On the Line
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
A celebrated French bestseller, this novel in verse that captures the mundane and the beautiful, the blood and sweat, of working on the factory floor in the processing plants and abattoirs of Brittany.
Unable to find work in his field, Joseph Ponthus enlists with a temp agency and starts to pick up casual shifts in the fish processing plants and abattoirs of Brittany. Day after day he records with infinite precision the nature of work on the production line: the noise, the weariness, the dreams stolen by the repetitive nature of exhausting rituals and physical suffering. But he finds solace in a life previously lived.
Shelling prawns, he dreams of Alexandre Dumas. Pushing cattle carcasses, he recalls Apollinaire. And, in the grace of the blank spaces created by his insistent return to a new line of text – mirroring his continued return to the production line – we discover the woman he loves, the happiness of a Sunday, Pok Pok the dog, the smell of the sea.
In this celebrated French bestseller, translated by Stephanie Smee, Ponthus captures the mundane, the beautiful and the strange, writing with an elegance and humour that sit in poignant contrast with the blood and sweat of the factory floor. On the Line is a poet's ode to manual labour, and to the human spirit that makes it bearable.
Praise for On the Line:
'Poetic and political, lyrical and realistic, Joseph Ponthus' spirited elegy is at once surprising, captivating and affecting' Télérama
'It is not every day that one witnesses the birth of a writer' France 5 La Grande Librairie
'A work that is powerful, clever, benevolent, optimistic even. Essential reading' Causette
'Be prepared for a battering of the senses with vivid, grisly prose' France Magazine
Joseph Ponthus
After studying literature and social work, Joseph Ponthus worked for over ten years as a social worker and special needs teacher in the suburbs of Paris. In 2012 he co-authored Nous… La Cité (The Suburbs are Ours). His most recent work is A la Ligne (On the Line). He lives and works in Brittany, France.
Related to On the Line
Related ebooks
This Little Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sally Mara's Intimate Diary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSisters in Arms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cobra and the Key: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beautiful and Damned Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tenderloin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBliss, and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVladivostok Circus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSun-Up, and Other Poems Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hopeful Monsters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sergius Seeks Bacchus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThrough The Sad Wood Our Corpses Will Hang Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSleepwalkers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Love Information: Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dog Husband Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarble Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Drowned Book: Picador Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reel Bay: A Cinematic Essay Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Death in Spring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Congratulations, Rhododendrons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrazil-Maru Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sweet Undoings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLady Into Fox Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTree Spirits Grass Spirits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdorable Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBaudelaire the Damned: A Biography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wasabi for Breakfast Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe City of the Living Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dolls Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chameleon House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Social Science For You
Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Witty Banter: Be Clever, Quick, & Magnetic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dumbing Us Down - 25th Anniversary Edition: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Selection) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men Explain Things to Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Verbal Judo, Second Edition: The Gentle Art of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Close Encounters with Addiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Secret Garden: Women's Sexual Fantasies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women Don't Owe You Pretty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men's Work: A Practical Guide to Face Your Darkness, End Self-Sabotage, and Find Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for On the Line
0 ratings0 reviews