Lea by Pascal Mercier

Sep 21, 2017 Robert Wechsler marked it as tasted · review of another edition

Shelves: othereuro-lit

I found the storyteller (as opposed to the narrator) and his voice completely unbearable. For a long while, I gave Mercier the benefit of the doubt (based on his first two novels), assuming that he had a reason for the storyteller to be so insufferable, but at 70 pages in, and some flipping ahead, I threw in the literary towel. This one simply wasn't for me. ...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Matt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, read-more-than-once

After her mother's death, the eight-year-old Lea falls into lethargy from which she wakes up when she listens to a violinist. The girl is fascinated and her father is relieved. She begins to learn how to play the violin to become a celebrated solo violinist later. The story of Lea and her father from his point of view is the focal point of this novella. However the narrator is a random traveling acquaintance of Lea's father, to whom the father pours out his heart.

There are two things that have t ...more

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Apr 03, 2018 Nell Beaudry rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, jpl, in-translation, adult, tragedy

Lea is Pascal Mercier's latest novel, a meditation on loss, intimacy, passion, family ties, and ambition. The story begins with Martijn Van Vliet encountering a recently retired surgeon whose own family ties are tenuous. He is divorced, he and his daughter have a cordial but not close relationship, and he has been feeling unmoored of late. In Martijn, the untethered surgeon discovers a sort of kindred spirit - Martijn is a widower, and he speaks of his daughter, his only child, in the past tense ...more

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Sep 20, 2017 Theresa Smith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Lea, by Pascal Mercier, was first published in German in 2007, but has since been translated into English and re-released this year. I have read quite a few translated novels, and I’d like to acknowledge from the outset that Shaun Whiteside, the translator, has done an excellent job with this one. There are some lines of dialogue that have been left in French, but French is a language that does not translate well. There are even phrases in the French language that have no English equivalent, so Lea, by Pascal Mercier, was first published in German in 2007, but has since been translated into English and re-released this year. I have read quite a few translated novels, and I’d like to acknowledge from the outset that Shaun Whiteside, the translator, has done an excellent job with this one. There are some lines of dialogue that have been left in French, but French is a language that does not translate well. There are even phrases in the French language that have no English equivalent, so I will forgive him this transgression, even though I would have dearly loved to know what the characters were saying in these instances. This aside, he has retained the emotion prevalent throughout the novel, and I was not conscious while reading that this was a translation. I have read others in the past that have not been done quite so seamlessly – mostly French novels. I thought it important to point this out lest readers get turned off by the fact this novel was not originally written in English.

Lea reminded me so much of that movie starring Natalie Portman: Black Swan. I don't mean in any way to infer that this was a copy, far from it. Rather, it was that obsessive ambition, the crack in a person's sanity, where everything is gone except for the creative passion and compulsion to not only succeed, but have everyone else below you fail. This entire novel was a close study of ambition: the ambition of a gifted child set against the ambition of a parent who has devoted their entire life to ensuring their child achieves their dream. The ambition that drove Lea mad: to be the best violinist in the world, also drove her father to his destruction; a tragic domestic apocalypse that is deconstructed with the benefit of hindsight.

Pascal Mercier wrote Lea in quite a unique way. The entire story unfolds as a conversation over several days between two strangers. Adrian, a surgeon who has taken an early retirement, meets Martijn van Vliet, Lea's father, in a cafe in Provence. The two speak briefly and discover they are both travelling back to Bern in Switzerland, so Martijn offers Adrian a lift to save him the expense of his hire car. It's hard to imagine unravelling in front of a complete stranger and divulging your deepest secrets, despair and all, yet Pascal gives just enough background on both of these men to show you the plausibility of it. Then there’s also that notion of being in the company of strangers, where at times, we can feel more open on account of the lack of personal attachment. We can speak freely without fear of disappointing the listener because we don't know the listener, may never meet them again. A face to face confessional with an empathetic stranger. So, while I initially wondered at this aspect of the story, before too long, I was convinced and began to marvel at Pascal’s ability to have foreseen that this was the very best way to tell a story as intense and tragic as what Lea is. As the story progresses, we see the reasons why these two men were drawn to each other in that precise moment of time.

Lea is an intense novel, a tragedy unfolding with very few instances of happiness within its pages. Yet it's a truly beautiful novel, deeply philosophical with exquisite prose. The benefit of hindsight has never been demonstrated more perfectly than in this novel.

“Do you know that one too: the imagination wandering off at the crucial moment and going its own uncontrollable ways, which reveal that you are still quite a different person from the one you thought you were? Precisely then, when anything can happen in the soul except that one thing: betrayal by one's own wayward imagination?”

As Martijn examines his own actions through the retelling of his story to Adrian, we are gifted with an incredible insight into the mind of a father trying desperately to save his daughter from herself.

