In the shade of the pine trees, where coolness prevailed, books were kings. From pocketbooks to hardcovers, from comics to history books, whether freshly printed or fifty years old, the words on the pages coexisted seamlessly with their differences during these three days. And what about the authors! With a pen in hand, a smile on their lips, and a “hop,” they personalized, in their most beautiful handwriting, the books that became yours, remaining forever unique. “For Marie, a novel about a fairy becoming magical again. Best wishes,” original and romantic for Didier Van Cauwelaert. “For Nice-Première, good luck in this profession,” encouragement and rigor for Patrick Poivre d’Arvor.
Some spread their lives, others invent one or many. Some philosophize, others inform. They all have a world and a story to share with us, a bit of escape into a universe that is not ours does no harm.
Let’s travel, lovers of literature! “Literature?” interrupts Gisèle, a passerby, “You call that literature, these ‘celebrities’ straight from a trashy reality TV show publishing their books? They don’t even have their high school diploma. Barely can they string three words together without making a spelling mistake, and now they are publishing books. It’s nonsense! They make easy money, those people. The worst part is that the public buys them. Next year, I’m publishing my book,” she says, laughing. Yes, it’s true. Two people who participated in a reality TV show were present: there’s something for everyone, you might say!
During this festival, writers, novelists, philosophers, historians, actors, journalists, storytellers, hosts, cartoonists, and celebrities met their audience, who left with bags filled with books to accompany their vacations.
But what could we read for the summer? Nice-Première went out to gather opinions to help you in your quest.
Didier Van Cauwelaert: “I would say two. One from my neighbor, Isabelle Alexis ‘First Evening,’ it’s great and Françoise Dorner ‘The Deadly Sweetness,’ it’s beautiful. And also, the books of Boris Cyrulnik which I really like.”
Mylène Demongeot: “I don’t know if your readers like entertaining things or serious things. I just bought the last book from Jean-Claude Carrière because I really like him. I’m going to read it. Or otherwise, I would recommend mine (laughs).”
Guillaume Musso: “A very beautiful book ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Haddon, it’s a bestseller worldwide. It’s a book that tells a detective story through the eyes of a 15-year-old boy with autism who is investigating who killed his dog. It’s a slightly offbeat view of the world. Or otherwise, in the so-called romantic literature, ‘Belle du Seigneur’ by Albert Cohen, which tells the anatomy of a passion. At the beginning the meeting, the love story, the love that drives you mad then the descent of this passion, the couple explodes. A very, very beautiful love story, but also very sad.”
