin a disparu du jour au lendemain, pourquoi Marin s’est enfermée dans une telle solitude… Une histoire bouleversante, superbe, qui vous fera forcément verser quelques larmes. Un GROS coup de cœur. Et quelle jolie couverture !

Un passage parmi d’autres

I wonder if there’s a secret current that connects people who have lost something. Not in the way that everyone loses something, but in the way that undoes your life, undoes your self, so that when you look at your face it isn’t yours any more.

Nina LaCour – We are okay – février 2017 (Dutton Books)

Enregistrer

4 3 2 1 – Paul Auster

26 mercredi Avr 2017

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Romans étrangers

≈ Poster un commentaire

Étiquettes

4 3 2 1, Critique de livre, faber & faber, faber and faber, idées de lecture, lecture, Livre, Paul Auster, quoi lire, roman

Les premières phrases

« According to family legend, Ferguson’s grandfather departed on foot from his native city of Minsk with one hundred rubles into the lining of his jacket, traveled west to Hamburg through Warsaw and Berlin, and then booked passage on a ship called the Empress of China, which crossed the Atlantic in rough winter storms and sailed into New York Harbor on the first day of the twentieth century. While waiting to be interviewed by an immigration official at Ellis Island, he struck up a conversation with a fellow Russian Jew. The man said to him: Forget the name Reznikoff. It won’t do you any good here. You need an American name for your new life in America, something with a good American ring to it. Since English was still an alien tongue to Isaac Reznikoff in 1900, he asked his older, more experienced compatriot for a suggestion. Tell them you’re Rockefeller, the man said. You can’t go wrong with that. An hour passed, then another hour, and by the time the nineteen-year-old Reznikoff sat down to be questionned by the immigration official, he had forgotten the name the man had told him to give. Your name? the official asked. Slapping his head in frustration, the weary immigrant blurted out in Yiddish, Ikh hob fargessen (I’ve forgotten)! And so it was that Isaac Reznikoff began his new life in America as Ichabod Ferguson.

He had a hard time of it, especially in the beginning, but even after it was no long the beginning, nothing ever went as he had imagined it would be in his adopted country. »

Circonstances de lecture

Parce que Paul Auster fait partie de mes auteurs préférés.

Impressions

Le dernier Paul Auster est un pavé de quelque 866 pages… Autant dire qu’il faut avoir une motivation sans faille et une foi inconditionnelle en l’auteur pour se plonger dans « 4 3 2 1 ». Paul Auster y retranscrit l’histoire d’un Américain, petit-fils d’immigrants, de sa naissance en 1947 à son entrée dans la vie adulte dans les années 70, tout en faisant un parallèle avec l’Histoire Américaine de cette partie chargée du 20ème siècle, en particulier la guerre froide, les problèmes de ségrégation raciale et la guerre au Vietnam. Reste que Paul Auster complique encore la chose en nous proposant 4 versions différentes de notre héros, Archie Ferguson (d’où le titre du livre…), selon le chemin qu’il choisit, les rencontres qu’il fait, ou tout simplement le destin plus ou moins tragique de ses proches. Chaque chapitre se divise ainsi en 4, et l’on suit ainsi 4 vies possibles d’Archie. C’est donc une lecture exigeante, mais heureusement passionnante, que nous propose Paul Auster. Venir à bout de ces plus de 800 pages m’aura pris du temps mais je ne le regrette pas (bien qu’il y ait quelques longueurs). La plume de l’auteur y est évidemment pour quelque chose ! Tout comme la retranscription de cette partie de l’histoire américaine.

Un passage parmi d’autres

The word psyche means two things in Greek, his aunt said. Two very different but interesting things. Butterfly and soul. But when you stop and think about it carefully, butterfly and soul aren’t so different, after all, are they? A butterfly starts out as a caterpillar, an ugly sort of earthbound, wormy thing, and then one day the caterpillar builds a cocoon, and after a certain amount of time the cocoon opens and out comes the butterfly, the most beautiful creature in the world. That’s what happens to souls as well, Archie. They struggle in the depths of darkness and ignorance, they suffer through trials and misfortunes, and bit by bit they become purified by those sufferings, strengthened by the hard things that happen to them, and one day, if the soul in question is a worthy soul, it will break out of its cocoon and soar through the air like a magnificent butterfly.

