The Art of Losing (book)

The Art of Losing (original French title: L'Art de perdre) is a 2017 novel by Alice Zeniter, translated from French to English by Frank Wynne, which won the International Dublin Literary Award in 2022.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The novel demystifies the Algerian War.^[6] It is Zeniter's fifth book and the second translated in English. The Art of Losing is also the recipient of the 2017 Prix Goncourt des Lycéens,^[7][8] Porte Dorée Literary Prize^[9] and Le Monde’s Literary Prize.^[10][11]

Reception

Grace Byron in The Observer called it "...a book that requires rapt attention. It is a novel that scales the walls of history and excavates lessons with curiosity and anger... The Art of Losing is a visceral book. It does not shy away from writing history in shades of gray, nor does it glamorize those who fought for Algerian independence. "^[12]

Angelique Chrisafis in The Guardian wrote "The book reflects the current thirst in French storytelling for writers of mixed heritage to address parts of history and society that have been left untold."^[13]

Liesl Schillinger wrote in The Washington Street Journal that "Zeniter’s extraordinary achievement is to transform a complicated conflict into a compelling family chronicle, rich in visual detail and lustrous in language. Her storytelling, splendidly translated by Frank Wynne, carries the reader through different generations, cities, cultures, and mindsets without breaking its spell…"^[14]

Boyd Tonkin in The Spectator said the novel "show[s] how tough a task awaits any reconciler of the past’s mangled accounts. Not only, as Alice Zeniter’s heroine Naïma reflects in The Art of Losing, has each community ‘reached an agreement on the version of history that suited them', but internal rifts fragment them."^[15]

References

1. "The Art of Losing". International Dublin Literary Award. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
2. "The Art of Losing wins €100,000 Dublin Literary Award". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
3. Schillinger, Liesl (19 March 2021). "'The Art of Losing' Review: Past Imperfect". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
4. Mills, David. "The Sunday Times pick of the best translated fiction for February 2021". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
5. Art of Losing, by By Alice Zeniter. | Booklist Online.
6. Schillinger, Liesl (19 March 2021). "'The Art of Losing' Review: Past Imperfect". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
7. "Alice Zeniter décroche le Prix Goncourt des lycéens 2017 avec «L'art de perdre»". RFI (in French). 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
8. "Ouf, une femme a remporté un prix littéraire cette année. C'était pas gagné". Le HuffPost (in French). 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
9. "Alice Zeniter lauréate du Prix littéraire de la Porte Dorée 2010". Palais de la Porte Dorée (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-21.
10. "History Lessons: Alice Zeniter's 'The Art of Losing'". Observer. 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
11. "Alice Zeniter: Writing the Silence of a History Without Heroes". France-Amérique. 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
12. "History Lessons: Alice Zeniter's 'The Art of Losing'". Observer. 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
13. Chrisafis, Angelique (2019-11-23). "'There is a thirst for writers of mixed heritage': what is France reading?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
14. Schillinger, Liesl. "'The Art of Losing' Review: Past Imperfect". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
15. Tonkin, Boyd (2021-02-25). "Algeria's War of Independence still leaves festering wounds, two new novels reveal". The Spectator. Retrieved 2024-02-28.