#French Claudia Hunzinger

OCTOBER

by Claudie Hunzinger (no photo)

Finish date: 22 October 2022
Genre: novel (300 pg)
Rating: C-
Review: Un chien à ma table (ISBN: 9782246831631)

Good news: Short listed for not just one…but three prestigious French Literature prizes this year: des Prix Renaudot, Femina, et Medicis. After reading the book…I don’t think it will win, unfortunately.

Good news: Chapters describing SIMPLE daily actions of elderly people …with such care to movements and gestures: shrugs, nods, sagging shoulders, husband and wife walk together…like 2 monks in 1 pair of sandals.
…getting out of bed…legs danging about the floor
…wearing “mes grolles magiques” (magic “sturdy” shoes with rubber sole)
…putting on some make-up, it is all just a fantasy
…going up the stairs without missing one
…going down the elevators without losing balance
…crossing the street quickly to catch the green light

Bad news: The book is too long. 300 pages about connecting with nature, walking the dog, hugging her donkey, watching the larvae of certain beetles as they tunnel and feed under the bark in living wood. All this and don’t forget…she coats it with an “académique, et philosophique” sauce.
#Overwhelmed

Personal: Best part of the book came early! Chapter 7 almost moved me to tears……just 23 sentences but they sum up what many elderly people feel looking back on their lives. The book starts with a very good ‘hook’: a writer in her 80s observing the effects of ageing rather than regretting getting old. She emrbraces it! The dog is a touching element…but after 200 pages I was drifting off the narrative. Ms Hunziger is a woman of nature, poetry and interested in the changes in society. The scope of the book was beyond what I could manage in French. I was just settling in about her loving marriage with her husband…then we were discussing he favourite Alpine walking boots…her “grolles”. Nice for those who like this type of musings just not captivating enough for me and a 300 page book.