“I sense that my dignity was in danger.”

Pascal Mercier is a professor of philosophy and this comes across in waves throughout the novel. It's slow moving, a tense build towards inevitable tragedy, but along the way, his words are woven together so beautifully.

“The experience of inner seamlessness – it is down to the mercurial fluidity of change and virtuosity with which we immediately retouch all the cracks until they can't be seen. And that virtuosity is all the greater in that it knows nothing of itself.”

Lea is a novel to savour and dwell on. It's perfect for lovers of poetic philosophical introspection, not so much for those who like clear dialogue and brisk action. It's thought provoking and intensely atmospheric. From the moment Lea, at age 8, picked up her first violin, the music saturated the narrative, and as the story progressed and the tension mounted, I imagined I could hear her playing as I read. I’m rather partial to novels without happy endings, so Lea suited me just fine. While the ‘mad creative’ storyline is nothing new, I feel that Pascal Mercier has offered us a unique take on it, and I appreciated this novel and its intent.

Thanks is extended to Allen and Unwin for providing me with a copy of Lea for the purposes of review. ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Lachlan rated it it was amazing

Many themes in this book fascinated me personally: the father-daughter relationship, the violin and its music, and the reflections of men in their fifties. The novel tells of a three-day journey by two professionals, driving from the south of France to Bern (where the author, now a professor of philosophy in Berlin, was born). They converse in elegant, refined prose, dotted with foreign words and expressions from their international lives. But what one of them has to tell is a story of how his d ...more

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Oct 17, 2018 Sabrina M rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Very thoughtful book from frist to last page. Especially the inner feelings and changes of relationship are described in a very clear and honest way. Moreover I like the author´s talent of building a slow but more and more intense spiral of disaster that grows with every new page.
One star missing because I´m personally not a fan of fast, sneaking changes of the narrative perspective.

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Dec 19, 2018 Judith rated it did not like it

This girl is really young when her mother dies and she becomes withdrawn and sickly until she is suddenly revitalized by the sound of someone playing a violin in a subway station. Her father buys her a violin and gets her lessons and she becomes obsessed with perfecting the instrument. She becomes a violin prodigy and plays concerts to great acclaim. Then her father does something that pushes her over the delicate edge of sanity. Unfortunately I couldn't stick with the book long enough to find o ...more

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Aug 13, 2015 Irma rated it liked it

Shelves: own-read, lang-de

This is a pretty depressing book and not (just) because depressing things happen in it. It's ultimately about a father and a daughter, and about how far parents are willing to go to make their children happy. It's quite frightening really - one day you're living your life and enjoying the fruits of your labour and the next you're handed this tiny human being who's supposed to be your new everything. And somehow, a lot of people pull it off. This is, ultimately, a tragic story but it's also touch ...more

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Mar 02, 2011 The Anxious Bookaholic rated it really liked it

Recommended to The Anxious Bookaholic by: My Grandpa

Shelves: 2011-read-list, all-time-classics, a-bit-disturbing, first-time-i-read-this-author, totally-love-it

Lea is one of those rare books so beautifully written that simply takes your breath away. It was kind of difficult for me to read it, because though the writing was so enchanting and emotional at some point the emotions are too much, the situations and actions too complicated.
Lea is both romantic and realistic, a bittersweet story about the self- destroying father's love for his daughter.
Definitely a more-than-one-read book. Glad I bought it. ...more

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Feb 09, 2015 Hande rated it really liked it

Since Nachtzug nach Lissabon is one of my favourite novels, i was so curious about the others written by Mercier. Lea is not a masterpiece, yet it's really good. It's all about passion. The destructive love of a father.

And Liliane, the one i loved most: "Poetry, is a strictly solitary affair, soliptist even." ...more

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Jan 21, 2008 Isa Mueller-wegner rated it really liked it

Page turner - very good read without being shallow

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Sep 20, 2017 Theresa Smith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Lea, by Pascal Mercier, was first published in German in 2007, but has since been translated into English and re-released this year. I have read quite a few translated novels, and I’d like to acknowledge from the outset that Shaun Whiteside, the translator, has done an excellent job with this one. There are some lines of dialogue that have been left in French, but French is a language that does not translate well. There are even phrases in the French language that have no English equivalent, so Lea, by Pascal Mercier, was first published in German in 2007, but has since been translated into English and re-released this year. I have read quite a few translated novels, and I’d like to acknowledge from the outset that Shaun Whiteside, the translator, has done an excellent job with this one. There are some lines of dialogue that have been left in French, but French is a language that does not translate well. There are even phrases in the French language that have no English equivalent, so I will forgive him this transgression, even though I would have dearly loved to know what the characters were saying in these instances. This aside, he has retained the emotion prevalent throughout the novel, and I was not conscious while reading that this was a translation. I have read others in the past that have not been done quite so seamlessly – mostly French novels. I thought it important to point this out lest readers get turned off by the fact this novel was not originally written in English.

