“The Lover” Turns 30

A young Duras on the cover of The Lover.

Marguerite Duras wrote The Lover, a short novel about a woman in flux, thirty years ago. It was her 48th work and caused a sensation when Duras claimed that the novel was entirely autobiographical. Since then it has received both praise and criticism. This is what Duras had to say about the novel:

“The Lover is a load of shit,” she told director Jean-Jacques Annaud when the two were collaborating on the film adaptation. “It’s an airport novel. I wrote it when I was drunk.”

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