SOURCE: Meyer, E. Nicole. Review of La vie extérieure: 1993-1999, by Annie Ernaux. World Literature Today 76, no. 1 (winter 2002): 179.

In the following review of La vie extérieure: 1993-1999, Meyer contends that “Ernaux's talent lies in her distinctive style, characterized by its simplicity, truthful nature, and occasional brutal violence.”

For Annie Ernaux, a journal does not necessitate intimacy, but rather a series of neutral observations on “exterior” life. The RER, supermarket, shopping mall, and other aspects of modern daily life reappear throughout her journal entries, peppered among brief mentions of social and political events. Citing Vincent Van Gogh, she states, “Je cherche à exprimer le passage désespérément rapide des choses de la vie moderne.” The rapidity of her own prose [in La vie extérieure: 1993-1999] successfully achieves this goal and helps turn what may appear somewhat disjointed impersonal observations into universally shared experiences. In addition...