Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 53

Nathalie Sarraute - Works (An Incomplete Listing)

Writer, born in Ivanova, W Russia. Her parents settled in France when she was a child, and she studied at the Sorbonne, at Oxford, and in Berlin before becoming a member of the French bar (1926–41). Her first book was a collection of sketches on bourgeois life, Tropismes (1939, Tropisms), in which she rejected traditional plot development. Known and widely translated as the leading theorist of the nouveau roman (‘new novel’), she developed her views in such novels as Portrait d'un Inconnu (1947, Portrait of a Man Unknown), Le Planétarium (1959, The Planetarium), and Les Fruits d'or (1963, The Golden Fruits). Later works include Collected Plays (1981), Tu ne t'aimes pas (1989, You Don't Love Yourself), and ICI (1995).

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Nathalie Sarraute (French IPA: [nata'li sa'ʀot]) (born July 18, 1900 in Ivanovo, Russia - died October 19, 1999 in Paris, France) was a lawyer and a Francophone writer of Russian origin. The novel only drew notice from literary insiders, as did her following novel Martereau.

Sarraute was awarded the Prix international de littérature for her novel The Golden Fruits in 1963. Sarraute's primary emphasis is on the faithful depiction of psychological phenomena, as in The Golden Fruits, a novella consisting of characters' inner thoughts and public argument regarding an avant-garde novel, and The Planetarium (1959), a novel focusing on a young man's obsession with inheriting his aunt's apartment.

In contrast to the relative difficulty of Sarraute's novels, her memoir Childhood is considered a far easier read, and was adapted into a Broadway play starring Glenn Close.

Works (An Incomplete Listing)

Tropismes, 1939 Portrait of a Man Unknown (Portrait d’un inconnu), 1948 Martereau 1953 (novel) L'Ère du soupçon, 1956 (essay) The Planetarium, 1959 (novel) The Golden Fruits (Les Fruits d'or), 1963 (novel) Le Silence 1964 (theatre) Le Mensonge, 1966 (novel) Entre la vie et la mort 1968 (novel) Isma, ou ce qui s’appelle rien 1970 (theatre) Vous les entendez ? 1972 (novel) C’est beau 1975 (theatre) « disent les imbéciles », 1976 (novel) L’Usage de la parole 1980 (novel) Enfance 1983 (autobiography) Tu ne t’aimes pas 1989 (novel) Elle est là 1993 (Theatre) Pour un oui ou pour un non 1993 (theatre) Ici 1995 (novel) Ouvrez 1997 (novel) Lecture 1998

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