Lea reminded me so much of that movie starring Natalie Portman: Black Swan. I don't mean in any way to infer that this was a copy, far from it. Rather, it was that obsessive ambition, the crack in a person's sanity, where everything is gone except for the creative passion and compulsion to not only succeed, but have everyone else below you fail. This entire novel was a close study of ambition: the ambition of a gifted child set against the ambition of a parent who has devoted their entire life to ensuring their child achieves their dream. The ambition that drove Lea mad: to be the best violinist in the world, also drove her father to his destruction; a tragic domestic apocalypse that is deconstructed with the benefit of hindsight.

Pascal Mercier wrote Lea in quite a unique way. The entire story unfolds as a conversation over several days between two strangers. Adrian, a surgeon who has taken an early retirement, meets Martijn van Vliet, Lea's father, in a cafe in Provence. The two speak briefly and discover they are both travelling back to Bern in Switzerland, so Martijn offers Adrian a lift to save him the expense of his hire car. It's hard to imagine unravelling in front of a complete stranger and divulging your deepest secrets, despair and all, yet Pascal gives just enough background on both of these men to show you the plausibility of it. Then there’s also that notion of being in the company of strangers, where at times, we can feel more open on account of the lack of personal attachment. We can speak freely without fear of disappointing the listener because we don't know the listener, may never meet them again. A face to face confessional with an empathetic stranger. So, while I initially wondered at this aspect of the story, before too long, I was convinced and began to marvel at Pascal’s ability to have foreseen that this was the very best way to tell a story as intense and tragic as what Lea is. As the story progresses, we see the reasons why these two men were drawn to each other in that precise moment of time.

Lea is an intense novel, a tragedy unfolding with very few instances of happiness within its pages. Yet it's a truly beautiful novel, deeply philosophical with exquisite prose. The benefit of hindsight has never been demonstrated more perfectly than in this novel.

“Do you know that one too: the imagination wandering off at the crucial moment and going its own uncontrollable ways, which reveal that you are still quite a different person from the one you thought you were? Precisely then, when anything can happen in the soul except that one thing: betrayal by one's own wayward imagination?”

As Martijn examines his own actions through the retelling of his story to Adrian, we are gifted with an incredible insight into the mind of a father trying desperately to save his daughter from herself.

“I sense that my dignity was in danger.”

Pascal Mercier is a professor of philosophy and this comes across in waves throughout the novel. It's slow moving, a tense build towards inevitable tragedy, but along the way, his words are woven together so beautifully.

“The experience of inner seamlessness – it is down to the mercurial fluidity of change and virtuosity with which we immediately retouch all the cracks until they can't be seen. And that virtuosity is all the greater in that it knows nothing of itself.”

Lea is a novel to savour and dwell on. It's perfect for lovers of poetic philosophical introspection, not so much for those who like clear dialogue and brisk action. It's thought provoking and intensely atmospheric. From the moment Lea, at age 8, picked up her first violin, the music saturated the narrative, and as the story progressed and the tension mounted, I imagined I could hear her playing as I read. I’m rather partial to novels without happy endings, so Lea suited me just fine. While the ‘mad creative’ storyline is nothing new, I feel that Pascal Mercier has offered us a unique take on it, and I appreciated this novel and its intent.

Thanks is extended to Allen and Unwin for providing me with a copy of Lea for the purposes of review. ...more

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Dec 08, 2018 Rita rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: europe, leeskring, dutch-language, over-50-characters, set-in-other-countries, translated

c 2007 [German]
Read in Dutch for leeskring 2018

I wasn't thrilled when I saw we were going to read another book by Mercier, as I remembered not much enjoying reading his Night Train to Lisbon several years ago.

In the meantime, we also read two of that Hungarian writer's novels, Sandor Marai, Gloed and De erfenis van Eszter, and I would now say that to me these two authors write the same kind of books -- a man experiencing very intense emotions, though usually not able to express them and not know ...more

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Dec 15, 2020 Kathy Adams rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read this as a talking book, thanks to Borrow Box from my library. This service has led me to expand my reading greatly, with new authors and many different styles.

I’d describe the book’s main theme as a Faustian Pact. The main character, who is described by the narrator, acquires an incredibly rare, old and valuable violin for his supremely talented, but disturbed daughter. He goes through dangerous and daring means to try to create happiness for her, but the scheme unravels, as these things ...more

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Dec 29, 2017 Bookfetish rated it liked it

I bought this book, because I started reading it in a bookshop and thought the writing was beautiful, almost poetic and the message seemed quite deep, profound and philosophical - definitely something different, that appeared to be thought provoking. The pace of the book was very slow and is essentially a novel about a young girl who becomes “closed off” after the passing of her mother. She then has a re-awakening of sorts when she becomes passionately interested in learning to play the violin. ...more

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Sep 03, 2017 Brenda rated it it was ok

Shelves: owned-paper, international-purchase

I picked this book up while travelling in Europe - the premise as written on the cover looked great and I enjoy picking up books I don't see in the US.

