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    Summary of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud
    Summary of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud
    Summary of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud
    Ebook129 pages1 hour

    Summary of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud

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    DISCLAIMER

    This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

    Summary of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud

    IN THIS SUMMARIZED BOOK, YOU WILL GET:

    Chapter provides an astute outline of the main contents.
    Fast & simple understanding of the content analysis.
    Exceptionally summarized content that you may skip in the original book

    This Strange Eventful History is a masterful story by Claire Messud, set in an itinerant state from 1940 to 2010. The family, including patriarch Gaston and wife Lucienne, is amidst the chaos of World War II, colonial homeland, and Algerian independence. The story revolves around their devoted siblings, François and Denise, and their union with Barbara. Inspired by long-ago stories from their family's history, Messud animates the characters' rich interior lives amid social and political upheaval. The novel is both intimate and expansive, making it a tour de force.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXinXii
    Release dateMay 31, 2024
    ISBN9783989119420
    Summary of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud

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      Summary of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud - TIME SUMMARY

      PROLOGUE

      The author is a writer who tells stories to save lives. She is a healer, and she believes that poetry makes nothing happen. She recounts her seven-year journey in the shadow of death, starting with her family's trip to celebrate her father's seventy-fifth birthday in Toulon, France. The author's journey is filled with chaos and turmoil, with her father in physical collapse, her mother in mental disarray, and her aunt dancing in tight circles around her whiskey.

      The author's story is not a line, but a richer one that circles, eddies, rises and falls, repeating upon itself. The author's family history has many possible beginnings, including her birth, father's, mother's, and grandmother's births. She could begin with the secrets and shame of her family history, the shame of her family's history, the aloneness of her family, the Algerian man who owns a local pizzeria, the Lebanese friends of her grandfather's prewar posting in Beirut, and the angels on her father's last journey to death.

      The author's story is infinitely expanding, and wherever she starts is merely that moment, a way of happening, a mouth. The author's desire to make words signify her family's lives is as old as humanity and as powerful as poetry.

      PART I

      JUNE 1940

      L’ARBA, ALGERIA

      François, a nine-year-old boy, writes a letter to his father, who is far away in Greece, expressing his surprise at the news that the Germans have crossed the gates of Paris. He had recently returned with his mother, aunt Tata Jeanne, and sister Denise to stay with their extended family in Algeria. François knew Paris was the heart of their glorious nation, but had never been there. He decided not to draw the Arc de Triomphe in the letter for Papa, as it would make everyone sad. Maman had told them to be happy for Papa, as he would be worried about them being far away. François's ears stuck out like jug handles in both photos, and he was embarrassed by this. Before leaving, the family had lived in Salonica for almost a year, but France was in danger from the Germans. They traveled through France to Marseille and then home to Algiers. François and his sister Denise loved Algiers, but they were left in the dusty town of L'Arba, staying with Tata Baudry, who was mostly very old.

      François, a young boy, drew a picture of the trench they had dug in the garden for his father. The trench seemed enormous when they dug it, but after the rain, it seemed smaller. Maman told him it was a good contribution to the war effort and asked him to write to Papa to tell him. Poupette, who could barely write her own name, drew a picture of the cats, one black and white and the other tortoiseshell, which was difficult to draw. François pointed out that Nanette had to be a girl cat, but Poupette drew the cat as orange. François tried to distract her, but she shook her head and twirled her braid, knowing the storm had averted.

      François decided to leave the trench alone in the middle of the page and explain it in words. He wrote, Voilà, explaining that the trench was in a mess after the rain came. He paused, sucked his pen, and his sister, Tata Baudry, continued to suck her thumb and twirl her braid, annoying Tata Baudry. François could tell that she was annoying Tata Baudry, who had been knitting but now could not.

      François, a young boy living in Algeria, is hungry and feels like he has never been to his home in Salonica or Beirut. He remembers the summer days in Beirut with his friends, but now he is in France, where his family belonged for a hundred years. Maman tells him that François should feel happy and safe in Algiers, but he cannot see any good things about it.

