230419: read four times in translation [book:Jealousy & In the Labyrinth|55480] so i knew what i was getting here. first time read in french, great for improving my vocabulary, particularly of nouns, as there is much repetition, much context, much exact or similar phrases. verbs all in present-tense, dialogue repetitive, evocative, dream-like, plot, description, physical movement, details of streets, cafe, stairways, hallways, lamps, street lamps, shadows, clothes, falling snow, gathering dust, gestures... all again and again, not much confusion of poetic or historic or literary expression. the early passages i love in translations... i love in original. fast read, sort of, because repetition builds rhythm. and i very much love this work...
maybe i would like to write this review in french that is not very good, spelling terrible, but if you are french or interested in french avant-garde literature, you probably know or think you know what early robbe-grillet reads like. and you love it or you hate it. so this review is for anglos who want to practice/read french and are tired of reading the usual [book:L'Étranger|15688] or [book:Le Petit Prince|18721816] or... whatever. yes this is like nothing you have read, or i have read, in english. or translations from other languages. or probably other authors in french... i have previously reviewed this work in translation, in the grove book with [book:Jealousy & In the Labyrinth|55480]‘jealousy’, but again this is my first read in french. i decide to read robbe-grillet’s other novels and maybe cine-novels in order of writing, though the u library only starts with [book:Les Gommes|169560] and ends i think with [book:Repetition|101997]... oh well. i may know my next 11 books...