This content explores the personal connection to literature and storytelling, highlighting how specific books and authors have resonated with the speaker due to their themes, emotional impact, and the authors' unique styles, often reflecting personal experiences and societal issues.
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For me, the desire to read is something that comes and goes.
My mother reads a lot, and she used to read to me,
which taught me to enjoy literature and getting lost in a story.
I got used to listening to her.
She really enjoyed it and put on different voices.
Reading alone, it wasn't the same as listening to my mother.
Sometimes I'll read a lot, especially on tour.
Other times, months will go by and I can't even open a book.
It's funny, because when I was asked to think about the books
that I wanted to talk about,
I remembered my mother reading this to me.
I must have been very young, less than ten,
and she read me "24 Hours in the Life of a Woman".
When I re-read it, I thought:
"This is a pretty ambitious book to read to a child!"
But we also read "Geronimo Stilton" sometimes as well.
She would stop to explain and may have even simplified things,
but I remember the atmosphere,
because I was on holiday at the seaside,
and the whole atmosphere came flooding back.
It's a very feminist story
so I thought it would fit into the list perfectly.
One author who really affected me is Lola Lafon.
I have a couple of friends who give me books,
including "Reeling", and they said, "You have to read this."
"It's a classic."
I was floored by it for all kinds of reasons,
and that happens every time I read Lola Lafon.
I could list all the things that I like about her,
but what I really like is her style,
the specific way that she writes,
and the story and characters, of course.
I've felt close to so many characters in her books
and I've found the psychological, therapeutic aspect of her stories,
and the mood of everything she describes, really captivating.
It's hard to talk about "Reeling" without spoilers.
It's a book about violence in all its many forms:
sexual violence, of course,
but also psychological violence, manipulation,
gaslighting,
but also recovery and sisterhood.
It's also a book about performing
and that touched me, too.
Lola Lafon knows a lot about the dance world
and she describes that world with incredible precision.
It tackles a violent subject in a very gentle way.
That's how I'd sum it up.
In terms of worldview,
we have these two graphic novels,
"The Arab of the Future" and "Hakim's Odyssey".
"The Arab of the Future" is one of the first graphic novels I read.
I didn't read many, as a kid.
I'm a fan of Riad Sattouf's work, especially "Esther's Notebooks",
but "The Arab of the Future" is the book
that I find most touching because it's his own story.
He's able to guide you through a story
that is quite different to my own,
and still manages to involve you in his world, in his inner life.
It's touching, funny, sometimes violent,
sometimes sad.
But you feel so close to him and his family.
Comparing my childhood to his, they're clearly very different.
It challenges you,
and I like the idea of tackling difficult topics, social topics,
through a graphic novel.
I don't know if the illustrations tone down the violence
or whether they simply allow it to be shown.
These two books are a good example.
There are so many vivid, powerful emotions
communicated through such simple illustrations.
With "Hakim's Odyssey",
it was the first time I've cried while reading a graphic novel.
It was quite an astonishing feeling,
because, yes, you might cry from a novel
but crying from a graphic novel which, at first glance,
seems almost suitable for children, was a real surprise.
A hero or heroine? There's the story of Joséphine Baker.
It's pretty cool. Another graphic novel.
There's a series of these:
they're graphic novels telling the story of historical figures,
especially female figures.
The collection is called "Les clandestines de l'histoire".
I didn't know very much about Joséphine Baker's story,
but I love it.
She's an extremely inspiring woman who achieved a lot,
and charted her own path as a Black woman
during a very challenging time.
It's very inspiring to see the life that she led,
the path she took and the changes she made
to American and French culture.
I remember, reading this graphic novel, that I was shocked
by how infrequently Joséphine Baker appears in French culture.
I had just finished the book
when she was inducted into the Panthéon,
and I was glad to have read it and learned more about her.
The story of Joséphine Baker, and "Reeling",
or "Les yeux rouges" (Red Eyes) by Myriam Leroy, are all about women
whose lives are changed when they become well-known,
or because they're performers.
Obviously, I find them interesting
because they resonate with my own story in some way.
I find them touching but also frightening.
I think there are things in my daily life,
or my working life, at least...
Like in "Reeling", the preparation before going on stage,
or in "Les yeux rouges" (Red Eyes),
which is about a woman who is being harassed
on the Internet...
There's also a lot of gaslighting.
They treat her like she's mad
because she's obsessed with the violence she endures,
and that's something I can understand.
And with Joséphine Baker, the fact that she's on stage,
she's an actress, singer and dancer who is watched and sexualised,
and not only is she able
to exist as a very strong woman
with a lot of freedom, but at the same time,
she rises above all the criticism.
Of course, she endured racism as well as sexism.
I didn't realise it, but subconsciously
these women's stories spoke to me.
Like everybody,
I have at least a few Amélie Nothomb books in my library.
Probably four or five.
You can't ignore her, really.
Not only is she an author whose work I love,
but also love who she is.
I was lucky enough to meet her.
She's exactly as you'd expect, and I think that...
she's super-inspiring
in terms of how true she is to herself.
She's stayed true to her own style
but also stayed true to her desire for freedom.
For example, she has no mobile phone,
no e-mail address, she writes letters and replies to all her fans.
There's something fascinating about her.
I adore her.
For me, writing is a release,
just like any other art form.
It's different to singing,
or even performing or writing songs
because of this idea that you're making a mark, literally.
When I write, it's a weight off my shoulders.
You can use rhymes and wordplay,
and there's something exciting, intoxicating, about that.
For artists in general, if they need to express something
and connect to a wider audience,
then there must be some kind of flaw that gives them
a need for recognition, but also recognition that something happened
that needs to be purged or displaced.
You can create beauty out of something difficult.
That's what writing is, to me.
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