Nus devant les fantômes: Franz Kafka et Milena Jesenska

by Alina Reyes

Janvier 1944 : l'ombre noire et glacée règne encore sur l'Europe. Sur tout le continent, les mille et une têtes de l'hydre nazie continuent de broyer des millions d'êtres. Dans l'enfer du camp de Ravensbrück, une femme, Milena Jesenska, se souvient. Elle se souvient de Prague, "la petite mère", de sa jeunesse débridée, de ses enthousiasmes littéraires, des discussions enfiévrées dans les cafés enfumés, de ses engagements politiques. Mais surtout, elle se souvient de lui, Franz Kafka. Le génie littéraire dont elle a traduit l'oeuvre en tchèque. Le séducteur en proie à une peur panique face à la chair de la femme aimée. Le juif écrivain de langue allemande. Le visionnaire d'un monde où les individus sont condamnés pour des crimes qu'ils n'ont pas commis.
Cette passion épistolaire - dépourvue d'amour physique - entre Franz et Milena ressuscite un univers disparu. A travers cet amour malheureux se lisent les aspirations et les contradictions de la Bohème gouvernée par l'orgueilleux empire des Habsbourg, les sanglantes cicatrices causées par la Première Guerre mondiale, les formidables espoirs de l'entre-deux guerres. Chronique d'un amour impossible, c'est aussi la peinture d'un monde condamné.

Alina Reyes est romancière. Elle a notamment publié Le boucher, Quand tu aimes, il faut partir, derrière la porte.

193 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2000

About the author

Alina Reyes is the pen-name of Aline Patricia Nardone, a French writer best known for her literary treatment of eroticism.

Reviews

[Jay David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nus devant les fantômes (Naked Before the Spirits) is the only book by Reyes I have read, and I liked it a lot. It is a monologue "conversation" between Milena Jesenká and Franz Kafka, about their 1920 relationship. The story takes place at Ravensbrück death camp shortly before Jesenká's death in 1945. I generally do not read historical fiction, however, it is an interesting exploration of a writer who was a German-speaking secular Jew, but who was technically a Czech (Kafka spoke neither Czech nor Yiddish) and his first translator, after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it reminds me a lot of how the "nations" created by the English and French after WWI (e.g., Iraq) continue to fall apart, driving war even today. I love Kafka and I loved learning more about Jesenká.

I do not know what else I might read by Reyes. I went through my Anaïs Nin stage many years ago. I am currently reading Elif Shafak, who weaves a lot of Asia Minor into her novels, which are mostly set in Turkey. But I will investigate Reyes' other works.

[Vassiliki A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book is using Kafka almost as "clickbait". No matter how well researched it might be (I wouldn't know) I'm not really a fan of how it's written. It is supposed to be narrated by Milena but it's dramatised so the personality that shines through what is written is not really the personality of the woman Kafka loved. The dramatisation makes me suspicious of every piece of information I found inside and the reason I picked this book up in the first place was to learn a bit more about Kafka's life. All in all, it isn't a poorly written book, and if it were to be about fictional people I might have enjoyed it a lot more than I did.

[Vicky K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

First meeting with Franz Kafka for me...it gave me the best impression for him. A lot of quotes and examples of a great love.