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I gained such admiration for writers & the act of constructing a book in reading this; Ernaux's elegant A Simple Passion is lovely, erudite, & concise, & it came out of a period of sexual & romantic obsession which is chronicled in great detail in Getting Lost, her unedited journal from that time. Reading the journal can often be boring & tiresome (it is so hard, from the outside, to understand a person's specific desire for someone who seems

Both of these statements are true. I can attest to them both. This journal takes place over 18 months & is the intimate detail of her affair with a married man. @batsy this is the book that we were happy that Simple Passion was not. 😀 it‘s a tedious repetition of waiting to see him, crying, mooning over a man who seemed to be unworthy of her obsession. But that‘s the thing - when you are caught up in one it‘s hard to give it up & unexplainable.

This is the diary of Annie Ernaux, while she had an affair with a married man in Paris. I am conflicted as I found it interesting but at some point I got annoyed by her going on about this man. I would like to read more of her work though.

This is my second Ernaux and I am in love with her writing! Can‘t put this one down.

My first Ernaux.One side of a love affair,told in journal form .French writer & married Soviet diplomat fall into a passionate affair.Takes place in the 80s , no cells, if you miss the call, the rendezvous is lost .Like analyzing all the tiles of a rubiks cube, she gets lost in the memory of the trists, fears it will end,self loathing galore for her inability to work , her obsessive ups & downs.I thought it felt authentic, how lost we can become!