Exteriors

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Taking the form of random journal entries over the course of seven years, Exteriors concentrates on the ephemeral encounters that take place just on the periphery of a person’s lived environment.

Whether or not this is fictionalized, the reader will never know, which not only lends itself to the “mystery and opacity” of the characters’ lives, but Ernaux’s as well. They are the briefest of vignettes, often observations on the train or at one or other of the various supermarkets she visits.Ernaux captures the feeling of contemporary living on the outskirts of Paris: poignantly lyrical, chaotic, and strangely alive. It is as if Ernaux has cracked the man open, and inside was himself, clipping his fingernails in public.

Taking the form of random journal entries over the course of seven years, Exteriors concentrates on the ephemeral encounters that take place just on the periphery of a person’s lived environment.

I n a few years from now, in the middle of hypermarkets, we shall probably see cinema screens, promotional lectures on painting or literature, maybe even lessons on computers. I don’t think those years have any especial significance once you know when this was first published. In other words, the feelings and thoughts inspired by places and objects are distinct from their cultural content…a supermarket can provide just as much meaning and human truth as a concert hall.

I felt I was riding towards the sun; it was setting beyond the criss-cross lines of pylons hurtling towards the centre of the New Town. Izgalmas, mert úgy mesél Annie Ernauxról, hogy azt a világ apró rebbenései és a krónikás ezekről alkotott benyomásai mögé rejti, azaz egyáltalán nem személytelen. This may sometimes, though not always be true since I have acquired the mental habit not only of experiencing emotions but of 'getting them into perspective'.I read ones about her mother, her father, her early sexual life, an affair with an older, married man, an abortion, all in separate books, many based on detailed diaries she kept over the years. My reaction confirms a well-known truth: we believe, because we stop using them, that certain words have disappeared or that poverty has ceased to exist now that we earn a living. What would be of passing interest is if Ernaux waited a decade or two for the new town to “grow old,” and then repeated the exercise. in vignettes and snippet anecdotes, ernaux perfectly captures urban loneliness and absurdity, the feeling of catching a scene or eavesdropping on a private conversation that you don't have time to fully process yet still think abt from time to time. Ponieważ to daje jej iluzję bliskości z innymi i pozwala się zastanowić nad tym jakie emocje w niej wywołują.