"Vernon Subutex" - an opinion

""Vernon Subutex" - une opinion"
French B2 writing exercise

Carole tells us why she loves the first volume of Virginie Despentes's trilogy.

Learn more about Virginie Despentes here.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "autobiographical", "a manifesto", "a quill", "raw (style)", "empathy", "to paint a portrait (figuratively)", "uncompromising", "in turn", "to unravel (life)", "a cast of characters (book)", "[someone's] faults", "analysis", "to make [something] [something]".

I’ll give you some sentences to translate into French

  • I’ll show you where you make mistakes
  • I’ll keep track of what you need to practise
  • Change my choices if you want
Start the exercise

Here's a preview of the text for the writing challenge, when you're ready click the start button above:

The first book that I read by Despentes was "King Kong Theory", her autobiographical feminist manifesto which I adored. In "Vernon Subutex", I discovered a talented novelist, whose quill, both raw and full of empathy, paints the uncompromising portrait of a society which is in turn cruel, wonderful, pathetic, and simply...human. As her antihero's life unravels, we meet a diverse cast of characters whose faults and weaknesses feel almost too familiar. Although her novel takes place in 21st century Paris, there's a universality to Despentes's social analysis. All this makes "Vernon Subutex" an unforgettable literary experience.

Thinking...