Paul Auster – 4 3 2 1 – 2017 (faber & faber)

Enregistrer

Slade House – David Mitchell

25 mardi Avr 2017

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Romans étrangers

≈ Poster un commentaire

Étiquettes

Critique de livre, David Mitchell, idées de lecture, lecture, Livre, quoi lire, roman, Sceptre, Slade House

Les premières phrases

« Whatever Mum’s saying’s drowned out by the grimy roar of the bus pulling away, revealing a pub called The Fox and Hounds. The sign shows three beagles cornering a fox. They’re about to pounce and rip it apart. A street sign underneath says WESTWOOD ROAD. Lords and ladies are supposed to be rich, so I was expecting swimming pools and Lamborghinis, but Westwood Road looks pretty normal to me. Normal brick houses, detached or semi-detached, with little front gardens and normal cars. The damp sky’s the colour of old hankies. Seven magpies fly by. Seven’s good. Mum’s face is inches away from mine, though I’m not sure if that’s an anrgy face or a worried one. « Nathan? Are you even listening? » Mum’s wearing make-up today. That shade of lipstick’s called Morning Lilac but it smells more like Pritt Stick than lilacs. Mum’s face hasn’t gone away, so I say, « What? »

« It’s « Pardon », or « Excuse me ». Not « What? » »

« Okay, » I say, which often does the trick.

Not today. « Did you hear what I told you? »

« It’s « Pardon » or « Excuse me ». Not « What? » »

« Before that! I said, if anyone at Lady Grayer’s asks how we came here, you’re to tell them we arrived by taxi. »

« I thought lying was wrong ».

« There’s lying, » says Mum, fishing out the enveloppe she wrote the directions on from her handbag, « which is wrong, and there’s creating the right impression, which is necessary. If your father paid what he’s supposed to pay, we really would have arrived by taxi. Now… » Mum squints at her writing. « Slade Alley leads off Westwood Road, about halfway down… » She checks her watch. « Right, it’s ten to three, and we’re due at three. Chop chop. Don’t dawdle. » Off Mum walks. »

Circonstances de lecture

Encore une fois attirée par la couverture…

Impressions

« Slade House » est un conte horrifique aux allures de conte de fées, digne d’un roman de Stephen King. Après le génial « Cloud Atlas », David Mitchell part donc sur un tout autre style d’histoire. Tous les neuf ans, une maison (Slade House) attire à elle une personne (un enfant, un policier…). Chaque chapitre du livre nous parle ainsi de ce qui est arrivé à cette personne et nous fait voyager de 1979 à 2015. A chaque visite, on en apprend un peu plus sur la maison et ce qui pousse les « invités » à y pénétrer. J’ai dévoré ce livre ! Je le recommande vivement !

Un passage parmi d’autres

I’ve stopped, because the far end of the garden, the wall with the small black door – it’s gone all faint and dim. Not because of evening. It can’t even be four o’clock yet. Not because it’s misty, either. I look up – the sky’s still bluish, like it was before. It’s the garden itself. The garden’s fading away.

I turn around to tell Jonah to stop the game, something’s wrong, we need a grown-up. Any second now he’ll come hurtling round the far corner. The brambles sway like underwater tentacles. I glance back at the garden. There was a sundial but it’s gone now, and the damson trees too. Am I going blind? I want Dad to tell me it’s fine, I’m not going blind, but Dad’s in Rhodesia, so I want Mum. Where’s Jonah? What if this dissolving’s got him too? Now the lattice tunnel thing’s erased. What do you do when you’re visiting someone’s house and their garden starts vanishing?

David Mitchell – Slade House – 2015 (Sceptre)

Enregistrer

Mind of Winter – Laura Kasischke

02 jeudi Mar 2017

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Romans étrangers

≈ 1 Commentaire

Étiquettes

Critique de livre, Harper Perennial, idées de lecture, Laura Kasischke, lecture, Livre, Mind of Winter, quoi lire, roman

Les premières phrases

« She woke up late that morning, and knew:

Something had followed them home from Russia.

