would now define as autofiction , and , as it is set in time after Dependency finishes , it can be read as a kind of sequel to The Copenhagen Trilogy . I managed to read this short work over the Christmas break , and I found it excellent , though a little more abstract in places . It charts her vivid descent into mental illness , paranoia , and institutionalization , and blurs the line between reality and madness .
TAKES ON THE YEARS
take by Venita Kaleps
Since her Nobel Prize , I was curious about reading through “ the years ” as they were lived by Annie Ernaux . No doubt , her literary form was especially unique — changing from an abstract “ she ” to a chorus of collective experience that shifts to “ we .” Hardly a simple domestic memoir , it made me reflect on how we would look back on our lives , on our generation , and express how we lived this dimension of history .
take by Regina List
Her observations of social issues are spot-on .
take by Diana Perry Schnelle
I very much enjoyed The Years , although I found the first half of the book hard to engage with because of how Ernaux intentionally creates distance from her personal experience by making it part of the collective French experience . It really picked up for me about halfway through , at which point I was endlessly impressed by her ability to weave her own life into that same collective and to make such insightful comments about French society and women ’ s lives in particular .
take by Carol Harbers
The author ’ s talent for expressing memories in short and succinct prose is to be commended but the emotional impact was often lost on me .
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