It is here that the book grabs you by the heartstrings and refuses to let go by delivering,first a revaluation about one character that, while obvious given the books setting, is presented in such a skillful way that the heartbreak feels utterly real. His perception of human communication, with all its flaws, awkwardness and often inadequacies, is perfect. Philippe Besson admira obviamente Marguerite Duras, e este pastiche LGBT até podia ser interessante se o protagonista não fosse tão irritante e se a situação não fosse tão inverosímil. Like Michael Cunningham’s homage to Virginia Woolf in The Hours and Jean Rhys’s to Charlotte Bronte in The Wide Sargasso Sea, Philippe Besson’s extravagantly praised first novel pays tribute to Marcel Proust. This is because the chapters that were about Vincent and Marcel were alternating with the chapters about Vincent and Arthur.

One summer, while Paris is empty of men, who have all gone off to war, Vincent happens to meet and strike up a friendship with a renowned author, Marcel. In the course of one week—at literary salons, at the Ritz, in cork-lined rooms—Vincent launches an intense friendship with the celebrated Proust, while at his parents’ house in Paris he embarks on a sensual journey with Arthur Vales, the soldier son of a family servant, on leave from the front. At the outset, Vincent meets both Marcel and Arthur for the first time, and their relationships develop in 7 days. Frustré par ce dénouement qui, pour moi, n'ajoute rien à la tristesse ressentie par les événements de la deuxième partie du livre, mais qui plutôt retire de la crédibilité à cette histoire pourtant si plausible et émouvante. In the Absence of Men is a novel by Phillippe Besson published originally in French by Éditions Julliard in 2001.In the Absence of Men is a short, bold and original novel which beautifully captures the romance and amorality of gilded youth. In the Absence of Men is a stunning first novel to discover this pride season: in its daring in representation and celebration of gay sexuality, in the beauty of its prose and in its delicacy of feeling. Your immediate instinctive reaction is to touch me, to press against me, to impress your body on mine, to wait for the moment when they are symbiosis, the moment when marriage makes them one flesh.

The inclusion of Marcel Proust in the novel is fascinating, adding literary cameos to the scenes already steeped in decadence. He is arrogant, full of himself and at the same time there is no charm behind it, no cheekiness even or merciless honesty, anything that would make me believe in the friendship between Vincent and Proust, much older than the protagonist. The French edition of Lie With Me sold over 120,000 copies, was a number one bestseller, and won the prestigious Maison de la Presse prize.As both relationships develop Vincent intuitively tries to keep his passions separate, but over the weeks of indolent Parisian summer and far-off war, confidences are made, absences endured, secrets revealed. Prix du Premier Roman de l'AD de la Sarthe - Union Nationale Culture et Bibliothèque pour Tous (UNCBPT) - Site officiel".

I would like to believe that Polish translation is to blame, to some extent at least but unfortunately, this is the second book by Besson and I didn’t like either of them. Occasionally, you pick up a book not quite knowing why you chose to read it in the first place, but then gradually, page by page, you start to realize that almost every chapter tells you a little about yourself, about your life. That appears to be very true for a lot of modern fiction: advertising produces covers that are more persuasive than the writing inside. Besson’s prose is exquisite at conveying the emotions that accompany human desires, longings, fears and failings. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.par les récits de cette guerre que je n'ai pas connu, par l'intimité des lettres échangées, par le discours de Vincent. Vincent meets Marcel in a salon, while he meets Arthur in their estate, since Arthur has a week of leave from the army, and his mother is the governess for Vincent's family. My only regret is that my current language ability does not allow me to read the book in its original French text.

Một cuốn sách đẹp đẽ, rung động, giàu chất thơ và trần đầy nhục cảm, hy vọng sẽ có những cuốn sách khác của Philippe Besson được dịch. Sau khi đọc "Đừng tự dối mình", tôi bèn tìm những cuốn khác của Philippe Besson đọc và chỉ tìm thấy "In The Absence Of Men" là có bản tiếng Anh. I felt there could’ve been more character building in part one or at least the author could’ve gotten us more engaged with the primary character as he came off rather unlikeable.Maybe due to a rather lackluster translation, or the longueurs of the war-related sections, but it didn't seem to have the propulsive quality of his other two books -albeit at 166 pages it only took me a day and a half to read it. I had this idea that LGBT literature is all about superficial stories about the lives of LGBT people, arguing for acceptance from the straight world. Marcel greatly loved his mother while she lived; Vincent is indifferent to his mother; Arthur is the only child with a strong mother/son love.