“The biography differs from the novel, because everything in it is true.
But she aspires to the same goal: she tells a story.
So speaks Dominique Bona, author of fascinating works on Romain Gary, Stefan Zweig, Berthe Morisot, Camille and Paul Claudel, Colette, Jacqueline de Ribes, and today Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon: in Les Partisans, the writer
and
academic is in turn investigator, historian and novelist to explore the destinies of the authors of the
Chant des partisans
.
To discover
The 3/4 Beckhams, a dream family?
In video,
The Super-8 Years
of Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux, excerpt
Madame Figaro
.
– What led you to become attached to the destinies of Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon?
Dominique Bona.
–
Family ties fascinate me.
They are open windows on the complexity of individuals, they often shed light on their difficulties, their weaknesses, their choices.
I have, in previous books, studied the relationships of mother to daughter, of brother to sister, or of several sisters to each other.
The exceptional link that connects Kessel to Druon is almost filial.
The uncle and the nephew, although very different in character, share many traits, including a passion for writing.
And their lasting affection will never be broken.
Another figure also appears: Germaine Sablon… I didn't expect to find the singer Germaine Sablon in their story.
It arises from the first chapter, on the occasion of their clandestine departure, in December 1942, towards Free France.
She's so brave and amazing, that I
kept throughout the story.
It prevents the duo from freezing in the face-to-face.
And she introduces her share of femininity into the adventure.
We will never know whose crows are or who found “Friend, if you fall, a friend comes out of the shadows in your place.”
Dominique Bona
Why did the creation of Le
Chant des Partisans
interest you?
The writing of the
Chant des partisans
is a key moment in the life of my characters.
I made a point of recounting in detail the circumstances which gave rise to it.
It's a French song set to Russian music.
And a collective work.
For this call to arms, virile, bloody, two women play a leading role: Anna Marly, who composed the music, and Germaine Sablon, the first performer.
As for Kessel and Druon, they wrote the lyrics with four hands, without it being possible to untangle the part of each.
We will never know whose crows are or who found “Friend, if you fall, a friend comes out of the shadows in your place.”
His private collection
The Birth of the Day,
by Colette
“To wake up every morning with a smile, like the author of Les
Vrilles de la vigne
.
»
Land of Oblivions,
by Duong Thu Huong
« To keep hope alive, like the Vietnamese author, when nothing is going well.
»
The Last of His,
by Sibylle Grimbert
« To weep over the fate of the Great Penguin, with a novelist who defends life.
»
Letters and poems to Gabriële,
by Francis Picabia
« For the words of love and the prefaces of Claire and Anne Berest.
»
How do you explain your taste for biography?
Real lives are just as romantic as imaginary lives.
It even happens that reality surpasses fiction.
I like the mirror held up to us by these lives lived in flesh and blood.
I like to describe the balance of power between the characters and the world around them: the society in which they live, the mentalities, the mores of the time.
Like Kessel, Druon had to face hardships, due to circumstances, both in his private life and in his career as a successful writer.
Read alsoColombe Schneck: "I write what I can't find in books"
Can we say that writing about others is also talking about you?
I think you can read me as a watermark in my biographies.
Or at least read openly the feelings that inhabit me: my dreams and passions.
This is the challenge of biography: to stay as close as possible to the truth, as it emerges from sources and from investigation, but to radiate it passionately.
