Since January 2023, Lola Lafon has written a monthly column for the newspaper Libération. These columns, enriched by more intimate texts in which the ‘we’ gives way to the ‘I’, form the core of this bookm, and put recent events and our way of dealing with them into perspective.

“Ce livre est une histoire en cours. Celle d’un hier si proche et d’un demain qui tremble un peu. Ce présent qui bouscule, malmène, comment l’habiter, dans quel sens s’en saisir ? Comme il est étroit, cet interstice-là, entre hier et demain, dans lequel l’actualité nous regarde.” writes Lola Lafon on the book’s back cover.]

[This book is a story in progress. It is the story of a yesterday that is so close and of a tomorrow that is a little bit shaky. How do we live in this present that disturbs and shakes us, and how do we grasp it? How small is the gap between yesterday and tomorrow, where current events stare at us?”]

In a fascinating interview with Marie Richeux (on France Culture’s Book Club), Lola Lafon talks about the genesis of this book, and about coming to understand that, unlike our parents, our generation, overwhelmed by information and an avalanche of data, often describes itself as powerless and in a state of stupefaction. And Lola Lafon refuses this stance, choosing instead to take this ‘powerlessness’ as her starting point:

“on ne pourra pas dire qu’on ne savait pas, mais on pourra dire qu’on ne sait pas quoi faire de ce qu’on sait et qu’il faut partir de cette impuissance et s’en servir pour trouver comment se dépêtrer de ce qui nous tombe dessus. Pour moi, tout est une question de rôle et j’ai choisi d’être un témoin et non une spectatrice.”

[we can’t say that we didn’t know, but we can say that we don’t know what to do with what we do know and that we have to start from this powerlessness and use it to find a way out of whatever is thrown at us. For me, it’s all a question of role, and I’ve chosen to be a witness rather than a spectator.]

In Il n’a jamais été trop tard, Lola Lafon constantly examines the meaning of words and how they evolve, just as she reflects on facts that disrupt our lives and our reactions and fragilities. She invites us to work together to find the right distance from the present. How could we refuse such a generous offer?

Il n’a jamais été trop tard by Lola Lafon, éditions Stock.

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To go further

Défier la chronique, avec Lola Lafon

Dans son dernier ouvrage, notre invitée, la romancière Lola Lafon se prête à l’écriture de notre époque fragmentée. Rassemblant chroniques de société et récit personnel, elle compose une histoire de regards qui ouvre une réflexion sur notre présent.

Miriam Bridenne

After almost two decades of working in publishing, and a few round trips between Paris and New York, Miriam has decided to settle down at Albertine to do what she enjoys most: recommending books she loves. Somehow this also includes taking bizarre pictures for Albertine's social media outlets.

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