French Inside / Du français dans cet article!
Dear reader, if you don’t speak French, you can stop reading right now. You see, I fell in love with a book, and I found a new favorite author. The thing is, the book was originally written in French, and I felt weird reviewing it only in English. After all, I am French, I want to support my fellow patriots, and no one one Amazon France will understand the English version of my review. This is why I wrote a … well, something that looks like a review, in my native language. It’s definitely not as good as my English ones (not that there are THAT good!) but it’s a little something to thank Johana Gustawsson for reminding me to be proud to be French when it comes to literature.
I could have chosen to post it on Goodreads and Amazon only, but my blog is about what I feel and what I live. I lived Block 46 and it had an impact on me. So I’m making an exception and writing a post in French. Well, I just reread myself and so far it’s been English all along… French below!
Titre: Block 46
Auteur: Johana Gustawsson
Editeur: Bragelonne
Date of publication: 2015
Format: format poche
Nombre de pages: 336
Note: 
Falkenberg, Suède. Le commissaire Bergström découvre le cadavre terriblement mutilé d’une femme.
Londres. Profileuse de renom, la ténébreuse Emily Roy enquête sur une série de meurtres d’enfants dont les corps présentent les mêmes blessures que la victime suédoise : trachée sectionnée, yeux énucléés et un mystérieux Y gravé sur le bras.
Étrange serial killer, qui change de lieu de chasse et de type de proie…
En Suède, Emily retrouve une vieille connaissance : Alexis Castells, une écrivaine pleine de charme spécialisée dans les tueurs en série. Ensemble, ces deux personnalités discordantes se lancent dans une traque qui va les conduire jusqu’aux atrocités du camp de Buchenwald, en 1944.
Aucun mot ne pourra réellement rendre justice à l’oeuvre monumentale qu’est Block 46. Néanmoins, j’ai la tâche d’essayer d’exprimer la centaine, que dis-je, les milliers d’émotions recenties à travers les pages de ce livre. Mon petit coeur fragile ne s’attendait pas au souffle puissant et infernal de l’oeuvre de Johana Gustawsson!!
L’histoire entre nous débute par un coup de foudre visuel. Une couverture intriguante, un rouge sang, un titre glaçant, un tout prometteur.
Nous sommes tous coupable lorsqu’il s’agit de juger un livre par sa couverture. Je me rappelle avoir passer des heures à effleurer tant de livres jusqu’à trouver la couleur, le titre qui attire l’oeil et éveille la curiosité.
Les apparences sont parfois trompeuses. Mais pas ici. Pas avec Johana Gustawsson, qui prend son lecteur par la main et l’entraîne dans l’enfer avec une plume qui rend le pire lisible, en lui laissant tout le pouvoir de toucher, faire trembler, enrager, s’agripper au lecteur et le laisser sans voix, à tourner les pages comme un fou, incapable de s’arracher à la noirceur dépeinte si merveilleusement dans ce roman intense. Mes mains tremblaient sous le poids des mots et des événements décrits dans ce livre, chaque page a laissé un trace invisible sur moi. L’expérience de lecture dans son plus bel appareil.
Emily Roy. Un personnage plus qu’intéréssant. Intriguante, plongée dans l’obscurité, experte et détachée. Un personnage auquel on ne résiste pas, son charme résidant dans l’aura et le pouvoir qui semble l’entourer. Elle ne s’attarde pas sur les règles sociales lorsqu’elles ne sont pas nécessaires, mais elle sait parfaitement jouer son rôle de profileuse, usant de ses capacités d’observation et de ses connaissances pour obtenir ce dont elle a besoin. Fascinante, je sais déjà qu’elle est au plus haut de la liste de mes personnages préférés. Quoique la place est disputée par Alexis Castells, écrivaine, passionnante et passionnée, qui se retrouve au milieu d’une affaire qui la dépasse… ou pas. Alexis a de la ressource, un esprit vif et il m’a été impossible de résister et de ne pas la rejoindre dans cet environnement claustrophobique dans lequel elle est plongée malgré elle.
L’affaire… Les affaires. Le passé et le présent. Sans lien apparent. Un, ou plutôt des mystères, et un étau autour du coeur alors que les heures et les jours passent, que les corps et la violence s’accumulent, que le tic tac de l’horloge résonne, dans chaque narration, comme un rappel de l’urgence, et mon coeur ne pouvait qu’accélérer à mesure que chaque indice, chaque détail, chaque avancement dans les enquêtes apparaissait. Si souvent une double narration passé / présent est difficile à équilibrer, Johana Gustawsson sait parfaitement comment et où injecter la tension, comment garder son lecteur captivé par chacune des histoires. Par l’histoire tout simplement.
