The Lover
Encyclopedia
The Lover is an autobiographical novel
by Marguerite Duras
, published in 1984 by Les Éditions de Minuit
. It has been translated to 43 languages and was awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt
. It was adapted to film in 1992 as The Lover
.
colonial
Vietnam
, The Lover reveals the intimacies and intricacies of a clandestine romance between a pubescent girl from a financially strapped French family and an older, wealthy Chinese
man.
In 1929, a 15 year old nameless girl is traveling by ferry across the Mekong Delta
, returning from a holiday at her family home in the town of Sa Đéc, to her boarding school
in Saigon. She attracts the attention of a 27 year old son of a Chinese business magnate, a young man of wealth and heir to a fortune. He strikes up a conversation with the girl; she accepts a ride back to town in his chauffeured limousine.
Compelled by the circumstances of her upbringing, this girl, the daughter of a bankrupt
, manic depressive widow, is newly awakened to the impending and all-too-real task of making her way alone in the world. Thus, she becomes his lover, until he bows to the disapproval of his father and breaks off the affair.
For her lover, there is no question of the depth and sincerity of his love, but it isn't until much later that the girl acknowledges to herself her true feelings.
form, in the third person, with written dialogue and without internal monologue. This second version also contains more humor than the original.
Barbara Bray
's English translation won the Scott Moncrieff Prize
and PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
in 1986.
after the Chinese Revolution. He had already died when the movie was produced.
Duras was only 15½ at the time of her love affair, which is also the age of the heroine in the novel.
In the movie the heroine tells her lover that she is 17. He tells her that he is 32.
Autobiographical novel
An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fiction elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction...
by Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras was a French writer and film director.-Background:...
, published in 1984 by Les Éditions de Minuit
Les Éditions de Minuit
Les Éditions de Minuit is a French publishing house which has its origins in the French Resistance of World War II and still publishes books today.-History:...
. It has been translated to 43 languages and was awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...
. It was adapted to film in 1992 as The Lover
The Lover (film)
- Production :While adapting the Marguerite Duras novel into the film's screenplay, director Jean-Jacques Annaud and fellow writer Gérard Brach changed the age of "The Girl" from 15½ to 17, but tried to maintain the original structure and literary tone of the original novel. As with the Duras...
.
Plot summary
Set against the backdrop of FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, The Lover reveals the intimacies and intricacies of a clandestine romance between a pubescent girl from a financially strapped French family and an older, wealthy Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
man.
In 1929, a 15 year old nameless girl is traveling by ferry across the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
, returning from a holiday at her family home in the town of Sa Đéc, to her boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in Saigon. She attracts the attention of a 27 year old son of a Chinese business magnate, a young man of wealth and heir to a fortune. He strikes up a conversation with the girl; she accepts a ride back to town in his chauffeured limousine.
Compelled by the circumstances of her upbringing, this girl, the daughter of a bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, manic depressive widow, is newly awakened to the impending and all-too-real task of making her way alone in the world. Thus, she becomes his lover, until he bows to the disapproval of his father and breaks off the affair.
For her lover, there is no question of the depth and sincerity of his love, but it isn't until much later that the girl acknowledges to herself her true feelings.
Published versions
There are two published versions of The Lover: one written in the form of an autobiography, without any superimposed temporal structures, as the young girl narrates in first-person; the other, called The North China Lover and released in conjunction with the film version of the work, is in film scriptScreenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
form, in the third person, with written dialogue and without internal monologue. This second version also contains more humor than the original.
Barbara Bray
Barbara Bray
Barbara Bray was a British translator and critic.An identical twin , she was educated at Girton College, Cambridge, where she read English, with papers in French and Italian...
's English translation won the Scott Moncrieff Prize
Scott Moncrieff Prize
The Scott Moncrieff Prize, named after the translator C. K. Scott Moncrieff, is an annual £2,000 literary prize for French to English translation, awarded to one or more translators every year for a full-length work deemed by the Translators Association to have "literary merit"...
and PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
The PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize is an annual award given to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been presented annually by PEN American Center and the Book of the Month Club since 1963....
in 1986.
Real-life connections
Duras never revealed the real name of her Chinese lover, but later admitted to being the girl when the film The Lover was being made. The last thing she heard of him was that he immigrated to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after the Chinese Revolution. He had already died when the movie was produced.
Duras was only 15½ at the time of her love affair, which is also the age of the heroine in the novel.
In the movie the heroine tells her lover that she is 17. He tells her that he is 32.