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Lionel Shriver

    18 mai 1957

    Les romans de Lionel Shriver explorent les complexités des relations humaines et les dilemmes moraux. Son style distinctif se caractérise par une perspicacité psychologique aiguë et une observation fine des dynamiques sociales. Shriver n'hésite pas à aborder des vérités inconfortables et à explorer les aspects les plus sombres de la nature humaine, créant des récits qui défient les perceptions des lecteurs. Sa prose est à la fois précise et captivante, faisant d'elle une voix significative dans la littérature contemporaine.

    Lionel Shriver
    Checker and the Derailleurs
    La double vie d'Irina
    A prendre ou à laisser
    Tout ça pour quoi
    Propriétés privées
    Il faut qu'on parle de Kevin
    • Mania

      • 288pages
      • 11 heures de lecture

      'Seldom is a book as funny, important and timely ... I was laughing out loud at the same time as my blood was running cold' JOHN CLEESE 'Viciously funny... an exhilarating satire' THE TIMES 'Merciless... a welcome distraction' ECONOMIST, Best Books of 2024 What if calling someone stupid was illegal? In a reality not too distant from our own, the worst thing you can call someone is 'stupid'. Everyone is equally clever, and discrimination based on intelligence is 'the last great civil rights fight'. Exams and grades are discarded and you don't need a qualification to be a doctor. When best friends Pearson and Emory find themselves on opposing sides of this new culture war, their relationship begins to fracture. And soon, Pearson's determination to cling onto the 'old, bigoted way of thinking' begins to endanger her job, her safety and even her family... Hilarious, deadpan and scathing, MANIA is a frighteningly plausible glimpse into what the world could become - or is already - from the pen of a master storyteller.

      Mania2024
      3,6
    • Abominations

      Selected Essays from a Career of Courting Self-Destruction

      • 304pages
      • 11 heures de lecture

      This collection features thought-provoking essays from a bestselling author known for their insightful exploration of complex themes. With a blend of personal reflection and broader societal commentary, the work delves into various aspects of life, relationships, and human experiences. The author's distinctive voice and keen observations offer readers a compelling and engaging perspective on contemporary issues, making this collection a notable addition to their literary repertoire.

      Abominations2022
      3,9
    • Abominations

      • 304pages
      • 11 heures de lecture

      This striking collection of essays from a prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author showcases the sharp talent of Lionel Shriver, known for her willingness to embrace “under-expressed, unpopular or downright dangerous” viewpoints. The anthology features thirty-five curated pieces drawn from her columns, essays, and op-eds in prominent publications like the Spectator, the Guardian, and the New York Times, alongside unpublished works. In this collection, Shriver’s iconoclastic and personal voice shines as she offers her skeptical and contrarian opinions on a diverse array of topics, including religion, politics, illness, family, gender, immigration, and consumerism. She critiques the concept of language “crimes” and challenges arbitrary limitations on speech that threaten artistic expression and intellectual freedom. Each essay reflects sentiments that have drawn controversy and even threats of “cancellation.” Shriver also provides insights into her novels and the complexities of artistic success. By revisiting and expanding upon earlier pieces, she invites readers—especially those with “enlightened” progressive views—to engage with challenging ideas, often leading to unexpected agreements. This collection is a timely synthesis of Shriver's expansive work, revealing her as a provocative and assured writer.

      Abominations2022
      2,5
    • Mandibles LP, The

      • 654pages
      • 23 heures de lecture

      Set in 2029, the narrative unfolds during a bloodless world war that devastates American savings as the dollar's value collapses, giving way to the bancor, a new global currency. In a drastic response, the president announces a default on loans, leading to rampant money printing and soaring inflation that erodes the remaining wealth of savers. The story explores the economic turmoil and its impact on families, highlighting themes of financial instability and the consequences of government decisions.

