Constance Le Grip caught reading Julien Gracq’s “Le Rivage des Syrtes”

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This novel, characterized as “a waking dream” by its own author is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful gems of French literature. Julien Gracq conceived sumptuous settings, filled fortresses, the sea, ships, soldiers, forests, frontiers… This book brings us on a dreamlike journey, where expectation and anguish play a major role. The “end of the world” vibe present throughout this unique, unclassifiable novel is impossible to forget. The fact that Julien Gracq’s work is published by the editions José Corti only adds to the pleasure. Every time I pushed the door of the José Corti bookshop, located at 11 Rue Médicis, in front of the Jardin du Luxembourg, when I was still a young student from a small town that had just moved to Paris, I felt like I was entering inside a world of culture, of civilisation, and of fineness. A world with a typical French touch, and which was incredibly desirable.

Constance Le Grip, Member of the European Parliament