by Christos Zabounis
The problem with autobiographies, in this case that of the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, is that their accounts may sometimes be cross-checked against the… dead. What do I mean? The reader may be able to verify a story which, as the Italians say, “Se non è vera, è ben trovata” – “Even if it isn’t true, it’s a very good story.” In 1974, shortly before being murdered on the beach at Ostia, Pasolini tells Lévy the following anecdote about Alberto Moravia: “He loves sole because it is very delicate, almost boneless, and requires little effort. I am not afraid of effort, and when I have to choose, I go for red mullet. ‘Are you mad?’ Alberto says to me. ‘You spend half your time picking out the bones.’ And I reply: ‘That is the great difference between us. You want a world where everything is ready-made; I love a world where you have to struggle to pick out the thorns and the fish bones.’”
A comment by the author of Mémoires Provisoires: “Two political ways of looking at things: sole and red mullet.” A fine title: Provisional Memories.
Photo by Gil Lefauconnier