This scrappy bit of information had been offered up to Holly in a dream, she supposed, a glimpse into a truth she’d carried with her for – how long?

Thirteen years?

Thirteen years!

For thirteen years she’d known this, and not known – or so it seemed to her in her half-awake state on Christmas morning. She rose from bed and went down the hallway to her daughter’s bedroom, anxious to see that she was there, still asleep, perfectly safe.

Yes, there she was, Tatiana, one pale arm thrown over a pale coverlet. Dark hair spilled over a pillow. She was so still she could have been a painting. So peaceful she could have been –

But she wasn’t. She was fine. Holly felt reassured and went back to the bedroom, slipped into bed beside her husband again – but as soon as she did, she thought it once more :

It had followed them home!. »

Circonstances de lecture

Attirée par la couverture.

Impressions

Voici un huis clos comme je les aime ! Le matin de Noël, Holly se réveille tard. Son mari part en catastrophe chercher ses parents à l’aéroport. Holly doit donc se dépêcher pour préparer le repas avant l’arrivée des convives. Rien de très grave, sauf que sa fille fait la tête. Et que la tension qui existe entre elles dès les premières pages ne fait que s’amplifier. D’autant qu’une tempête de neige fait rage, et qu’elles se retrouvent toutes les deux en tête à tête…

J’ai adoré l’atmosphère de ce livre de Laura Kasischke. Un huis clos bien flippant, qui traite des relations mères/filles et de l’adoption. Avec un final des plus inattendus !

Un passage parmi d’autres

About Tatiana, Theodota had said, « No. Don’t name her Russian. Name her American. Or she’ll be back. »

The nurses had called her Sally. They had explained to Eric and Holly, « We give her American name so that in her life and in her death she will not be restless in America, try to return to Russia. »

« But we want her to be proud of her Russian origins, » Holly had tried, in turn, to explain, not sure if any of her English was being understood. « We want to call her Tatiana because it is a beautiful Russian name for a beautiful little Russian girl. »

The nurse had scowled and shaken her head vehemently. « Nyet, nyet, no, » she said. « Sally. Or »- here she softened, as though sensing that they might be able to compromise – « you name her Bonnie. Bonnie and Clyde, no? »

Holly had been smiling, but she was having a hard time keeping the spirit light. She said, « No. Tatiana. »

« No, » the nurse had said right back to her.

« Oh my God, » Holly had said, later, to Eric. « What is wrong with these people? »

Even Eric, at that point, had regained his sense of humor enough to shake his head in disbelief at the superstitions of these people in Siberia.

Laura Kasischke – Mind of Winter – 2015 (Harper Perennial)

Enregistrer

Fantastic Beasts and where to find them – J.K.Rowling

14 mercredi Déc 2016

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Fantasy, Romans étrangers

≈ 1 Commentaire

Étiquettes

Critique de livre, Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, Harry Potter, idées de lecture, J.K.Rowling, lecture, Little Brown, Livre, original screenplay, quoi lire, roman

Les premières phrases

« A large, isolated, derelict chateau emerges from the darkness. We focus on a cobbled square outside the building shrouded in mist, eerie, silent.

Five Aurors stand, wands aloft, tentative as they edge towards the chateau. A sudden explosion of pure white light sends them flying.

We whip round to find their bodies scattered, lying motionless at the entrance to a large parkland. A figure (GRINDELWALD) enters the frame, his back to the camera; ignoring the bodies, he stares out into the night sky, as we pan up towards the moon. »

Circonstances de lecture

Parce que je ne peux pas me lasser de l’univers d’Harry Potter !!!

Impressions

Je n’avais pas prévu d’acheter le scénario du film… Et puis, j’ai poussé la porte de la librairie Shakespeare & Company à Paris… et le livre s’est jeté sur moi… Comment résister à une aussi belle couverture ? L’intérieur est tout aussi beau, avec de petits dessins des créatures entre les chapitres. Quant à l’histoire, elle transporte avec bonheur dans l’univers magique de J.K. Rowling. On suit les aventures de Newt Scamander, dont la valise remplie de créatures fantastiques est malencontreusement ouverte… J’ai beaucoup aimé ! Et le livre va trôner en bonne place dans ma bibliothèque.

