The word "soul" has multiple definitions. The Treasury of the French language gives another, it belongs to the musical domain: "Soul of a string instrument. Small piece of wood interposed in the body of the instrument, between the table and the bottom, keeping them at the right distance and ensuring quality, propagation and uniformity of vibrations. "
It is a small piece of wood, but it is essential. This definition is in line with the magnificent novel Soul broken by Akira Mizubayashi, published by Gallimard. This Japanese author who writes in French had enchanted readers with Une langue come elsewhere . On this occasion, he had received numerous literary awards.
On Wednesday, on the set of La Grande Librairie (France 5) hosted by François Busnel, it is a great award he received for Broken Soul : the Prix des Libraires, which is celebrating its 66th edition. Akira Mizubayashi thus joins a prestigious list of achievements. Let us judge: Patrick Modiano, Didier Decoin, Philippe Delerm, Marc Dugain, Pierre Assouline, Éric Fottorino, Laurent Gaudé, Delphine de Vigan, Laurent Mauvignier, Fred Vargas, Yasmina Khadra, among others ... Most of these authors have been revealed before they were known and won the most beautiful palms of the French edition (Goncourt, Renaudot, Femina), even worldwide such as the Nobel Prize in Literature for Modiano. The Prix des Libraires has often been described as a talent scout. Last year, it was Franck Bouysse who won it with Born from No Woman (La Manufacture de livres), a huge success.
Akira Mizubayashi faced beautiful candidates. In the final selection were, in fact, Santiago Amigorena, The Inner Ghetto (POL), Michel Bernard, Le Bon Sens (The Round Table), Catherine Blondeau, Beginners (Mémoire inkrier) and Caroline Laurent, Rivage de la anger (Les Escales).
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Soul broken is a novel dedicated "to all the ghosts of the world" . We meet in Tokyo in 1938. Four amateur musicians passionate about Western classical music meet regularly at the Cultural Center to rehearse. Around Japanese Yu, an English teacher, three Chinese students, Yanfen, Cheng and Kang, remained in Japan, despite the war in which the expansionist policy of the Empire is plunging Asia. One day, the rehearsal is brutally interrupted by the arrival of soldiers. Yu's violin is broken by a soldier, the Sino-Japanese quartet is on board, suspected of plotting against the country. Concealed in a wardrobe, Rei, the eleven-year-old son of Yu, attended the scene. He will never see his father again ... The child escapes the violence of the soldiers thanks to Lieutenant Kurokami who, far from denouncing him when he discovers him in his hiding place, entrusts him with the destroyed violin. This event constitutes for Rei the " first injury" that will mark her whole life ...
As often with Mizubayashi, the style seduces as much as the depth of the subject. We had seen it in the pretty and short text Small praise of wandering (Folio 2 €) where it was already about music. In March before confinement, Broken Soul was awarded the Readers' Prize for Writers from the South .
The suffrage of 2000 booksellers
The Prix des Libraires is one of the most prescriptive awards. It has been around since 1955, but it was only in the last three years that a group of dynamic booksellers took it over. It calls for the vote of all independent booksellers in France. “It is a prize awarded by professionals to the general public. And at a time when many questions are being asked about the legitimacy of the award of certain literary awards, the Prix des Libraires affirms its independence more than ever , " underlines its president Nathalie Iris.
Gathered around Nathalie Iris (Librairie Mots en Marge, at La Garenne-Colombes), the jury is composed of Stanislas Rigot, secretary (Librairie Lamartine in Paris), Antoine Bonnet (Librairie Michel, in Fontainebleau), Géraldine Delauney (Librairie Dialogues at Morlaix), Géraldine Petry (Le Hall du Livre bookstore in Nancy), Corinne Dalloz (Polinoise bookstore, in the Jura), Grégory Sapojnikoff (Le Bonheur bookstore in Montrouge), Remy Ehlinger (Coiffard bookstore in Nantes), Elodie Bonnafoux (Arcanes bookstore) in Châteauroux), Véronique Marchand (Le Failler bookstore in Rennes) and Sylvie Maillet (Fontaine bookstore in Paris).
But the five finalists were subject to the votes of more than 2,000 booksellers. The reward awarded to Akira Mizubayashi is all the more beautiful. And what does not spoil anything, man is a delicious being.