Non, ce livre n’est pas facile à lire, mais l’auteur réussit le pari de s’attaquer au pire, de nous le présenter sous un angle qui ne favorise pas la violence mais l’utilise pour explorer l’esprit et le coté sombre de l’être humain. Un rappel, un hommage, un avertissement de ce dont l’homme est capable. Block 46 est brutal et primitif, mais pas sans raison, et avec une certaine délicatesse, un récit à vif qui permet au lecteur de s’immerser complétement dans le récit et de ne pas en sortir sans cicatrice. Cette intensité dans le récit et le développement des personnages ne peut pas laisser indifférent et rend le lecteur accro autant à la plume qu’au style. J’en redemande, et je ne suis certainement pas la seule. Johana Gustawsson rend ses couleurs au genre noir français et nous offre le début d’une série d’excellente qualité.
Née en 1978 à Marseille et diplômée de Sciences Politiques, Johana Gustawsson a été journaliste pour la télévision et la presse françaises. Elle vit aujourd’hui à Londres, en Angleterre.
Retrouver la sur Twitter: @JoGustawsson
Love this ..very original x
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Thanks 🙂 I needed to do this #FrenchSupport, haha! x
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I love all things French 🙂
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Excellente critique et merci pour la recommandation! Je suis toujours à la recherche de bons romans français. 🙂
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Merci beaucoup! L’exercice est tellement plus compliqué pour moi en français! J’avais un peu peur de ne pas rendre justice à ce petit bijou de livre! 🙂
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Well I can’t read French but I’m glad you enjoyed this book Donna, and it’s amazing the authors work reminded you to be proud of French literature. This certainly seems like a brilliant read! 😀
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Thank you for commenting anyway 😀 thankfully I reviewed this in English first haha! But I really wanted to thank the author and that’s the only way I found… it’s a brilliant read!!
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That’s all right. I love your idea of writing your review in French for this book you read in French. Makes me wish even more I could speak another language!
In that case, I’ll have to go back and check out your review in English! 😀
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I can read French very slowly with the help my school girl French and a dictionary, so I might give a try when I’m more awake 😉
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Eh eh, why not! I know I lost the ability to read properly in Japanese so fast, blah! But you can still go back to the English version, I’m basically stating the same thing: my love for this book xD
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😊
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I was such an idiot, that when I went to Lyon this year and met Johanna, I forgot to buy her second book in French and read it in French. It feels strange to wait to read her in translation (no disrespect to the translator). Lovely to read your review in both languages – and I’m glad she seems to be having great success both there and here.
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Oh no 😦 When I’m less tight on the money, I might be able to send you a copy! Thanks a lot, I was so nervous about writing in French as I haven’t done it in months, and I’d never written a review in my own language, haha!
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No, don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be back in France soon… I don’t think I’d dare to write a review in Romanian (my native language – never done it!)
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Well, this was my first French one and it’s … not that bad! Weird, but I’ve had good feedback so I’m curious to know whether I can do it for different books!
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Oh, I think you should. It’s a huge advantage, being bilingual and being able to read and review in both languages.
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I love this! I managed to pick out about ten words I remember from GCSE French so that’s pretty good! 😀
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Congrats 😀 Thankfully, my English version is not far on the blog 😉
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I can read this but I know you have to be saying all things because this book is brilliant! Lol
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Hahaha, exactly! I’m basically reusing what I said in my English review, in another way because you can never express the same feelings in different languages the same way.
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I’m sorry to say that I can’t read french but wanted to comment anyway to say how fabulous I think it is that you reviewed the english translation of Block 46 in english and then reviewed the original french novel in french. You’re brilliant! 🙂 xxx
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I never knew it was so hard to use your native language, haha! But I was told it was good enough, so I’m relieved! Thanks so much 🙂 I just love this book so much I needed to go the extra mile and try. I’ll also review the second book this summer because I want to tease everyone :p xxx
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Great post and idea – my French not quite up to the whole thing. Did you notice any differences between the book in its different language guises?
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Thank you 🙂 No, I felt the French touch in this translation but it was good enough for me to enjoy both versions!
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Only know rudimentary GCSE level French but I love this! French is such a beautiful language xxx
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French is SO DIFFICULT! I had to go and check my grammar, hahaha! xxx
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What a lovely idea to review in both languages. I imagine the author and publisher would love these reviews. I understood some of the words, but would find it quite difficult to make a French reply.