The author's (or translator's) use of language is very descriptive and poetic, but the pace of this book is very slow and it's 300 pages of unrelenting angst.

The ending is tragic for one of the main characters and open-ended for the other. I never did understand why Paul had done what he did.

It was OK, I was able to finish it, but certainly not w ...more

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Jan 06, 2018 Gail M rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: gave-up-on

When I was a young violinist I really admired the kids who actually like to practice; they were so lucky to enjoy something so onerous (at the time, not now at all), so I was interested in this book about a young woman unearthing herself from grief through music.

Unfortunately, the narrator telling the story is like being stuck at a table with a raconteur and no more wine available. I gave it two stars because I can't figure out how to check "Gave up on" (which I did) and still write a review. ...more

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Jul 31, 2017 Anne Goodwin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: translations, independent-press-big

When Lea van Vliet is admitted to a psychiatric hospital, her psychiatrist warns her father to stay away, implying their relationship is at the root of her problems. But, to his mind, Martijn van Vliet has been a devoted father. Although he did not want the responsibility of raising a child, since his wife died, he sacrificed his own career as a research scientist to support Lea’s passion for the violin. But what does her love of music and performing really represent, and what pain is it masking ...more

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Jan 18, 2018 Phil rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another Book That Stays with You Long after

While I do read German, I lack the depth to be able to "feel" it as a native. So I have to wait for the translation.
This is the third novel by Mercier that I have read. And each is one that has left me pondering.
I see that he has a fourth novel, Der Klavierstimmer. I hope I do not have wait long to read it. ...more

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Apr 28, 2018 Christopher Condit rated it really liked it

Attitudinally similar to Proust, dealing deep with memory. Different in style though, without all the weight and forms of endlessness. Unfortunately coy, hiding key plot points to keep read in the dark. Violin prodigy loses it, with famous old violins and family drama/tragedy. Champagne problems, basically.

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Dec 14, 2018 Nigel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The atmosphere is melancholy and unworldly but it begins to drag after a while. This a doom-laden tale where tragedy seems inevitable. Unfortunately this sorry tale seems to was over you without leaving any lasting impression. It promises much but fails to deliver.

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Oct 26, 2017 Marcus rated it liked it

A stage-door parent's journey into the finer realms of exceptionality vs. insanity. Good read! ...more

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Apr 15, 2018 Dana rated it liked it

Tragic novel of genius, madness, family....at times it was ugly , but there was truth

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May 28, 2018 Maaike rated it really liked it

Four stars, but only because the standards were high after the Nighttrain to Lisbon.

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Jul 07, 2019 DAAn rated it did not like it

Very sad and depressing

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Sep 12, 2020 Adelei Van Der Velden rated it it was amazing

One of the most compelling novels on what can go wrong in growing up when communication between parent and child fails in face of life's biggest tragedy in a child's life. ...more

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Sep 27, 2020 Willy Van rated it really liked it

No

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Aug 13, 2019 Mr. Andy MS rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

What did trigger girl's madness – mother's death, scene of violin's play at underground station, father's unconditional love? Or she was born like that?
I could not find any answers in this book; probably they are just not there or perhaps not for me.
But I liked descriptive language so much as not to pay much attention to some banalities in the narrative.

Is depression triggered by something or is it there – just because.

Looking forward to read something else from the author as I have feeling he c ...more

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Aug 18, 2017 Sarah Bowe rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: goodreads-giveaway-wins

I tried. I got 100 pages in and it just wasn't interesting to me

*Edit* I finished it, but I thought it was boring ...more

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Aug 06, 2009 Patrick rated it really liked it

Shelves: auf-deutsch

A bittersweet exploration of the challenges of being a father to a daughter, of being a friend to another troubled man, and of losing one's youthful confidence. At times, it feels like watching a train-wreck, and I was occasionally frustrated with the fecklessness of the main character. Nevertheless, the themes are common to many fathers as they watch they daughters grow up and go through the (necessary) process of distancing themselves. The narrator plays a crucial and intriguing role to modera ...more

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Messenger Bags	1	2	Dec 14, 2017 05:32AM
Goodreads Librari...: German "book number" vs. ISBN	9	37	Aug 18, 2015 01:30AM
Latvija: Ārzemju marts 2015: LEA	1	47	Mar 01, 2015 10:58AM

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