      Mandibles LP, The2021
      3,5
    • A prendre ou à laisser

      • 288pages
      • 11 heures de lecture

      Lionel Shriver met toute son ironie, son acuité et sa tendresse dans cette nouvelle bombe de provocation. Hilarante et touchante, une oeuvre explosive doublée d'une réflexion mordante sur notre rapport à la vieillesse et sur l'art délicat de préparer sa sortie. Pendant dix ans, Kay a assisté son père atteint de la maladie d'Alzheimer. A la mort de ce dernier, le soulagement l'emporte sur la tristesse et une question surgit : comment gérer sa propre fin de vie ? Une discussion avec son mari Cyril, quelques verres de vin et les voici qui en viennent à nouer un pacte. Certes, ils n'ont que cinquante ans, sont en bonne santé et comptent bien profiter encore de leurs proches, mais pas question de faire peser sur ceux-ci et sur la société leur inéluctable déliquescence. C'est décidé, le jour de leurs quatre-vingts ans, Kay et Cyril partiront ensemble. Le temps passe et voici qu'arrive la date fatidique. Une date, douze possibilités et une conclusion : dans la vie, tout est à prendre ou à laisser... [payot.ch]

      A prendre ou à laisser2021
      3,6
    • Propriétés privées

      • 456pages
      • 16 heures de lecture

      Douze nouvelles caustiques et cruelles dans lesquelles une artiste rejetée par son meilleur ami entreprend de lui reprendre un cadeau qu'elle lui a offert ; un couple décide de chasser son fils de 30 ans qui devient une vedette des réseaux sociaux en mettant en scène cette expulsion ; une femme s'évertue à posséder une maison prétendument hantée. Premier recueil.

      Propriétés privées2020
      3,8
    • The Motion of the Body Through Space

      • 368pages
      • 13 heures de lecture

      From the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin 'Enjoyably abrasive... a compelling read... sardonic and elegant' Evening Standard 'Scabrously funny... few authors can be as entertainingly problematic as Shriver' Guardian

      The Motion of the Body Through Space2020
      3,7
    • Was, wenn die alten Freunde nicht zur neuen Partnerin passen? Weston liebt Paige, doch als es ans Heiraten geht, verlangt sie von ihm ein Opfer. Er soll sich von seiner langjährigen Freundin – und Ex-Flamme – Jillian lossagen, die Paige schon immer etwas zu einnehmend, zu schillernd, kurz: zu gefährlich fand. Weston setzt sich zur Wehr. Aber beweist das nicht, dass Paige mit ihrer Forderung ins Schwarze trifft? Lionel Shrivers entwaffnender Beziehungsroman über Eifersucht, Vereinnahmung und Vertrauen greift eine Geschichte auf, die so alt ist wie die Liebe selbst. Die Orange-Prize-Autorin seziert brutal ehrlich und doch humorvoll, wie eine Verwerfung, die eben noch beherrschbar schien, sich unversehens in eine zwischenmenschliche Katastrophe verwandelt. Eine grandios zugespitzte Dreiecksgeschichte, die jedem aus der Seele spricht! »Ein kurzes, brutales Juwel von einem Roman.« Evening Standard »Diese Frau kann einfach keinen Satz schreiben, der nicht intelligent wäre ... Lionel Shriver hat den Blick eines John Updike oder einer Patricia Highsmith.« The Time

      Die perfekte Freundin2020
      3,8
    • De Mandibles

      Een Familiekroniek, 2029-2047 - druk 1

      • 416pages
      • 15 heures de lecture

      Van de bestsellerauteur van 'We moeten het over Kevin hebben' en Big Brother komt een nieuwe, grote roman over de instorting van een familie – tegen de achtergrond van een financiële crisis van apocalyptische proporties. We schrijven 2029. In een speciale tv-uitzending deelt de Amerikaanse president Alvarado zijn staatsburgers mee wat niemand ooit voor mogelijk had gehouden: het land kan zijn torenhoge schulden niet meer afbetalen. De almachtige dollar is niets meer waard. Dit nieuws is in eerste instantie een ver-van-mijn-bed-show voor Florence Mandible, die met haar vriend Esteban en haar dertienjarige zoon Willing in een comfortabel, bijna afbetaald rijtjeshuis in Brooklyn woont. In korte tijd echter zet de nationale financiële crisis zich onverbiddelijk om in een persoonlijke: grootvaders in mysterie verhulde fortuin, waarop Florence, haar ouders en haar broers en zussen al jaren zinspelen, gaat in rook op. En plotseling is dat comfortabele huis in Brooklyn de enige veilige haven voor het hele gezin. Tot de dementerende stiefgrootmoeder aan toe.

