The Lover by Marguerite Duras

Posted on August 3, 2009 
Filed under Books, Non-Fiction and tagged , , , , , , ,

the lover duras

In The Lover (L’Amant), Marguerite Duras reflects on her youth in 1930s Indochina.  This memoir focuses mainly on her affair with the man who would become her first lover, the adult son of a Chinese millionaire at least 12 yrs her senior.   The short book (only about 100 pages) weaves in and out of the author’s memories in a dreamy manner that is not unappealing.  I had the impression that Duras was literally writing down her recollections as they occurred to her, and this helped to ease the way through the somewhat disjointed structure.

Often explained as an “erotic novel”, The Lover is actually more of an exploration of a young girl’s sexual awakening in Saigon, and her discovery of the power that comes with her budding sexual prowess.  She does not seem to be in love with the man that she is sleeping with, but she becomes obsessed with the effect that she has on the man, and he in turn is obsessed with her.  As he nervously and carefully teaches her how to make love, she becomes an eager student.  Their daily meetings teach her more and more about the control that a woman can have over a man.  This is not to say that she derives no pleasure from the encounters, but simply that she initially treats them very much as a pupil learning a new skill.  With time, however, her passion grows, as does her confusion.  Because she is white, the man’s father refuses to allow him to marry her, so they both know that their affair will never be allowed to continue.

With all of that, what I found to be the most compelling and heart wrenching aspect of The Lover was the sad story of the young girl’s life away from her lover.  As the daughter of a French school administrator, she is very much neglected and left to her own defenses, as her widowed mother struggles to make ends meet.  She is sent to a boarding school that has a shocking lack of supervision over the comings and goings of the young girls, and this, of course, is how Marguerite manages to get away with her lurid encounters with a much older man.

All in all, it was a well written, interestingly paced book that I would recommend. Think of it as a sort of Lolita story, but from Lolita’s point of view.  It will disturb some readers, as it is a fairly sexually charged tale of an underage girl with a much older man, but I don’t believe that the novel was meant to titillate.  Rather unlike the beautiful movie inspired by Duras’ memoirs.

Jean Jacque Annaud’s film is brilliant.  Beautiful.  Haunting.  Seductive.  Emotionally confusing and passionate.  And, contrary to several of the comments on Netflix, I would not consider it to be soft porn.  It is quite graphic for a mainstream film, and yet it is so lovingly portrayed that it comes off as breathtakingly sensual, rather than simple erotica.  The older lover is played by Tony Leung. His striking good looks, combined with his ability to capture the trembling nervousness with which he first approaches the object of his desire is extremely captivating. (I’ve included the trailer at the end of this review)

In the end, I would say that both the film and the novel are good, but for different reasons.  While the film stays true to the book, it lacks the musicality and artistic magic of the prose.  But the film captures passion that does not come through in the book.  They each stand on their own.

xoxo

Natalina

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Comments



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