Rafaële Germain

Rafaële Germain nous offre ici un court texte initiateur de profondes réflexions sur la mémoire, sur l'oubli, sur le temps, tout cela dans le contexte googlesque et wikipédien d'aujourd'hui, mais aussi dans celui plus personnel et intimiste de sa relation avec son père, le regretté journaliste et chroniqueur Georges-Hébert Germain.

Nous avons droit ainsi à un riche essai qui nous invite de façon inspirante à porter un regard posé sur une société qui vit dans une instantanéité où tout est ramené à un présent qui ne permet plus l'oubli. Et cet essai hors norme est teinté de souvenirs, de mots prononcés et de gestes simples qui appartiennent à un univers qu'on se doit de ne pas oublier.

[http://rivesderives.blogspot.ca/2017/02/un-present-infini-notes-sur-la-memoire.html]… (mere)

This is a story of Marine, a woman in her early 30s, and of the people who surround her; her tight knit group of friends, composed of Laurent, her ex; Jeff, her roommate; and Julien; and her family -- her older brother Frederick, who is living in France and writing a novel, with whom Marine exchanges e-mails; her parents, including her father who lives through a serious health situation throughout the course of the novel and her two younger sisters, Élodie and Ariane.

[possible spoiler alert]

But this diverse cast of characters who reappear throughout the novel is somewhat misleading because, at its core, this is a novel of how Marine meets and falls in love with Gabriel.

And therein lies the problem. This is a long-winded, convoluted way to tell a simple story, presumably to show growth in the main character but, really, whittled down, this is simply Marine's winding road to developing a significant relationship with Gabriel.

The tone is amusing and there were several chuckle-worthy moments. The characters, as mentioned, were plentiful, colourful and loveable. But, I suspect, their foibles will not be that memorable.

I found this book a little long, all told. Readable certainly, and amusing even, but overly lengthy.… (mere)