David Foenkinos - Charlotte

A poignant immersion into the life and work of Charlotte Salomon, the artist who haunted David Foenkinos for nearly a decade. David Foenkinos presents his book "Charlotte," published by Gallimard. Winner of the 2014 Prix Renaudot and Prix Goncourt des Lycéens. http://www.mollat.com/livres/foenkino... David Foenkinos offers a vibrant account of the artistic encounter that transformed his life as a writer. For eight years, David Foenkinos has been captivated by Charlotte Salomon, a German painter whose work he discovered by chance. This new novel, titled "Charlotte," retraces the tragic life of this young woman who died at Auschwitz in 1943, at only 26 years old, while pregnant. David Foenkinos explains that he felt an immediate connection to her work, a monumental piece composed of 1,300 gouaches entitled "Life? or Theater?". The narrative is the fruit of a long quest. David Foenkinos made numerous trips to Germany and France to find physical traces of Charlotte Salomon. He explores the traumas of her childhood, marked by family bereavements, but also her adolescent passions and her gradual exclusion from German society. Exiled in the south of France, Charlotte Salomon created with urgency to ward off the surrounding morbidity, leaving behind a legacy of dazzling beauty and imagination. The book's structure is particularly original: David Foenkinos chose to write only one sentence per line. This poetic and airy form fulfills a physical need for David Foenkinos: to be able to breathe between the words, so heavy is the subject matter. By choosing to title his work "Charlotte," David Foenkinos transcends biographical distance to establish a visceral and intimate connection with Charlotte Salomon, making this text a sensitive encounter that transcends history. 00:00 Introduction in the Gallimard Gardens 00:25 The Fascination with Charlotte Salomon 00:50 A Life Cut Short in 1943 01:20 "Life? or Theater?", the Monumental Work 01:50 Eight Years of Research and Quest 02:20 Reconstructing Her Journey in Germany 02:45 Exile and Creation in the South 03:15 A Singular Literary Form 03:45 Writing Line by Line to Breathe Music: “Charlotte” (by Nest). Free Music Archive.