Yasmina Reza, the famed French playwright behind Art and Conversations After a Funeral (for which she won the Molière Award), travelled with French President Sarkozy as he campaigned for the presidency in 2006. Her recollection of a conversation between them appeared in the March issue of The New Yorker, and I love this passage.
Flying to Toulouse.
I say I still love the men I have loved.
He shrugs as if I’ve uttered something incredibly stupid.
-Yes, I assure you. I have never stopped loving the men I’ve loved.
-Oh, please!
-I still love them, but differently.
-It’s all about the ‘differently,’ my pretty one. Don’t take me for a moron. Once you qualify love, it ceases to exist.
Reza documents conversations as only a dramatist could. And Sarkozy speaks as only a Frenchman could. (I suspect that the translation of ‘my pretty one’ isn’t particularly accurate, but I love it anyway.) I’m looking forward to reading her book Adam Haberberg, which I’m picking up tomorrow. I’ll let you know if it’s as delightful and depressing as I expect it to be. xo-m