Maybe something like. ….
J’taime le review!!!! 😂😉😙
Merci.
( I love the review???).
Amanda. x
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It was almost perfect!! “J’aime ta review!” 🙂 French is so complicated, I had to check my grammar and even words, haha THANK YOU! I was so nervous, even if in the end, I’m just reusing the points I made in my English review, only in a different form 🙂 I had to go the extra mile and give it a try because the book is worth it 🙂 xxx
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Merveilleuse ma chérie! I’ve pushed myself to read it in French and I can say that your reviews are very convincing, whatever the language! C’est vraiment super!
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Ooooh merci beaucoup!!!! I’m so so happy you enjoyed it, I was afraid to lose my voice in French and to end up with a boring review!!! I’m so relieved thank you!!!
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As if that would be possible.. you have IT or you don’t and you have it my dear ;-).
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Ah, you my dear, know how to find the words for your plan of making me write :p You’re planting the seeds, I see you xD
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Ha good to see it’s working ;-). One day my dear, I’m sure of it 🙂
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Love your determination :p
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I only understood those words that are similar to SPanish 😛
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:p That’s already good enough! I’m glad I published the English version not too early before so people can check this one hahahaha
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Well, I enjoyed the review in French! My French is so rusty now – I could never really speak it fluently but I used to be able to read it pretty well. So I read paragraph by parapgraph and then used Google translate – and was thrilled to discover I could get the gist of what you were saying even if several of the words baffled me… Oh, and I’m glad you enjoyed the book too! 😉
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I winced at Google translate, hahaha, I hate that thing, but I’m happy you were able to enjoy this review anyway 😀 I really hoped I’d keep my voice and not sound boring in French!!! I loved this book to pieces so after my English review the week before, I had to try and promote it in French too!
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I don’t know French (I opted for German when I did my GCSEs, sadly), but I love the reasoning behind your review in your mother tongue. It’s good to be proud of your roots and if doing something like this – writing your review in your native language – feels right, then it’s important to be true to yourself 🙂 Pleased you enjoyed this book!
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Thank you 🙂 Most of the work had been done when I wrote my English review but you can never express your feelings the same way in a different language so I was nervous about writing it in French! I really wanted to try because it felt important to support the author 🙂
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Formidable! Ça fait changement de voir du français sur WordPress! 😀 Let’s just say that you nailed it! French, English ,Japanese? Doesn’t matter with Donna, she’ll do justice for a book she absolutely ADORED! 😀 Your writing style is still impeccable and I love how lyrical your review is! I hope we’ll see more of your French reviews in the future! Or maybe just hook me up with some of them. I think I’m addicted now. 😀 😀
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Ca fait aussi très bizarre de voir un commentaire en français!!!! Wow, what a compliment THANK YOU! I was so nervous about not being able to express my feelings as freely in French as I do in English! That and I find French more boring to read, haha! Thank you so so much! There will indeed be a bit more French around here 😀 I’m gonna review the second book in the series this summer, it hasn’t been translated yet and I’m a teaser :p I created a French corner to try and practice a little! 😀
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Okay, I’ll be honest- my French is not that good and I’ve gotten out of practice (again) so I let google do the hard work and translate it for me 😉 And my goodness this sounds like a stonking good read!!! I am especially excited cos I downloaded this one already (although it always takes me forever to get to books on my kindle- I’ll get there eventually 😉 ) Amazing review!!
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Thank you!!! You could have just gone to the English version from the week before, haha! This truly is a fantastic book, no matter the language used to praise it!
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You’re welcome!! hahaha I realise now that I’ve already checked that out and it’s what persuaded me to buy it, but I’m nothing if not dedicated and I have to read all your reviews 😉
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Aw, you ❤ Haha, I might have been able to have you buy it in French too xD
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hehehehe
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hehehehe ! Bravo 😉 J’aime beaucoup ta plume en VF (autant que celle en VO !)
Et ta chronique donne vraiment envie !
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OUF! J’avais peur que ca sonne comme un vieux truc tout pourri xD
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mais non !
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Well I attempted to cheat and translate, but once again Google let me down 😛 I am so thrilled that you did this though! I know how personal and important it is to you. Love it and you Twin Pea ❤
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Thanks so much, Twin Pea! It was difficult but I’m proud to have done it and I’m gonna try and nurture my French way a little more to be able to do this with different books!
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