Exploring an earlier work of a Nobel Laureate discovered in a gem of an independent bookshop in Kensington, Maryland.
When the foreword describes a work as “a deceptively simple book, and a profoundly disarming one,” the reader instinctively knows that demands will be placed upon them. When the work is an early offering in the literary canon of a Nobel Laureate in Literature, the reader assumes that one will see the flowering of a style that many have come to know and appreciate over the decades.
Those things were certainly true of a slim volume I found in one of Washington’s more distinctive independent bookshops. Bonjour Books, DC was an unexpected find as part of my delightful quest to visit all 29 independent bookstores in the Washington region in 2026.
But first, let’s turn to the book.
Things Seen (originally published in French in 2000, published in English in 2010) by Annie Ernaux (translated by Jonathan Kaplansky) is a “journal” where Ernaux turns her piercing observational talents to small and often seemingly insignificant events and actions around her. The reader follows the interactions with a clerk in a store, discussions at a condominium meeting, a shoplifting incident at the Yves Saint Laurent hosiery counter. But there are also observations concerning an attack at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence where she comments on the fact that there is more seeming concern over the damage to the paintings than to the men, women, and baby who died. She stands looking over mounds of tomatoes, peaches, and grapes at the local food store and has the strange sensation she is at the edge of Eden, seeing the first morning of the world. The war crimes tribunal in Bosnia is a recurring part of her world, as are social issues such as poverty and AIDS. In one especially jarring piece Ernaux considers the world’s contrasting reactions to Princess Diana’s death and the starkly brutal political murders that occurred at the same time.
The deceptiveness of the simple observation juxtaposed with the disarming nature of the subjects comes through on page after page. In reading this slim volume, one finds out about the writer, yes; but also—in observing how we react—about ourselves.
Throughout Things Seen Ernaux drops snippets and off-hand comments that help us navigate her work. “Stories,” she writes at the end of the entry about the condominium board meeting, “are a need to exist.” Ernaux returns again and again to how we respond to the poor, including the man on the subway who shouts “Have a great day and a good weekend!” when no one will offer help. “The irony of poor people does not count; it’s not a weapon, just an annoyance,” she writes.
We learn, she asserts, by observing.
“The sensation of time passing is not inside us. It comes from the outside, from children who grow up, neighbors who leave, from people growing older and dying. Bakeries that close and are replaced by driving schools or television repair shops. The cheese department moved to the back of the supermarket, which is no longer called Franprix but Leader Price.”
Of course observations are ours, and “the interpretations of reality are practically infinite.” When a man stands alone in a store, turning his head in all directions, “perhaps his wife is trying on a pair of pants in a changing room. Or else she is playing hide and seek, enjoying shaking him off between the gardening products and the dog food . . . Or she has chosen this moment to leave him, taking the money and the car keys. Or simply she met another man and they are kissing in the cafeteria, making love in the washroom.”
The mix between fiction and memoir helps us understand this most personal of writers. Ernaux was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2022 “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory.” Things Seen was the winner of the French Voices award, and it is the second work by Ernaux I’ve read to date. The first was 2022’s The Young Man, where the author uses the backdrop of a brief romance to explore themes of the movement back and forth between youth and age, of memory and time, of misogyny and class, of life’s pitfalls and pleasures. She is captivating, intimate, and unflinchingly honest. I look forward to exploring more of her works in the months and years ahead.
BONJOUR BOOKS, DC
I discovered this volume while visiting Bonjour Books, DC as part of last month’s Independent Bookstore Crawl. My friend Janet Hulstrand, who now lives full-time in France, alerted me to the existence of this small, two-room gem. Janet immediately sensed my hesitation and wrote, “not all the titles are in French, although many are.”
There is a wide variety for such a small space, including new works, staff picks, “easy to read” authors, and children’s books. When Candice and I visited we had a good discussion with the bookstore staff, found the small but intriguing English-language section, and promised to spread the word to all our friends (Francophiles and others). I subscribed to the shop’s monthly newsletter, which is a delight.
If your French is up to it, check out the video celebrating this small piece of France in the Washington region.
INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS VISITED
As an update, here are the independent bookstores I’ve visited so far in 2026:
- Bergstrom Press & Books, Kensington (review to come)
- Bold Forks Books, Mt. Pleasant (review to come)
- Bonjour Books DC, Kensington (reviewed in this post)
- Bridge Street Books, Georgetown (see my review)
- Busboys and Poets, Multiple locations (see my review)
- Kensington Row Bookshop, Kensington (review to come)
- Kramers, Dupont Circle (review to come)
- Laurel Leaf, Takoma Park (review to come)
- Lost City Books, Adams Morgan (review to come)
- People’s Book, Takoma Park (see my review)
- Politics & Prose, Multiple locations (see my review)
- Second Story Books, Dupont Circle (review to come)
- The Lantern, Georgetown (see my review)
- Wonderland Books, Bethesda (see my review)
That’s 14 out of 29 . . . we’re almost halfway there!
More to come . . .
DJB
Photo of woman looking out of a train window by CPW on Unsplash.
MORE TO COME... 