In the French Revolutionary Explosion of the 18th century, Sade's marquis was directed by Juliette, a criminal person who preferred: « Le passé m'encourage, le present m'électrise, je crains peu l'avenir. » The XXIe siècle entendend a new Juliette postromantique répéter tous les jours: « Le passé me déprime, le present m'accable, j'ai peur de l'avenir. » You publish a daily novel intitulé La Deuxième Vie, j'inscrirais en exergue, contre all les évidences évidences évidences de mon temps, the formule of Juliette de Sade. Elle, au moins, fait longuement rêver, comme une provocation inouïe.
Philippe Sollers, La Deuxième Vie.
At the height of the French Revolution's explosion in the 18th century, the Marquis de Sade had his favorite criminal character, Juliette, say: "The past encourages me, the present electrifies me, I fear little of the future." The 21st century hears a new, post-Romantic Juliette repeating every day: "The past depresses me, the present burdens me, I am afraid of the future." If I were to read a novel one day titled The second life If I were to publish it, I would, contrary to all the negative assumptions of my time, write Juliette de Sade's formula as a preface. At the very least, it inspires long-lasting dreams, like an outrageous provocation.
The last book by Philippe Sollers, La Deuxième ViePublished posthumously, this work reflects on life, death, and rebirth. Almost testamentary in nature, it mirrors once again his engagement with philosophical, religious, and existential questions that shaped his entire literary output. For him, the idea of a second existence signifies a transformed, spiritual yet physical form of being, with a more intense, freer life. These passages thus connect with a sharp critique of our first existence—modern life, decadent and materialistic. At the same time, Sollers interweaves historical and literary figures with his reflections on art and literature as a means of grasping the immortal and the timeless. The structure is reminiscent of a diary or a meditative record, alternating between prose and aphorisms, giving form to the conviction that life, as a constant transformation, cannot be fixed narratively. Time itself is symbolized in this text in an almost magically sacred way.
From Une curieuse solitude (1958). » Et encore dans Studio (1997): «Je mourrai de ma mort», between other persistent scansions. Acuune passion triste, morose effroi or melancolie. Contrary to this, in the cult of the nihiliste de la mort, the new figures of libertés are revèlent, which devaient mener à la tonalité implacable et solennelle de La Deuxième Vie. The angoisse tremble in the sound of the néant, may be heard and consumed in "consolation mélodique" (Paradis II), « souveraine légèreté du néant » (Éloge de l'infini, 2001): “The joy of the corps of glory continues.”
A mysterious one (Mysterious Mozart, 2001) anthropology spiritual virevolte dans this fugue aérienne qui ne cesse de néantir nothingness lui-même, en quête de “son point de jouissance infini” (Paradis II).
Julia Kristeva, “Le vivace aujourd'hui”, in Philippe Sollers, La Deuxième Vie.
Already in Une curieuse solitude (1958) is about “a preparation for nothingness”: “A book develops, parallel to your life […] Oscillation neither in reality nor in imagination, is that not freedom?” And in Studio (1997): “Je mourrai de ma mort” (I will die of my death), among other sustained chants. No mournful passion, no gloomy terror or melancholy. On the contrary, by escaping the nihilistic death cult, new figures of freedom are revealed, which contribute to the relentless and solemn tone of The second life should lead. Fear trembles in the experience of nothingness, yet contracts and consumes itself in "melodic solace" (Paradis II), “sovereign lightness of nothingness” (In Praise of Infinity, 2001): “The joy of the glorious body is perpetual.”
A mysterious (Mysterious Mozart, 2001) spiritual anthropology swirls through this airy fugue, which incessantly nothingness self-destructed, in search of "his infinite point of pleasure" (Paradise II).
According to Julia Kristeva's afterword, "Le vivace aujourd'hui," Sollers overcomes death here in a new form of vitality, countering the nihilism of modernity with a "living philosophy." She compares his style to the fugal technique in music, which forms a complex, harmonic unity. Yannick Haenel sees the book as a farewell gesture from Sollers to the world: In Sollers' work, Haenel recognizes the ability to transcend life while simultaneously remaining anchored in the here and now.
L'essentiel est qu'ici tout est fluide, que le jour et la nuit s'équivalent, que le soleil et la mer sont perçus comme de même nature. In the first film, my cadavre is encombre, d'autant plus que j'en ai une vision de plus en plus détaillée. Dans la Deuxième Vie, on est heureusement débarrassé de ce boulet, sans que les souvenirs physiques les plus lumineux soient éliminés. The ensuite has a choice of memories, which brings back a flash of love.
Philippe Sollers, La Deuxième Vie.
