Staff Pick

Pas Pleurer – Prix Goncourt 2014

by François-Xavier Schmit | January 20, 2015
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A painful story about the Spanish Civil War, Lydie Salvayre’s tale unfolds in the wake of the drama of Montse and focuses on a young peasant named Josep, whose anarchist brother is in the process of discovering his own revolutionary soul. This imaginative story is complemented by the novelist Georges Bernanos’ commentary on the war and his naïve support of — and subsequent disgust with — the Spanish Catholic church and its “goddamn purifying militants.” With a family divided between a monolithic father controlled by Franco’s fury and revolting children, the entire Spanish tragedy comes to the surface.

François-Xavier

Pas Pleurer, Le Seuil, 2014

François-Xavier Schmit
When he was a child, François-Xavier always kept a book in the pocket of his jeans. However, for the first decade of his working life, he put his love of books aside to embark on a successful career in human resources. At age 34, deciding that life was too short not enjoy every moment of it, François-Xavier quit his position, moved to Toulouse, and opened his own bookstore. Six years later, while L'Autre Rive was thriving in the Pink city, François-Xavier heard that the French Embassy was looking for someone to run a future bookshop, and he moved to New York in August of 2013. The fine selection of books on display at Albertine is a reflection of his hard work.
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