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Article: Le Testament Francais.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 17, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE winter's literary phenomenon in France is Andrei Makine's "Le Testament Francais". A bolt from beyond the Urals, this novel by an almost unknown writer who came to France from Siberia eight years ago won both of the most prestigious French fiction prizes at the end of last year, the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Medicis. Although the Medicis was shared with "La Langue Maternelle" (a similar book by an exile from Greece), "doing the double" was until now unheard of.
Mr Makine has ruffled the smooth surface of French publishing in other ways. The big Paris houses expect to get the big literary prizes in rotation, much as the large French banks once each took their ...