French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Peeters, Valéry. Tenter de vivre
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs
Benoît Peeters, Valéry. Tenter de vivre, Flammarion, Tandem series, 400 pages
EAN13: 9782081259553
23 €
"Paul Valéry is much more than what posterity has made of him. He is one of the most fascinating literary figures to have ever lived.
Here is a man who made a dazzling debut at a very young age: a friend of Pierre Louÿs and André Gide, a favorite disciple of Mallarmé, he published his first poems in the finest journals of the time, followed by two brilliant texts: Introduction to the Method of Leonardo da Vinci and An Evening with Monsieur Teste. Yet, at barely twenty-five, he turned his back on literature. For twenty years, Valéry published nothing, working in the early morning hours on his mysterious Cahiers. To the young André Breton, he appeared as a new Rimbaud—a man who turned his back on his work after reaching certain peaks. At forty-five, however, Valéry returned to literature, publishing La Jeune Parque, Charmes, and countless essays. And soon enough, fame claimed his name—an immense renown that is difficult to imagine today.
This awakening was not only literary, but vital. Love, long repressed, assumed a massive role later in life. It was in 1920 that Valéry met Catherine Pozzi, with whom he shared a turbulent eight-year affair. His passionate relationships with Renée Vautier and Jeanne Loviton (known as Jean Voilier) were equally significant: the traces they left behind reveal a fragile yet fiery Paul Valéry, sensitive and endearing, far removed from the conventional perception of him.
This book is not a biography, unlike those I have written on Derrida and Hergé. It is a synthetic portrait, a narrative where work and life constantly intertwine. Far from addressing only specialists, I wish to offer new gateways into Paul Valéry's world and new reasons to venture into it. I also examine the posthumous destiny of his work and ways to reinvent it, on the eve of its entry into the public domain."
B. P.
Screenwriter of the famous comic book series The Obscure Cities, Benoît Peeters is the author of numerous works, including the definitive biographies of Hergé and Jacques Derrida (Flammarion, 2002 and 2010).
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An article on this book can be read on the nonfiction.fr website:
Literary biography and synthetic portraiture occupy a distinct space within French letters, bridging the gap between historical documentation and accessible literary criticism. Works in this tradition often seek to reintroduce complex intellectual figures to a contemporary audience without reducing their output to mere chronology. By examining the interplay between a writer's published texts, private notebooks, and personal relationships, such studies illuminate the multifaceted nature of artistic production during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in France.
Benoît Peeters examines the life, work, and posthumous legacy of Paul Valéry, highlighting his early literary achievements, his long period of silence devoted to the Cahiers, and his later return to prominence. The study also considers Valéry's significant romantic relationships and reflects on ways to reinvent his literary heritage. Readers interested in twentieth-century French poetry and intellectual history may find this volume a relevant introduction to Valéry's enduring world.