May Book Club - The Years

Six of us gathered via Zoom on May 17 to discuss “The Years,” a memoir by Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux. This book is noteworthy for its format: no chapter divisions, the use of “we” or “she” instead of “I,” and an unusual style of depicting history that we variously saw as impressionistic, reportorial, archaeological, insightful, and boring. We appreciated the way Ernaux was anchored in her family as the world around her changed immensely, and admired many of her turns of phrase.