Jean Patrick Modiano was born in Boulogne-Billancourt
, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris
on July 30, 1945. His father, Albert Modiano (1912–77, born in Paris), was of Italian origin on his paternal side he was descended from a Sephardic
family of Thessaloniki
, Greece. His mother, Louisa Colpeyn
(1918-2015), was a Belgian
(Flemish
) actress. Modiano’s parents met in occupied Paris
during World War II and began their relationship semi-clandestinely
(they separated shortly after Patrick’s birth)
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| Patrick Montiano |
He was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature “for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the Occupation“. He heard the news via a mobile phone call from his daughter while walking through Paris, “just next to the Jardin du Luxembourg” where he lives.The Nobel was unexpected, even to those in the Anglo-American world most familiar with his work. The puzzlement is likely related to limited knowledge of Modiano in the English-speaking world; despite his prolific output, fewer than a dozen of his works had been translated into English, and several of those were out of print before the Academy’s announcement. The award-winning Missing Person had sold just 2,425 copies in the US prior to the Nobel. Even Peter Englund, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, noted that many people outside France would likely be unfamiliar with Modiano and his work. “He is well-known in France, but not anywhere else,” he said in a post-announcement interview.
Yale University Press quickly published three of his novels in English. (From Wikipedia) Two books i am reading right now are full of memories of childhood and with the same mood. (Based on Wikipedia)
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| La Petite Bijou(2001) De si braves garcons(1982) |