Un passage parmi d’autres

TINA : Who are you ?

NEWT : I’m sorry?

TINA : Who are you?

NEWT : Newt Scamander. And you are?

TINA : What’s that thing in your case?

NEWT : That’s my Niffler. (pointing at hot dog mustard still on Tina’s lip). Er, you’ve got something on your…

TINA : Why in the name of Deliverance Dane did you let that thing loose?

NEWT : I didn’t mean to… he’s incorrigible, you see, anything shiny, he’s all over the place…

TINA : You didn’t mean to?

NEWT : No.

TINA : You could not have chosen a worse time to let that creature loose! We’re in the middle of a situation here! I’m taking you in.

NEWT : You’re taking me where?

She produces her official ID card. It bears her moving picture and an impressive symbol of an American eagle: MACUSA.

TINA : Magical Congress of the United States of America.

J.K. Rowling – Fantastic Beasts and where to find them – 2016 (Little Brown)

Enregistrer

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Jack Thorne, J.K.Rowling, John Tiffany

06 samedi Août 2016

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Fantasy, Romans étrangers

≈ Poster un commentaire

Étiquettes

Critique de livre, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, idées de lecture, J.K.Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany, lecture, Little Brown, Livre, quoi lire, roman

Les premières phrases

« A busy and crowded station, full of people trying to go somewhere. Amongst the hustle and bustle, two large cages rattle on top of two laden trolleys. They’re being pushed by two boys, JAMES POTTER and ALBUS POTTER. Their mother, GINNY, follows after. A thirty-seven-year-old man, HARRY, has his daughter LILY on his shoulders.

ALBUS

Dad. He keeps saying it.

HARRY

James, give it a rest.

JAMES

I only said he might be in Slytherin. And he might, so… (off his dad’s glare) fine.

ALBUS (looking up at his mum)

You’ll write to me, won’t you?

GINNY

Every day if you want us to.

ALBUS

No. Not every day. James says most people only get letters from home about once a month. I don’t want to…

HARRY

We wrote to your brother three times a week last year.

ALBUS

What? James!

ALBUS looks accusingly at JAMES.

GINNY

Yes. You may not want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts. He likes a laugh, your brother.

JAMES (with a grin)

Can we go now please?

ALBUS looks at his dad, and then his mum.

GINNY

All you have to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten.

LILY

I’m so excited.

HARRY

Don’t stop and don’t be scared you’ll crash into it, that’s very important. Best to do it at a run if you’re nervous.

ALBUS

I’m ready.

HARRY and LILY put their hands on ALBUS’s trolley – GINNY joins JAMES’s trolley – and together, the family run hard into the barrier. »

Circonstances de lecture

Parce que je suis une fan inconditionnelle d’HARRY POTTER !!!

Impressions

Inutile de vous dire que je me suis ruée sur « Harry Potter and the Cursed Child » dès sa parution ! Et… j’ai adoré ! On se retrouve dès les toutes premières lignes dans l’univers créé par J.K. Rowling, exactement au même moment que la fin du tome 7 de la saga, avec quasiment les mêmes dialogues. Un pur bonheur! Alors, évidemment, ce n’est pas J.K. Rowling qui a écrit cette pièce de théâtre, mais Jack Thorne, un scénariste et dramaturge anglais. Reste que cette 8ème histoire a été imaginée par J.K. Rowling et on ressent sa patte tout au long de cette lecture.

Je ne veux pas spoiler ceux qui attendent impatiemment la sortie d’Harry Potter et l’Enfant Maudit en français au mois d’octobre. Je dirai donc juste que l’on revoit avec beaucoup de plaisir (et d’émotions) de nombreux personnages des 7 tomes (oui j’avais presque les larmes aux yeux par moment !), et qu’Albus et Scorpius – nos deux nouveaux héros – sont très attachants. Cette pièce de théâtre est pleine d’émotions, à l’image de tous les Harry Potter. En tant que fan, j’ai vraiment adoré me replonger dans le monde magique de J.K.Rowling. Et je n’ai plus qu’une envie : aller à Londres voir la pièce au Palace Theatre !

