Nathalie Sarraute

You Don't Love Yourself (Studies in Contemporary Jewry; 6) Nathalie Sarraute 1st edition

The point of interest in Sarraute's latest novel, You Don't Love Yourself, is not in the action or conversation, but rather in that underlying, unconscious, and somewhat secret dialogue we hold with ourselves. Refusing to assign names or identities to her characters, Sarraute presents the narrator and his/her conscience as one immense profusion of sentiments, sensations and impulses. The dialogue, full of hesitations, affirmations and disputes, presents tantalizing ambiguity as to who is speaking and to whom. With her usual imaginative zest, Sarraute describes the characteristic clumsy starts and thrusts that accompany our desperate efforts to make contact with others. In her endeavors to present human character as accurately as possible, Sarraute investigates the doubting, vacillating unconscious that is the root of all superficial actions and reactions. Her characters' murmuring voices echo our own thought processes and lead us to the inevitable self-examination that makes this book both eye-opening and unforgettable.