The Years

Experience the power of collective memory with 'The Years,' the groundbreaking book by acclaimed author Annie Ernaux. This award-winning narrative spans the years 1941 to 2006, seamlessly blending personal history with societal shifts. Dive into a rich tapestry of memories, vivid impressions, and shared experiences influenced by books, songs, television, and the evolution of advertising. Ernaux’s innovative storytelling shifts between the intimate and the collective, employing local dialect and historical context to illuminate the intricate connections between personal life and the wider world. Readers are invited to reflect on the passage of time that shapes identity, culture, and memory. As Ernaux writes in a unique voice that oscillates between “I” and “we,” this transformative autobiography captures the essence of generations intertwining their experiences. First published in France in 2008, 'The Years' is not just an intimate memoir; it is a profound exploration of how collective narratives shape individual stories. A must-read for fans of literary memoirs and those interested in the interplay between the personal and the historical. Enjoy this compelling trade paperback, which comes brand new with fast, FREE shipping, making it easy for you to enrich your literary collection today! Note that combined shipping with other products is not available for this item. Please allow up to 10 days for delivery, and embark on a journey through time and memory.

Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781609807870
Format: Trade paperback (UK)
Year: 2017
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE US
Pages: 256


Description:
Available in English for the first time, the latest astonishing, bestselling, and award-winning book by Annie Ernaux.

The Years is a personal narrative of the period 1941 to 2006 told through the lens of memory, impressions past and present-even projections into the future-photos, books, songs, radio, television and decades of advertising, headlines, contrasted with intimate conflicts and writing notes from six decades of diaries. Local dialect, words of the times, slogans, brands and names for the ever-proliferating objects, are given voice here. The voice we recognize as the author's continually dissolves and re-emerges. Ernaux makes the passage of time palpable. Time itself, inexorable, narrates its own course, consigning all other narrators to anonymity. A new kind of autobiography emerges, at once subjective and impersonal, private and collective. On its 2008 publication in France, The Years came as a surprise. Though Ernaux had for years been hailed as a beloved, bestselling and award-winning author, The Years was in many ways a departure- both an intimate memoir "written" by entire generations, and a story of generations telling a very personal story. Like the generation before hers, the narrator eschews the "I" for the "we" (or "they", or "one") as if collective life were inextricably intertwined with a private life that in her parents' generation ceased to exist. She writes of her parents' generation (and could be writing of her own book)- "From a common fund of hunger and fear, everything was told in the "we" and impersonal pronouns."

This product has FREE shipping however combined shipping for other products is not available with this item. Please allow up to 10 days for shipping.