François Taillandier
Romancier, François Taillandier est notamment l’auteur d’Anielka (Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française) et de La Grande Intrigue, cycle romanesque en cinq volumes....
Ce n'est pas la pire des religions
Parution :
14/01/2009
Collection :
Essais - Documents
I don’t know how it came to me, or, rather, how it came to me again, but when I got to the age of fifty, it became obvious: I feel rather at home with Jesus, who loved the Samaritan woman, the centurion, the publican, the adulterous woman, the sick and the sinners. I feel comfortable in the company of the Virgin Mary, who is so tolerant, and who appears to me like a reliable person (it is possible she is also relying on me). I feel quite at home with the good old Church of Rome, whose history is so complex and fragmented.
These past few years, I started a friendship with Jean-Marc Bastière, who got into this a bit before me. We have discussed religion and faith, exchanged Emails on the topic. We ended up writing this book together. I am not a preacher. I just feel better ‘with’ than ‘without’.
François Taillandier
There is nothing worse than trying to defend Christianity. It is the kind of middlebrow endeavour that necessarily attracts contempt. But if you love, you need not justify yourself. If you are inhabited by passion, you cannot contain it within yourself. You have to look deep into things – body and mind and consciousness. The present dialogue may well shock the new bigots. Molière has not become passé, it is the expressions of conformity that have changed: it is not the body, or sexuality, but God himself who has become an object of shame. My trajectory is different from that of François, whose books I admire and experience I value. All paths lead to Rome, it is well known. I am suspicious of testimonies: life always brings last minute surprises. Since childhood, I have undergone a series of deaths and rebirths. Hence, there are two Frances in me: the secular and the catholic one. Yet it is one and the same love story.
Jean-Marc Bastière
A literary critic and a writer, Jean-Marc Bastière has published an essay , Réussir sa jeunesse, de l’âge des possibles à l’âge des choix (1999, Fayard) , as well as a novel, Les anges d’à côté (2004, Desclée de Brouwer) and an alphabet book, Dieu est insolent (2004, Mame Edifa). He belongs to a new generation of authors whose work combines freedom of speach and spiritual aspirations.
Following Anielka (awarded the Grand Prix du roman by the Académie française, Stock, 1999) and Le cas Gentile, François Taillandier is the author of a remarkable literary saga that covers 5 generations of contemporary France - a fascinating series which first three volumes have already been published: Option paradis, Telling, and Il n’y a personne dans les tombes.
These past few years, I started a friendship with Jean-Marc Bastière, who got into this a bit before me. We have discussed religion and faith, exchanged Emails on the topic. We ended up writing this book together. I am not a preacher. I just feel better ‘with’ than ‘without’.
François Taillandier
There is nothing worse than trying to defend Christianity. It is the kind of middlebrow endeavour that necessarily attracts contempt. But if you love, you need not justify yourself. If you are inhabited by passion, you cannot contain it within yourself. You have to look deep into things – body and mind and consciousness. The present dialogue may well shock the new bigots. Molière has not become passé, it is the expressions of conformity that have changed: it is not the body, or sexuality, but God himself who has become an object of shame. My trajectory is different from that of François, whose books I admire and experience I value. All paths lead to Rome, it is well known. I am suspicious of testimonies: life always brings last minute surprises. Since childhood, I have undergone a series of deaths and rebirths. Hence, there are two Frances in me: the secular and the catholic one. Yet it is one and the same love story.
Jean-Marc Bastière
A literary critic and a writer, Jean-Marc Bastière has published an essay , Réussir sa jeunesse, de l’âge des possibles à l’âge des choix (1999, Fayard) , as well as a novel, Les anges d’à côté (2004, Desclée de Brouwer) and an alphabet book, Dieu est insolent (2004, Mame Edifa). He belongs to a new generation of authors whose work combines freedom of speach and spiritual aspirations.
Following Anielka (awarded the Grand Prix du roman by the Académie française, Stock, 1999) and Le cas Gentile, François Taillandier is the author of a remarkable literary saga that covers 5 generations of contemporary France - a fascinating series which first three volumes have already been published: Option paradis, Telling, and Il n’y a personne dans les tombes.
"Je ne sais trop comment ça m’a pris, ou plutôt repris, aux alentours de la cinquantaine. Mais c’est devenu évident. Je me sens plutôt bien avec Jésus, dont le propos est quelquefois plus déroutant qu’on ne l’imagine ; mais il aimait la Samaritaine, le centurion, le publicain, la femme adultère, et les malades et les pécheurs. Je me sens plutôt bien avec la Vierge Marie, qui a les idées larges, et sur qui il me semble que je peux vaguement compter (peut-être aussi compte-t-elle un peu sur moi). Je me sens plutôt bien avec cette vieille Eglise de Rome, si compliquée, si historique, si couturée. C’est quand même ma maison. Ces dernières années, je me suis lié d’amitié avec Jean-Marc Bastière, qui avait senti tout cela un peu plus vite que moi. Nous avons souvent bavardé, puis échangé des courriels sur le sujet. Nous en avons fait ce livre à deux voix.
Je n’ai rien à prêcher à ceux qui sont loin ou qui sont ailleurs. Je me sens juste mieux avec, que sans". François Taillandier
"Il n’y a pas pire dessein que de vouloir défendre le christianisme. C’est un truc de tiède qui n’attire que le mépris. Celui qui aime n’a pas besoin de se justifier. Embrasé de passion, il ne peut retenir le trop-plein de son cœur. Celui-là va au fond des choses, celles du corps, du sentiment et de l’intelligence. Il est possible que, dans ce dialogue, nous choquions certains nouveaux dévots. Molière est toujours d’actualité, seuls les conformismes ont changé. Ce n’est plus : « Cachez-moi ce sein… », mais « Cachez-moi ce Dieu que je ne saurais voir… »
Mon itinéraire n’est pas celui de François, mon aîné dont j’apprécie tant les livres. Mais tous les chemins, on le sait, mènent à Rome. Certes, je me méfie des témoignages : la vie nous réserve toujours des surprises de dernière minute. Depuis mon enfance, j’ai vécu une suite de morts et de résurrections. Et en moi coexistent les deux France, la laïque et la catholique. Mais c’est toujours la même histoire d’amour." Jean-Marc Bastière
176 pages
Format :
135 x 215 mm
EAN :
9782234061538
Prix :
21.50 €
