La Dentellière

La Dentellière

Infobox Book
name = La Dentellière
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Pascal Lainé
illustrator = George Crowther
cover_artist =
country = France
language = French
series =
subject =
genre =
publisher =
pub_date = 1974
english_pub_date =
media_type =
pages =
isbn =
oclc =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"La Dentellière" ("The Lacemaker"), is a French novel by Pascal Lainé.

It was awarded the Prix Goncourt (France's most prestigious literary award) in 1974. It was translated into English by George Crowther in 1976 and made into a film with Isabelle Huppert in 1977 (directed by Claude Goretta). An excerpt of a recent translation by David Dugan appears in the 18th issue of the [http://www.thedirtygoat.com/index.html Dirty Goat] .

With a simple, precise language, Pascal Lainé paints his character's portrait in her original setting: "She was like one of those genre paintings where the subject is captured in mid-movement. Her way, for example, of pursing hairpins in her lips as she redid her hair bun! She was The Laundress, The Water Girl, or The Lacemaker."

Apple's story begins in a village in northern France. Her father has left and her mother works both as a barmaid and prostitute and they live in a noisy roadside apartment. Then we meet her again at age 18, living with her mother in a suburb of Paris and working at a hair salon near St. Lazare train station. At night mother and daughter watch TV or Apple reads romance novels and magazines. Her first friend in Paris is Marilyn, a thirty year-old red head who is unsuccessfully modeling her life after a romance novel. She tries to make Apple more like herself, gets her to drink whiskey and wear makeup, but she begrudges Apple's simplicity and the friendship won't survive the entrance of Marilyn's next boyfriend.

The abandonment takes place while the two friends are vacationing in Cabourg. Apple is left eating an ice cream at a tea shop when Aimery de Béligny shows up. Aimery is also fascinated by Apple's simplicity. An intellectual from a respectable family, he is the opposite of Apple. Her docile sincerity charms him at first; they live together in his studio in Paris where she expresses her devotion through continuous housework. But such humble tenderness only irritates the student in the end. When he breaks up with her, Apple takes off her rubber gloves, puts away her cleanser and leaves without complaint. She returns to her mother's convinced that she is unworthy and ugly. She loses what interest she had in life, stops eating and ends up in a mental hospital.

Apple is surrounded with characters who believe they know how to express themselves, while Apple never succeeds in saying anything. Her silent suffering is the central light of the book, like the candle in Vermeer's painting.

(Article based on the original text in French)


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  • Dentellière — Dentellier Dentellière travaillant au crochet …   Wikipédia en Français

  • DENTELLIÈRE — n. f. Celle qui fait de la dentelle. Les dentellières du Puy. Adjectivement, L’industrie dentellière …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 8eme edition (1935)

  • dentellière — (dan tè liê r ) s. f. Ouvrière qui fait de la dentelle. ÉTYMOLOGIE    Dentelle …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

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  • La dentellière — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. La Dentellière est le titre de plusieurs œuvres : La Dentellière (tableau), tableau de Johannes Vermeer (1669 1670) La Dentellière (film, 1912), film …   Wikipédia en Français

  • La Dentellière (roman) — La Dentellière Auteur Pascal Lainé Genre roman Pays d origine  France Éditeur éditions Gallimard Collec …   Wikipédia en Français

  • La Dentellière —  Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différentes œuvres portant le même titre. La Dentellière, tableau de Johannes Vermeer (1669 1670) La Dentellière, film de Léonce Perret (1912) La Dentellière, roman de Pascal Lainé, prix Goncourt 1974.… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • La Dentellière (film) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir La Dentellière. La Dentellière est un film franco suisse réalisé par Claude Goretta et sorti en 1977. Sommaire 1 Synopsis 2 Fiche …   Wikipédia en Français

  • La Dentellière — (Saint Hippolyte le Graveyron,Франция) Категория отеля: Адрес: 70 chemin de Saint Ve …   Каталог отелей

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