Cleaned Out (French Literature Series)

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book...
Review: Ernaux writes in an amazingly real, raw, "in your face" style which is not for the faint of heart...this is what draws me to her works. Ernaux's descriptions utilize all of one's senses, making you feel truly part of the story. Her description of the main character in the book, with all of her flaws and charms, is extrememly rich. This book is an exploration of gender and class, and about the inner dialogue of a woman trying to figure out who she is and where she fits in life.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: This book left me with a chilling feeling... the description is superb and the tales are often painful and often humorous, a voice we don't often get to read. Definitely recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: effortlessly stylized
Review: Typically, stream-of-consciousness type fiction picks at my nerves, but Ernaux's version of this style stays largely connecte. You aren't forced to jump around within the narrator's mind, instead the thoughts meld together in a pattern fairly easy to understand.

Her memories (I've read that this is largely autobiographical) of school & her parents shop, are absorbing & powerful- her blatant admittance of shame regarding the juxtopositon between life at home & life at school (the extreme difference in class status)- is brave as well as cringeworthy.

I admire Ernaux's ability to create a character that is in many ways unlikeable, yet at the same time understandable. She does an amazing job getting into the confused mind of a growing girl & the hypocritical shameful thoughts one is prone to at that age.

It was wonderful to read a not quite coming of age story set in France- the only reason it escapes the 5 star rating was due my boredom with the narrator's sexcapades- certainly a large chunk of a teenaged girls fixation in life- but I just didn't care that much about her 'redheaded boy'.

Recommended!