February Book Club - Childhood

Eight of us gathered on Wednesday, Feb. 17, to discuss “Childhood” by Nathalie Sarraute. We all enjoyed this unusual memoir, which combines impressionistic memories with an innovative structure in which a second voice interrogates the author. We appreciated the evocative details that illuminate moments in her childhood; descriptions of the individuals and relationships that shaped her; a glimpse of a circle of Russian ex-pat intellectuals and revolutionaries; and Sarraute’s exploration of the power, and limitations, of language. And we admired the perceptive, resilient young Nathalie.