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The Midnight Love Feast

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The Midnight Love Feast (French: Le Médianoche amoureux) is a 1989 book by Michel Tournier, published by Éditions Gallimard.

It was translated into English by Barbara Wright. It was published in the United Kingdom by William Collins, Sons in 1991.[1]

Story

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The work starts with a segment about Yves, a man who works in the fishery trade, and Nadège, a woman who is married to Yves. They hold a dinner party where guests trade stories, 19 in all, about romance.[1]

The book has references to other creators of literature.[1]

The English version partially abridges one of the stories, "Lucie", by five pages.[2]

Reception

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Judy Cooke of The Guardian praised the "clarity", wrote that the translation was "excellent", and stated that the book "works at many levels".[1]

Galen Strawson, in The Independent, wrote that the work has "second-rate" content though Tournier's "gifts show through."[2]

Helen Elliott of The Age praised the "literary inventiveness" and that the translation was well done.[3]

A. P. Riemer, a Sydney University associate professor teaching English courses, criticized the censorship in the English translation.[4] He stated that some of the later stories had difficulty in translation due to differences between French and English, though that the translator was "competent and conscientious".[4]

James Saynor in The Observer wrote that the translation was of good quality, and favorably compared his work to those of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Primo Levi.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Cooke, Judy (1991-02-07). "Love among the lobsters". The Guardian. London. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Strawson, Galen (1991-02-17). "Old gifts in search of the present". The Independent. London. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Elliott, Helen (1991-06-22). "Fireworks dazzle and nasties amuse". The Age. Melbourne. p. Books Extra 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Riemer, A. P. (1991-05-04). "Mystical feast an entree short". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Saynor, James (1991-02-03). "When growing up is so hard to do". The Observer. London. p. 55 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

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