Reviews

Writing by Marguerite Duras

brownebrownie's review against another edition

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4.0

essa edição tem 4 textos diferentes. o principal, escrever, é um sólido 4 estrelas. os outros 3 são meio tanto faz. tipo, não são ruins, obviamente, é marguerite duras, mas eles ficam como um apêndice que se extende demais, achei que tirou força do texto principal.

dito isso, é muito bom ler uma escritora foda elaborando sobre o ato de escrever.
se eu tivesse essa capacidade, ia hackear todas as newsletters mixurucas sobre escrita e trocar por esse texto.

oktosha's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

barel93's review against another edition

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2.0

Bof. Je reviendrais peut-être ajouter quelques lignes en plus pour décrire mon apathie totale vers l'écriture de Duras, mais á vrai dire je ne pense pas en être capable. Pour l'instant, ça doit suffire: blagh.

lignina's review against another edition

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3.0

"Esta casa, esta casa es el lugar de la soledad, sin embargo da a una calle, a una plaza, a un estanque muy antiguo, al grupo escolar del pueblo".

Este libro no es una historia —una anécdota, tal vez, pero nunca una historia—. Es el sentimiento, es el miedo, es la soledad de la escritura de Marguerite Duras. Una soledad que no encuentra sino crea ella misma, desde donde escribe libros u observa el exterior.
Si algo que no es, es un manual. No hay una única respuesta sobre el acto de escribir y ella desde luego no te va a tan siquiera una.

Personalmente no sé qué pensar de este libro, no os voy a mentir. Por una parte no he entendido nada y por otra no sé si he entendido demasiado. Sé lo que es temer a la muerte y a la soledad, porque son dos cosas que me preocupan. El fin de las nuevas oportunidades. A pesar de todo, Duras las observa de frente, saca un bolígrafo y las describe. Y eso hay que admirárselo.
Aún sabiendo eso, no puedo decir que haya "disfrutado" la lectura, al igual que una película de terror no me va a divertir. A veces creo haber entendido el mensaje, otras me he sentido bastante perdida como para preguntar siquiera. Por otro lado, coincido muy poco con su punto de vista sobre la escritura (solo se escribe en soledad), ya que el mero hecho de escribir ya denota el deseo por una comunicación, la cual se puede dar entre una misma o con más personas. Además, también existen libros escritos a cuatro manos que cuyos autores (estoy segura) dudarían en coincidir con el pensamiento de Duras.
Por ello no creo que vuelva a hacer pronto una relectura de este libro, pero me alegro al menos de haberle dado una oportunidad.

claire_guichon's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

thoughtsinamess's review against another edition

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3.0

⭐️ 3,75/5
Un petit livre sympa avec pas mal d’annotations. Mais rien de bien mémorable non plus. Première lecture de Marguerite Duras.
Lecture rapide.

jeannemandil's review against another edition

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2.0

Complètement sonnée notre marguerite. Autant j’ai bien ri lors de l’anecdote de la mouche, j’ai cru mourir d’ennui en lisant Roma et le tout rend crédible ses anecdotes de cuites à Parly 2.

mizlitterature's review against another edition

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3.0

C'était mon premier Marguerite Duras et...je ne suis pas convaincue.
Est-ce que c'est juste moi ou les cinq textes sont disparates et inégaux?

Le premier m'a vraiment interpellée. La volonté d'écrire, la façon dont la solitude est vécue, dans la grande maison silencieuse, ça me rejoignait. La mort de la mouche. J'ai failli pleurer.
J'ai bien aimé l'aviateur anglais aussi, mais un peu moins. Les histoires de Seconde Guerre mondiale, j'en ai lu beaucoup en peu de temps.

Les trois autres...ouf. Surtout «Roma», si difficile à interpréter.

Bref, j'espère que L'Amant est à la hauteur de sa réputation. Je le lirai d'ici deux semaines.

luvterature's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

3.0

Marguerite Duras’s Writing is not so much a book as it is an experience—an intimate meditation on the craft of writing, the solitude it demands, and the strange, almost sacred relationship between the writer and the blank page. It is a text that pierces, prods, and lingers in the mind long after the final word, though I must admit, it didn’t wholly resonate with me.  

This wasn’t the best entry point into Duras’s oeuvre—I can see that now. Perhaps I should have begun with The Lover, a book that promises to immerse rather than observe from a distance. But Writing is still undeniably beautiful, particularly for those of us drawn to the maddening, luminous pursuit of creating literary art.  

The writing style is quintessential Duras: sparse yet charged, like an electric hum vibrating just beneath the surface. Every word feels chosen with an almost painful precision, every line imbued with the weight of a thought long held. And yet, there’s a starkness here, an absence that demands something from the reader—patience, introspection, surrender. It is not an easy read, not in its simplicity nor its depth.  

She explores themes of isolation, memory, and the profound loneliness of the writer’s existence. She speaks of writing as both a compulsion and a form of self-erasure, a paradoxical act that requires the writer to disappear into their own work. These reflections are at once universal and deeply personal, and a few of her lines struck me with the force of revelation. One in particular has lingered with me: I don’t believe people who say, “I tore up my manuscript, I threw the whole thing out.” I don’t believe it. Either what was written didn’t exist for them, or else it wasn’t a book.  

And yet, for all its beauty, I wasn’t particularly moved. Perhaps it is my own failing—my inability to connect with the text in the way Duras intended. Or perhaps it is the nature of the book itself, its quiet introspection so insular that it feels like a conversation I’ve been invited to overhear but not participate in.  

There is a kind of austerity in Writing that feels deliberately withholding, as if she is guarding some ineffable truth about the creative process, offering only glimpses, never the whole. It is haunting in its restraint, but it also left me yearning for something more—more narrative, more warmth, more vulnerability.  

Despite this, I can’t deny the book’s brilliance. For those who are themselves writers, or who aspire to be, this is a profound and necessary text. It strips away the romanticism of the craft, exposing its raw, unglamorous essence. It is a book that speaks to the lonely, obsessive nature of writing, to the way it consumes and defines those who practice it.  

So, 3 stars. Not because Writing isn’t great—it is. But because greatness doesn’t always equate to emotional resonance. This is a book I respect more than I love, a book that has left its mark on me even if it hasn’t claimed a place in my heart. Perhaps I will revisit it one day, armed with a deeper understanding of Duras and her world. Until then, I will cherish the moments when her words pierced through the fog of my own thoughts, offering a clarity that was both painful and profound.  
For now, I think I’ll pick up The Lover. If Writing is the distant, contemplative hum of Duras’s genius, I hope The Lover is the beating heart.

amartins's review

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medium-paced

5.0