How to find success in literature

Above all, a funny essay inviting successful men and women to avoid…

Successology is the science of success. It has textbooks (mostly translated from English), and the adjective “irrefutable”, however exaggerated it may seem, does not spoil the presentations given by its authors – each is more modest than the other. . So of course it’s a lie no one has yet attempted to engage in a rigorous and in-depth analysis of the best ways to succeed » as we can read from the first lines of this new book by Lydie Salvayre The irrefutable essay of Suxology (Border, 2023). Given that this enterprise has so far lacked seriousness… or more likely, the subject will not be treated with the humor so far required… perhaps we can question it.

At the same time, success is a serious thing, and if we can laugh at the advice we give to achieve it (and we laugh a lot while reading this book), there is still a hopefully (hidden?) useful recipe to be found. It seems to us that the author is reading here with his reader. We’ll see how it holds up.

Portraits of successful women and men

Every era has its own definition of success, and ours is above all others unhindered, as shown by the very funny portrait of the “bookstagramer influencer” who opened the book later. The next “influential man” is less relevant and can be from any era. Anyway, the advice here is to know how to deal with these characters rather than trying to imitate them, which is probably beyond the reader’s reach anyway.

The success to which we can credit the author of this essay with some skill certainly belongs to literature (Lydie Salsayre wrote dozens of novels and won the Goncourt prize in 2014 for her book. don’t cry). However, his advice would not be about writing style, which would require a book called something else. The art of the novel for example, but of course how to deal with different types of writers, as in the previous chapters, from the established writer to the idiot writer, the defector or interloper writer, cross-category, and the feminist writer, etc. So, since this (oddly?) is pretty much the only question here, how to avoid or get rid of them.

A student writer here, perhaps sleeping with some readers, would surely find it more useful to be invited to take the profile that best suits him in this portrait gallery…

The common reader, who does not want to pursue a career as a writer, can always try to imagine the various challenges he might face in his career and how to deal with them to limit their damaging potential.

Rules for success

The sequel finally (!) approaches the rules of literary success, which essentially consists of conforming to the taste of the crowd, or the rules of success in all fields, where the most important thing is not to be afraid to put yourself out there. forward.

Dressing, the art of manners (a chapter later deals with how to behave at a social cocktail party), and the art of conversation are all subjects of development in the same direction, a list of topics for this last section. with interlocutors from the left, center and right, when these dominants are clearly defined (because otherwise one would have to settle for more avoidance).

According to the author, it is also necessary to learn to make good use of other people’s misfortune, lies and evil. The book is certainly open to criticism of success and the conditions required to achieve it, even if the reader still doesn’t see much of what recovery he can do.

A chapter devoted to the intended use of social networks concludes by explaining the abolition of the reading pact, stating that “ It’s too unnecessary to read now “. At the risk of definitely disappointing both the student writer who intends to learn something here in spite of everything, and the reader who is more interested in ways to succeed in life.

The author reiterates that these tips won’t spare you any bumps or injuries, and you still have to learn to accept it and toughen yourself up.

If none of this ultimately suits you, and you decide to reject these principles in favor of a higher understanding of literature as a writer or reader, take care not to advance a large number of scofflaws.