      Life has been filled with effort, fear, and pretending to Maman and Poupette that he is okay. He feels guilty for not being more fun to play with his timid daughter, who is too small and timid. Tata Baudry, François' mother, is very old and wears a long black skirt and blouse with leg-o'mutton sleeves. She has no moisture in her, making her look like a fairy or witch.

      François' mother, Maman, has cleaned the room and made it cleaner, but Tata Baudry still insists on leaving her things alone. The apartment smells of bleach, which is better than the dirty water closet. Tata Baudry is small and has sparse hair, wrinkled skin, and a rusty collar. She wears a long black skirt and blouse with leg-o'mutton sleeves, and her feet are small.

      François can't understand how he can relate to Tata Jeanne, his older sister, as he sees her as almost like a girl next to Tata Baudry. He believes that getting old is about drying out, like leaves in autumn or flowers pressed in Maman's Bible.

      L'Arba is a small, isolated apartment filled with a cage-like atmosphere, lacking school, activities, and soccer games. The children, mostly indigenous but also French, are pulled along by their mothers like dogs on leashes, as if there is something to be. They come to L'Arba for various reasons, including anxiety about bombardments in the city and the possibility of the British attacking Algiers. Maman explains that the British were still the enemy, and they knew which side was up.

      François, who has played Air Force with his cousin Jacky, is curious about the bombing process and its meaning. He and his cousin Jacky have never heard an actual bomb, but they had been playing Air Force together. When they arrived in Algiers, they were exhausted and had no place to stay. The journey was a blur, with frightened moments in Milan, Milan, and Marseille.

      François is hungry but doesn't say anything, and he plays endless games with Poupette and reads her from Fables de La Fontaine until she falls asleep. At Marseille, he helps carry Poupette to a taxi, but someone steals her suitcase, and Poupette begins to sob.

      All four of them are in one room at the Select, and the toilet down the hall. François bravely ventures out of the room alone without waking Maman, holding his breath against murderers, monsters, and bad thoughts. Maman and Tata Jeanne snore out of sync, and Poupette lies between them in the big bed.

      François' courage is invisible to the world, each day filled with courage.

      In Algiers, Maman and his cousins, Charles and Paulette, take a taxi to Charles and Paulette's apartment, amidst the chaos of the German advance towards Paris. François, a young boy, is initially suspicious of the women on the boat, but eventually allows them in. The apartment is small and cluttered, with walls and floors made of deep red hexagonal tiles. Tata Paulette leads them to the living room, where they are greeted by a strip of light from the balcony.

      Tata Paulette asks Maman if his telegram did not reach him, and she suggests they help Jacky make coffee for the travelers. Maman dismisses this suggestion, as neither of them knows how to make coffee. François and his sister follow the sound of the coffee grinder to the kitchen, where Jacky reveals that they are the fancy navy kids. François explains that they have come home just in time for the war, but Jacky reveals that France is already in it and they are losing. Poupette flinches, wondering if this means they have lost their precious navy.

      The story highlights the tension and uncertainty between the family and the war, as well as the importance of family and friendship in the face of adversity.

      François dislikes Tata Paulette and Jacky's mother, as they are not part of the family and have a different relationship. François believes that Uncle Charles chose Paulette over his children, which is almost criminal. He also knows that Charles's father abandoned their family when François was younger. François is a Communist, and his mother, Poupette, is a Communist. They stay only one night with Tata Paulette and Jacky, and Uncle Charles is not there. François and Poupette are having their own war with Uncle Charles, who has done something wrong involving a woman. Maman takes them to the Cousines Breloux, three old ladies who are also relatives but are antiques. They live in a quiet flat with ironed white lace doilies and a quiet atmosphere. François and Poupette try to be good, but they accidentally break a china lamp. Maman is disappointed, as they have no word of Papa, who is away. François is the man of the house, and he has failed to take care of Maman. Two days later, they board the overcrowded bus to L'Arba, sitting on Tata Jeanne's knee and facing a fat unshaven man.

      In L'Arba, François, his mother, and their children are

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