Desert (Collection Folio, 1670) (French Edition) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Le Clezio has been writing since age seven; his first work was a book about the sea. After majoring in French literature, he became well-known at age 23 with the publication of his first novel, Le Proces-Verbal (The Interrogation), which was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt and for which he was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1963.

Since then he has published about 30 books, including short stories, novels, essays, two translations on the subject of Native American mythology, countless prefaces and reviews as well as a few contributions to collective publications. In addition he is the author of several children's books.

From 1963 to 1975 Le Clezio explored themes like insanity, language, writing and devoted himself to formal experimentation in the wake of such contemporaries as Georges Perec or Michel Butor. Le Clezio's public image was that of an innovator and a rebel, drawing praise from Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze.

In the late 1970s Le Clezio's style underwent a drastic change; he abandoned experimentation, and the mood of his novels became less tormented as he broached themes like childhood, adolescence, and traveling, which attracted a broader, more popular audience. In 1980 Le Clezio was the first winner of the newly created grand prix Paul Morand, awarded to Desert by the Academie francaise.

In 1994 a survey conducted by the French literary magazine Lire showed that 13% of the readers considered him to be the greatest living French language writer.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2008. Other French citizens to receive the prize include Gao Xingjian in 2000; he is the first French-language writer to win since Claude Simon in 1985. The Swedish Academy, in announcing the award, called Le Clezio an author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 438 pages
• Publisher: Editions Gallimard (September 24, 1985)
• Language: French
• ISBN-10: 2070376702
• ISBN-13: 978-2070376704
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A novel about freedom?, August 9, 2000

By 

Anuschka Fritz (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Désert (Nobel Prize Literature 2008) (French Edition) (Paperback)

This book makes everybody dream who reads it. Written in two different time areas set up in a very interesting way, it tracks the life of African nomads at the beginning of the century through a young descendant of this tribe, Lalla. Lalla lives a childhood in a poor environment, but she is free and can grow up wildly following the shepherd boys into the desert. It is a country, where speech doesn't count - anyway, this would be too exhausting. The story continues to always surprise, especially by the beautiful pictures drawn - full of sadness and strength. She grows up, but the lyric of her life stays alive, she withstands modernisation and everything money brings with it, too.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suzanne M. Necoechea should learn how to use these reviews, June 24, 2009

By 

Reader (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Désert (Nobel Prize Literature 2008) (French Edition) (Paperback)

The previous reviewer, Suzanne M. Necoechea, should realize that these are BOOK reviews. She may have a legitimate complaint about the delivery of her order, but in creating a one-star review she has unjustifiably given the book itself a bad review. Since there are only a few reviews posted for the book so far, her one-star rating has a disproportional impact and severely downgrades the overall rating for the book. Many customers will not bother to look beyond the overall rating when browsing the catalog. She should withdraw her review.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "As if she had only slept an hour or two... ", January 1, 2009

By 

Friederike Knabe (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Désert (Nobel Prize Literature 2008) (French Edition) (Paperback)

Lalla and Nour, the two young protagonists of this engrossing novel, have a lot in common. Descendants of an ancient Berber tribe in the Western Sahara, they carry the traditions, the stories and visions of their tribe, and, last not least, the intimate connectedness to the rugged desert lands of their forebears. Still, their lives never connected directly: Nour was born at the end of the nineteenth century and Lalla could have been his great-grandchild, a teenager probably in the nineteen seventies. Their two narrative streams are interleaved, resulting in a moving and extraordinary portrait of two special children, their culture and times. Each an astute observer of their surroundings, their view of the world, while innocent and dreamlike, also holds depth and hope for the future.

From the first pages Le Clézio's "Désert" carries the reader into another world: a caravan of nomadic Berber tribes, led by the famous "Men in blue", the Tuareg, slowly winds it way through a landscape harsh and bleak to the extreme, yet stunningly beautiful and profoundly mystical. The Berber and Tuareg clans have called this part of the Sahara desert their home for thousands of years. In the North (today's Morocco) the chiefs were promised new pasture land to settle. Based on the historical events of 1909 to 1912 when the sovereignty of the tribal chiefs under the leadership of Ma el Ainine was finally crushed by the French colonial forces, the author introduces Nour as the young observer. Through his eyes we follow the Berber efforts to protect the ancestral lands from invading forces and ward off the "soldiers of the Christians". Ma el Ainine, revered as a holy man and grand chief by his people, was regarded by the French as a "fanatic", a "savage" and murderer who needed to be destroyed at all cost. Le Clézio realistically depicts the desolate conditions facing the chiefs, their ragged warriors, and the women and children, weakened by hunger, following behind as well as they could. Nonetheless, his empathy with these proud defenders of their desert lands is openly displayed through Nour's perspective. At the time of publication in 1980, it was rare for a French author to take so determinedly the position of the historical underdog as Le Clézio.

The other protagonist, Lalla, a lone orphan raised by her aunt, is like a spirit child of African story telling. Living in a desolate shanty town on the outskirts of a Moroccan sea-side town, she prefers nature to people and is irresistibly drawn to the desert close by, the rugged hills and high plateaus where she dreams and loses herself in the stories of her mysterious past. She senses, mainly subconsciously, her unique heritage deeply rooted in herself: belonging to an ancient desert tribe, deeply connected to the sun-drenched and parched land that constantly calls her. The line between reality and visions are easily blurred, especially whenever she feels the intense watchful eye of "Es Ser", who she calls "the Secret One". Her only friends are the mute shepherd boy Hartani and the old fisherman, Naman. From one she learns to see beyond and below the stone boulders, the crevasses and the sea of sand; with the old story teller she discovers the countries beyond the ocean where white gleaming cities offer a different kind of future.

Eventually, circumstances lead her into that other world, but what she observes and experiences is nothing like what she was told by Naman. The description of Lalla's life in Marseilles is a devastating yet visually powerful portrait of the city's underbelly. Radicz, the young beggar and thief, becomes her guide into this foreign culture. Le Clézio does not hesitate to use a somewhat unrealistic scenario of the rags to riches kind to elucidate the extraordinary personality that he imagines for Lalla as she grows into a young adult. It is not difficult to guess where Lalla's journey ends: "it felt as if she had only slept an hour or two"...

At several levels, this novel is all about journeys - physical and mental/emotional. Whether the long trek north by the Berber tribes through the exhilarating desert landscape of what is now the still disputed region of Western Sahara, or Lalla's exploration of the same landscape in southwestern Morocco, the spiritual journeys of Nour and Lalla are intimately connected. The "coming of age" component sees both young protagonists explore their identities, roots and roles. Some readers might find the lengthy descriptions of searching, wandering and constantly moving somewhat too drawn out and slow. However, the deliberately used repeats and slight atmospheric variations may encourage the reader to slow down to the speed of a camel caravan; a speed where we can ourselves see beyond the surface to discover the intricate and rich physical and mental landscape that his protagonists share. The review is of the French original, unfortunately no English translation appears to be in print at this time. For Désert Le Clézio was awarded the Académie Française's Grand Prix Paul Morand. [Friederike Knabe]