Leïla slimani: 'i used to think every human being wanted to be free'


Leïla slimani: 'i used to think every human being wanted to be free'

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THE BOOK I AM CURRENTLY READING _The Piranhas_ by journalist Roberto Saviano. It is his first novel and it's very impressive. I admire Roberto a lot. I've been following his career


for years. THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE I can still remember when I read Leo Tolstoy's _Anna Karenina_ in my room in Rabat, where I grew up. I was completely overwhelmed. THE BOOK I


WISH I'D WRITTEN I couldn't stop reading_ Blonde_ by Joyce Carol Oates, based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. I've always been fascinated by Monroe, her melancholia, her


extreme beauty and how fragile she was. _Blonde_ is a terrific novel. THE BOOK THAT INFLUENCED MY WRITING Albert Camus's _L'Étranger_. The style is simple, direct and so luminous.


THE BOOK THAT IS MOST OVERRATED So many books are overrated these days. Readers seem to place a greater emphasis on sociological issues, on provocative topics rather than on style.


Reputation is a lot about marketing. THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY MIND I thought that every human being wanted to be free until I read _The Politics of Obedience_ (1576) by Étienne de La Boétie.


He showed me that people can prefer to live in servitude, will sacrifice their freedom for security or money. When you really want to be free, you must be able to sacrifice everything; a


lot of people can't. THE LAST BOOK THAT MADE ME CRY Lyudmila Ulitskaya's _Sonechka_. It is a very delicate and poetic novel about a woman who is crazy about books. Ulitskaya loves


this character and makes a heroine of a very ordinary woman. THE LAST BOOK THAT MADE ME LAUGH _The Only Story, _by_ _Julian Barnes. It is actually a very sad novel but even when he tells a


sad story Barnes has the power to make me laugh or smile. I love his British humour, his sensibility. THE BOOK I COULDN'T FINISH Robert Musil's _The Man Without Qualities_. I found


it so boring! But I will probably try again because everyone tells me that I have to persevere. THE BOOK I'M ASHAMED NOT TO HAVE READ None. There is no shame in literature. THE BOOK I


GIVE AS A GIFT Any of the books of Israeli author Zeruya Shalev, one of the most talented writers of our times. THE BOOK I'D MOST LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED FOR I haven't written it


yet. MY EARLIEST READING MEMORY _Les Malheurs de Sophie _(1858) by the Comtesse de Ségur. I was crazy about this book and about this little girl, who lies, steals and feels so lonely and


misunderstood. It is profound and not very politically correct. MY COMFORT READ Magazines and newspapers. I love reading the press.