Overview

""In the sentence 'She's no longer suffering, ' to what, to whom does 'she' refer? What does that present tense mean?"" --Roland Barthes, from his diary The day after his mother's death in October 1977, Roland Barthes began a diary of mourning. For nearly two years, the legendary French theorist wrote about a solitude new to him; about the ebb and flow of sadness; about the slow pace of mourning, and life reclaimed through writing. Named a Top 10 Book of 2010 by The New York Times and one of the Best Books of 2010 by Slate and The Times Literary Supplement, Mourning Diary is a major discovery in Roland Barthes's work: a skeleton key to the themes he tackled throughout his life, as well as a unique study of grief--intimate, deeply moving, and universal.

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9780374533113

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Reviews

A belated and unexpected gift. -- The London Review of Books <br><br> A writer whose books of criticism and personal musings must be admired as serious and beautiful works of the imagination. --EDMUND WHITE <br><br> Though Barthes left behind disciples, there can be no replacing him; his brilliance has a wavelength all its own. --JOHN UPDIKE This is pure Barthes: to write the very words that show how and why words have failed him. --Thomas Larson, Contrary Magazine

A revelation to readers of the great Barthes. --Judith Thurman, The New Yorker podcast This book's unvarnished quality is the source of its wrecking cumulative power. Barthes's ironic intellect is here wrapped around his nakedly beating heart. --Dwight Garner, The New York Times Precise and touching memories intersect with spare and at times desperate notes on time, death and grief, written despite 'the fear of making literature out of it.' --Julian Barnes, The Times Literary Supplement A collection of aphorisms, sadnesses, self-analysis: a journal of savage intimacy. --Adam Thirlwell, The New Republic A beautiful, lapidary portrait of mourning. --Meghan O'Rourke, Slate

-A revelation to readers of the great Barthes.- --Judith Thurman, The New Yorker podcast-This book's unvarnished quality is the source of its wrecking cumulative power. Barthes's ironic intellect is here wrapped around his nakedly beating heart.- --Dwight Garner, The New York Times-Precise and touching memories intersect with spare and at times desperate notes on time, death and grief, written despite 'the fear of making literature out of it.'- --Julian Barnes, The Times Literary Supplement-A collection of aphorisms, sadnesses, self-analysis: a journal of savage intimacy.- --Adam Thirlwell, The New Republic-A beautiful, lapidary portrait of mourning.- --Meghan O'Rourke, Slate A revelation to readers of the great Barthes. --Judith Thurman, The New Yorker podcast This book's unvarnished quality is the source of its wrecking cumulative power. Barthes's ironic intellect is here wrapped around his nakedly beating heart. --Dwight Garner, The New York Times Precise and touching memories intersect with spare and at times desperate notes on time, death and grief, written despite 'the fear of making literature out of it.' --Julian Barnes, The Times Literary Supplement A collection of aphorisms, sadnesses, self-analysis: a journal of savage intimacy. --Adam Thirlwell, The New Republic A beautiful, lapidary portrait of mourning. --Meghan O'Rourke, Slate A revelation to readers of the great Barthes. Judith Thurman, The New Yorker podcast This book's unvarnished quality is the source of its wrecking cumulative power. Barthes's ironic intellect is here wrapped around his nakedly beating heart. Dwight Garner, The New York Times Precise and touching memories intersect with spare and at times desperate notes on time, death and grief, written despite the fear of making literature out of it.' Julian Barnes, The Times Literary Supplement A collection of aphorisms, sadnesses, self-analysis: a journal of savage intimacy. Adam Thirlwell, The New Republic A beautiful, lapidary portrait of mourning. Meghan O'Rourke, Slate A revelation to readers of the great Barthes. Judith Thurman, The New Yorker podcast This book's unvarnished quality is the source of its wrecking cumulative power. Barthes's ironic intellect is here wrapped around his nakedly beating heart. Dwight Garner, The New York Times Precise and touching memories intersect with spare and at times desperate notes on time, death and grief, written despite the fear of making literature out of it.' Julian Barnes, The Times Literary Supplement A collection of aphorisms, sadnesses, self-analysis: a journal of savage intimacy. Adam Thirlwell, The New Republic A beautiful, lapidary portrait of mourning. Meghan O'Rourke, Slate A revelation to readers of the great Barthes. --Judith Thurman, The New Yorker podcast This book's unvarnished quality is the source of its wrecking cumulative power. Barthes's ironic intellect is here wrapped around his nakedly beating heart. --Dwight Garner, The New York Times Precise and touching memories intersect with spare and at times desperate notes on time, death and grief, written despite 'the fear of making literature out of it.' --Julian Barnes, The Times Literary Supplement A collection of aphorisms, sadnesses, self-analysis: a journal of savage intimacy. --Adam Thirlwell, The New Republic A beautiful, lapidary portrait of mourning. --Meghan O'Rourke, Slate A belated and unexpected gift. -- The London Review of Books A writer whose books of criticism and personal musings must be admired as serious and beautiful works of the imagination. --EDMUND WHITE Though Barthes left behind disciples, there can be no replacing him; his brilliance has a wavelength all its own. --JOHN UPDIKE This is pure Barthes: to write the very words that show how and why words have failed him. --Thomas Larson, Contrary Magazine

Author Information

Roland Barthes was born in 1915. A French literary theorist, philosopher, and critic, he influenced the development of various schools of theory, including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, and post-structuralism. He died in 1980.

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