      De Mandibles2016
      3,4
    • In 2029, the Mandible family faces a grim reality as their hopes for a substantial inheritance dissolve amidst America's insurmountable national debt and the collapse of the dollar. With an emerging international currency threatening their financial stability, a looming bloodless world war is set to obliterate the savings of countless American families. Each family member grapples with disappointment and the harsh necessity of survival. Recently prosperous Avery is frustrated by her inability to buy basic necessities, while her sister Florence struggles to accommodate strays in her cramped home. Their father, Carter, is resentful of the burden of caring for his demented stepmother, as nursing home costs skyrocket. Meanwhile, Nollie, an expatriate author, returns at 73 to an America that is unrecognizable. Only Florence's unconventional teenage son, Willing—an economics enthusiast—might hold the key to salvaging their once-prominent family from destitution. This narrative offers a chilling yet darkly humorous exploration of a potential future decline for the United States, showcasing the author's sharp insights and wit.

      The Mandibles : a family, 2029-20472016
      3,5
    • Big brother

      • 416pages
      • 15 heures de lecture

      When Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at her local Iowa airport, she literally doesn't recognise him. Edison's slovenly habits, appalling diet and know-it-all monologues drive her health-and-fitness freak husband Fletcher insane. Fletcher eventually delivers his wife an ultimatum - it's him or me. Putting her marriage and two adoptive children on the line, Pandora chooses her brother - who, without her support in losing weight, will surely eat himself into an early grave.

      Big brother2014
      3,6
    • Ostracized as a kid, Edgar Kellogg has always yearned to be popular. A disgruntled New York corporate lawyer, he's more than ready to leave his lucrative career for the excitement and uncertainty of journalism. When he's offered the post of foreign correspondent in a Portuguese backwater that has sprouted a homegrown terrorist movement, Edgar recognizes the disappeared larger-than-life reporter he's been sent to replace, Barrington Saddler, as exactly the outsize character he longs to emulate. Infuriatingly, all his fellow journalists cannot stop talking about their beloved "Bear," who is no longer lighting up their work lives. Yet all is not as it appears. Os Soldados Ousados de Barba—"The Daring Soldiers of Barba"—have been blowing up the rest of the world for years in order to win independence for a province so dismal, backward, and windblown that you couldn't give the rat hole away. So why, with Barrington vanished, do terrorist incidents claimed by the "SOB" suddenly dry up? A droll, playful novel, The New Republic addresses weighty issues like terrorism with the deft, tongue-in-cheek touch that is vintage Shriver. It also presses the more intimate question: What makes particular people so magnetic, while the rest of us inspire a shrug? What's their secret? And in the end, who has the better life—the admired, or the admirer?

      The New Republic2012
      3,1
    • Après le choc d'Il faut qu'on parle de Kevin, la nouvelle bombe de Lionel Shriver. Toute sa rage, son audace et son humour au vitriol pour une radioscopie féroce et incisive du couple, de la famille, de la maladie et du rôle de l'argent dans notre vie. Un brûlot dévastateur. Parfois, le soir, dans les embouteillages, Shep Knacker laisse son esprit divaguer : fuir les humiliations au travail, échapper aux jérémiades de son artiste de soeur, aux caprices des enfants, aux discours stériles de son meilleur ami. Quitter tout ça, partir sur cette île au large de Zanzibar, dormir, pêcher son poisson, lire, réfléchir... Vivre, tout simplement. Un fantasme qu'il touche du doigt le jour où il vend sa société pour un petit pactole. Sa décision est prise. C'est alors que Glynis, son épouse, va briser net ce doux rêve : elle est atteinte d'une maladie rare, à un stade déjà avancé, et doit commencer au plus vite un traitement expérimental coûteux. Comment faire face à ce qui nous fait peur ? Comment affronter ce que l'on passe notre existence à fuir ? Combien vaut une vie ?