Une dernière chose : si cette pièce de théâtre pouvait donner envie aux lecteurs de lire d’autres pièces de théâtre, alors ce serait un bel accomplissement.

Un passage parmi d’autres

Harry, there is never a perfect answer in this messy, emotional world. Perfection is beyond the reach of humankind, beyond the reach of magic. In every shining moment of happiness is that drop of poison: the knowledge that pain will come again. Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe.

Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling, Jack Tiffany – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – July 2016 (Little Brown)

Enregistrer

Misery – Stephen King

08 mercredi Juin 2016

Posted by Aurélie in En VO, Policiers / Thrillers, Romans étrangers

≈ Poster un commentaire

Étiquettes

Critique de livre, idées de lecture, lecture, Livre, Misery, quoi lire, roman, Stephen King, Thriller

Les premières phrases

« umber whunnnn

yerrrnnn umber whunnnn

fayunnnn

These sounds: even in the haze.

But sometimes the sounds – like the pain – faded, and then there was only the haze. He remembered darkness: solid darkness had come before the haze. Did that mean he was making progress? Let there be light (even of the hazy variety), and the light was good, and so on and so on? Had those sounds existed in the darkness? He didn’t know the answers to any of these questions. Did it make sense to ask them? He didn’t know the answer to that one, either.

The pain was somewhere below the sounds. The pain was east of the sun and south of his ears. That was all he did know.

For some length of time that seemed very long (and so was, since the pain and the stormy haze were the only two things which existed) those sounds were the only outer reality. He had no idea who he was or where he was and cared to know neither. He wished he was dead, but through the pain-soaked haze that filled his mind like a summer storm-cloud, he did not know he wished it. »

Circonstances de lecture

Parce que je suis fan de Stephen King.

Impressions

Stephen King est définitivement un de mes auteurs préférés. J’ai dévoré « Misery », ce classique que je n’avais pas encore pris le temps de lire. C’est bien simple, une fois les premières pages tournées, j’ai été hantée par ce livre et je n’avais qu’une envie : rentrer chez moi le soir pour vite connaître la suite !

L’histoire – vous la connaissez peut-être – : un écrivain, Paul Sheldon, se réveille après un accident de voiture chez une de ses fans inconditionnelles, Annie Wilkes. Celle-ci, au lieu de le conduire à l’hôpital (il a tout de même les deux jambes cassées…), l’a ramené chez elle. Point positif : c’est une ancienne infirmière et elle a une quantité impressionnante de médicaments anti-douleur dans sa salle de bains. Point négatif : elle est complètement folle. Et lorsqu’elle apprend que Paul Sheldon tue l’héroïne de ses bestsellers dans son dernier roman, elle lui ordonne d’écrire la suite et de ressusciter son personnage préféré. Bien sûr, avec Stephen King, on a droit à une bonne dose d’hémoglobine et de scènes bien tordues, mais « Misery » propose aussi une très bonne réflexion sur l’inspiration des écrivains. Tout simplement GÉNIAL !!!

Un passage parmi d’autres

« Annie, will you tell me one thing?

« Of course, dear! »

« If I write this story for you – «

« Novel! A nice big one like all the others – maybe even bigger! »

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. « Okay – if I write this novel for you, will you let me go when it’s done? »

For a moment unease slipped cloudily across her face, and then she was looking at him carefully, studiously. « You speak as though I were keeping you prisoner, Paul. »

He said nothing, only looked at her.

« I think that by the time you finish, you should be up to the… up to the strain of meeting people again, » she said. « Is that what you want to hear? »

« That’s what I wanted to hear, yes. »

« Well, honestly! I knew writers were supposed to have big egos, but I guess I didn’t understand that meant ingratitude, too! »

He went on looking at her and after a moment she looked away, impatient and a little flustered.

Stephen King – Misery – 1987 (Hodder & Stoughton)

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :

Les premières phrases

Circonstances de lecture

Impressions

Un passage parmi d’autres

Partager :