Comments on: Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

By: Emma

Emma — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:31:23 +0000

You’re welcome. I plan to go to the museum next month before the exhibit is closed. I’ve never gone there before. It will probably be very educational and as you say “eye-opening.”

By: Damon

Damon — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:25:38 +0000

Top post! I’ve been to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and it’s both interesting as well as informative. You could even say that it’s a real eye-opener!! I too would like to find out more about Irène Némirovsky’s life… thanks :-)

By: Emma

Emma — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:06:45 +0000

Well that book took place during WWII, more than 50 years ago. I’m not familiar with French history, past or modern, so I can’t tell if Western Society there places individual rights over a group. I think a caste like system still exists, but it’s eroded a great deal since then. I think since the French Revolution and then the subsequent World Wars, individual rights have started to take precedence more, despite there still existing a caste system. I still think they made some progress, but it hasn’t been completely eradicated.

In the United States we have a Capitalist class structure. Supposedly individual rights should take place over class groups, but we know from past history and current history that groups of people, like African-Americans and gays as groups fight for their rights.

I think in Western Society as the marginalized groups work harder and faster for their rights there will come a time that it will only be about individual rights instead of group rights. But as long as people are marginalized in Western Society, groupthink will be the norm.

By: Emma

Emma — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:57:19 +0000

Thank you for the information and insight. I live in NYC so I can go visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage. I would love to see and learn more about Irène Némirovsky’s life. I think this is a golden opportunity. I don’t belong to a book club. I was thinking of just taking the tour with a friend and myself. Do I still have to book an appointment? Or can I just peruse the museum with just a friend?

Thank you for all the links, especially the link to Irène Némirovsky’s life story. I will definitely check that out.

I’ll call that number you left to see if I can still visit the museum without a book club or group.

Thank you for this vital and exciting information. I will definitely go visit the museum this coming month.

By: Alex Fxtrader

Alex Fxtrader — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:46:00 +0000

The lovers in the second novel question whether the needs of the individual or the community should take priority. Lucille imagines that “in five, or ten, or twenty years” this problem will have been replaced by others. To what extent, if at all, has this proved the case? Has Western society conclusively decided to privilege the individual over the group?

By: Hannah

Hannah — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:59:50 +0000

I recently saw your post about reading Irène Némirovsky’s Suite Française. I wanted to pass along some information about an exciting exhibition closing August 30 about Némirovsky’s life, work, and legacy. I urge you to see Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage —A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. The exhibition includes powerful rare artifacts —including the valise in which the original manuscript for Suite Française was found, as well as many personal papers and family photos. The majority of these documents and artifacts have never been outside of France. For fans of her work, this exhibition is an opportunity to really “get to know” Irene. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about this beloved writer! And for those who can’t visit, there is a special website devoted to her story http://www.mjhnyc.org/irene.

Although we are in the lazy days of summer, book clubs and groups are invited to the Museum for tours and discussions in the exhibition’s adjacent Salon (by appointment). It is the Museum’s hope that the exhibit will engage visitors and promote dialogue about this extraordinary writer and the complex time in which she lived and died. To book a group tour, please contact Chris Lopez at 646.437.4304 or clopez@mjhnyc.org. Please visit our website at http://www.mjhnyc.org for up-to-date information about upcoming public programs or to join our e-bulletin list.

Thanks for sharing this info with your readers. If you need any more, please do not hesitate to contact me at hfurst@mjhnyc.org