      Tout ça pour quoi2010
      3,7
    • A Perfectly Good Family

      • 277pages
      • 10 heures de lecture

      "Following the death of her worthy liberal parents, Corlis McCrea moves back into her family's grand Reconstruction mansion in North Carolina, willed to all three siblings. Her timid younger brother has never left home. When her bullying black-sheep older brother moves into "his" house as well, it's war. Each heir wants the house. Yet to buy the other out, two siblings must team against one. Just as in girlhood, Corlis is torn between allying with the decent but fearful youngest and the iconoclastic eldest, who covets his legacy to destroy it. A Perfectly Good Family is a stunning examination of inheritance, literal and psychological: what we take from our parents, what we discard, and what we are stuck with, like it or not."--Amazon.com.

      A Perfectly Good Family2009
      3,3
    • Game Control

      • 318pages
      • 12 heures de lecture

      Set against the backdrop of Kenya, the story explores the complex relationship between Eleanor Merritt, an altruistic family-planning worker, and Calvin Piper, a charismatic yet misanthropic thinker. As Eleanor strives to uplift the impoverished, she becomes entangled in Calvin's controversial views on population control, which challenge her ideals. Their romance unfolds amidst a provocative examination of responsibility and moral dilemmas, blurring the lines between love and ideology.

      Game Control2007
      3,3
    • La double vie d'Irina

      • 790pages
      • 28 heures de lecture

      Après le magistral Il faut qu'on parle de ICe vin, récompensé par l'Orange Prize, une interprétation saisissante des jeux de l'amour et du hasard. Entre Londres et New York, le destin d'un triangle amoureux, ou quand le choix d'un baiser donné (ou pas) change radicalement le cours d'une existence. Le jour où Irina accepte de dîner seule avec Ramsey Acton, célèbre joueur de snooker, elle ne se doute pas que sa vie va basculer. Qu'un instant d'hésitation va mettre son couple en question. Et que la routine de sa confortable existence londonienne va voler en éclats. Car, contre toute attente, ce dîner avec Ramsey se révèle très agréable. À tel point qu'a la fin de la soirée Irina se trouve prise d'une folle envie de l'embrasser ... (www.payot.ch)

      La double vie d'Irina2007
      3,5
    • Every book club member has felt the pressure to pick out a new title for the whole group to read and enjoy. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a book that helped you to make that all-important decision and maintain your place of respect in the book club? Fear no more, this comprehensive guide is here to help, shining an illuminating light on the treasures of the literary world, from The Bell Jar to Brick Lane, Mrs. Dalloway to Middlesex. Containing a diverse selection of books to choose from, the guide includes a non-spoiler synopsis, background information on the author, historical context, interesting discussion points and facts, and potential companion volumes. Compiled by a range of English literature experts and avid readers, this informative and enthusiastic guide is guaranteed to inspire.

      The book club bible : the definitive guide that every book club member needs2007
      3,4
    • Double Fault

      • 352pages
      • 13 heures de lecture

      Ever since Willy Novinsky picked up a racquet at the age of four, tennis has been her one love, until the day she meets Eric Oberdorf. She's a middle-ranked professional tennis player and he's a Princeton graduate who took up playing tennis at the age of eighteen. They marry. Married life starts well but soon gives way to full-tilt competition.

      Double Fault2006
      3,2
    • Il faut qu'on parle de Kevin

      • 485pages
      • 17 heures de lecture

      À la veille de ses seize ans, Kevin Khatchadourian exécute neuf personnes dans son lycée. A travers des lettres au père dont elle est séparée, sa mère retrace l’itinéraire meurtrier de leur fils. Un roman coup-de-poing, violent, complexe, qui s’attaque aux pires des tabous. The gripping international bestseller about motherhood gone awry Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin's horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklyn. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.

      Il faut qu'on parle de Kevin2003
      4,1
    • Checker and the Derailleurs

      • 319pages
      • 12 heures de lecture

      Worshiped by his fans and fellow band members, the Derailleurs, Checker Secretti seems to live a charmed existence until another musician's admiration and envy sparks off strange events and ultimate tragedy

      Checker and the Derailleurs1988
      3,0