The main thing is that everything flows here, that day and night are of equal value, that sun and sea are perceived as the same. In the first life, only my corpse burdens me, all the more so as I see it in ever greater detail. In the second life, one is thankfully freed from this burden without the clearest physical memories being erased. What follows is a free selection of memories, each connected with a love-induced flashback.
Sollers' social criticism is often best described as conservative, as when he laments the entanglement of science, medicine, and capitalism, how digitalization transforms humanity into a "numerical continent," and describes contemporary social censorship that silences nonconformist voices. In this sense, the second life is a kind of wish-fulfillment machine for Sollers, a utopia or even a manifesto. He rejects cinema/television, for example, as expressions of a culture of spectacle; the second life is thus "anti-spectacular." Art/literature, on the other hand, is a timeless means of grasping the world and entering a second reality. Pablo Picasso occupies an important position in the book, within his work. L'Étreinte From around 1969, he sees a physical and energetic continuity realized, demonstrating a vitality well into old age. Admittedly, some statements seem to come from a more distant era, such as when Sollers defines womanhood or comments on homosexual interest, which he feels compelled to fend off, stating that gay desire is flattering but bothersome, or when he mocks surrogacy by a lesbian woman. Or when he expresses Eurocentric doubts that French artists could be conceived elsewhere, for example, Proust as Arab or Cézanne as American. 1 Therefore, it cannot be entirely denied that backward-looking remarks sometimes slow down the forward-looking radicalism of Sollers' proposal.
La Deuxième Vie postulates that true life only begins after death, in the Corps glorieux as transformed bodies. And that art is the key to this new existence: art is metaphysical in this sense, but also a radical critique of modern society and its values. In this second existence, time no longer exists linearly, but in a circular or repetitive pattern. Literature is not a reflection of reality, but a space of creation in which new realities emerge. The narrator of the book does not experience himself as a coherent subject, but as a fragmented self in constant motion. Sollers understands art as a means of holding these fragmented parts together. And for him, death is not the end, but a creative force that reshapes life. Of course, this second existence, as a new creation, is a break with the first; art redeems us from a society of emptiness. The transformation of art transforms artists as well as viewers and readers. For Sollers, love is a work of art that is constantly being recreated and never ends.
Three books on the same text in the ancient French ambassador to Venice, three floors, soleil, window open to the Zattere. On entering the Palais par-derrière, grâce à un petit ponton surveillé où s'amarraient les vedettes les plus rapides. La vedette de l'ambassade, je la revois, s'appelait Marie-Antoinette. Avec ça, on ne pouvait pas douter des convictions profondes de l'Ambassadeur. The Ambassador does not come to Rome, but he passes to Rome at some time. J'ai beautiful impressionné deux Vénitiennes, pour lesquelles j'étais un diplomate important. J'ai appris, plus tard, que cet ambassador d'autrefois n'avait pas du tout aimé mes livres, et regrettait d'avoir mis à ma disposition autant d'espace.
These années de Venice, je n'arrête pas de les décrire. This is a fantôme heureux en train de toucher spasmodiquement du bois pour me rappeler qu'il s'agissait bien de ma vie réelle. Premiere vie, en tout point digne de la Deuxième, ce qui fait que dans la Deuxième, rien ne m'étonne, tout me paraît aller de soi de façon claire, lumineuse, facile, comme un cosmonaute glissant dans la nuit. Les objets, en état d'apesanteur, deviennent familiers. Je suis enfin arrivé là où je devais aller, les indicateurs le signalent. Eva elle-même, regardée de all près, n'a jamais été plus agréable.
Philippe Sollers, La Deuxième Vie.
Three of my books were written in the former French embassy in Venice, third floor, sunny, with an open window overlooking the Zattere. You entered this palace from the rear via a small, guarded jetty where the fastest speedboats docked. The embassy's speedboat, I can still picture it, was called Marie AntoinetteThis left no room for doubt about the ambassador's deep convictions. The ambassador was never there; he spent almost all his time in Rome. I greatly impressed two Venetian women, for whom I was an important diplomat. Later, I learned that this ambassador at the time disliked my books intensely and regretted having given me so much space.
I can describe those years in Venice again and again. I was that blissful spirit, frantically knocking on wood to remind myself that this was my real life. My first life, in every way worthy of the second, which means that nothing in the second life surprises me; everything seems clear, bright, and effortless, like a cosmonaut gliding through the night. Objects, suspended in a state of weightlessness, become familiar. I have finally arrived where I needed to be; the signposts indicate it. Even Eva herself, viewed up close, has never felt more comfortable.
This article is written in German and can be found at https://rentree.de. Automatic translations into English and French are available. English, French.
Notes- “Impossible d'imaginer en musulmane la marquise de Sévigné, Proust en Arabe, Céline en Japonais, Cézanne en Américain.”>>>
