Books, records, TV: our picks of the week

Poetry and fake thrillers, edgy rock and temperate keyboards, family drama and thrillers, all for a wintry weekend without downtime.

TO READ

“Kaddish for a love”, Karine Tuil

Gallimard, 128 pages, 14 euros

And if love was the big theme. by Karine Tuil? Over the novels, it seems to take shape like a romantic red thread around the work of the writer. With his collection Kaddish for a love, Karine Tuil takes a detour through poetry to recount the torments of dying passion. Dense in its ambition and collected in its form, a poignant book. LD. S.

“Harlem Shuffle”, Colson Whitehead

Transl. Charles Recoursé, Albin Michel, 419 p., 22.90 euros

The new novel by Colson Whitehead, double Pulitzer Prize (2017 and 2020), evokes in thriller mode the African-American district of New York in full turmoil in the segregationist America of the 1960s. Scams, tricks to survive, class struggle, riots and civil rights movement… A thrilling story in the footsteps of a tasty antihero, furniture dealer and prince of tricksters. Ph.C.

“Sisters”, Daisy Johnson

Transl. Laetitia Devaux, The Pocket Book, 224 p. €7.90

In 2020, the young English writer Daisy Johnson signed with sisters a second inky black novel about the demons of sorority and the pangs of adolescence, drawing inspiration from the great Gothic novels. A poetic and literary tour de force, coupled with a fascinating suspense plot. A paperback edition was needed. Ph.C.

TO LISTEN

“Every Loser”, Iggy Pop

1 album, Good Tooth/Atlantic Records

Still hyperactive at almost 76 years old, Iggy Pop is releasing a new album at the start of the year entitled “Every Loser”, a return to his first love, rock in its simplest and most primal form. At his side, in addition to Andrew Watt, the 32-year-old producer who has already worked with Elton John, Mick Jagger and Bruno Mars, we notice the presence of many rock stars who are a bit nervous. A boost to start the year! THIS

” I have two loves. The Paris Album”, Felicien Brut

1 album, Warner Classics

At 35, he has established himself as an essential ambassador of the accordion, which he invites into all repertoires. “I have two loves”, the 4^e album by Félicien Brut, invites you on a poetic escapade in Paris, through classical pieces, artistic commissions, or popular songs, surrounded by a host of musical, singing and theater talents. MR

“Mozart. Piano Sonatas”, Robert Levin (pianoforte)

1 album, ECM New series

Mozart sonatas on Mozart’s piano! In this case a pianoforte, built in the early 1780s, with which the composer gave many concerts in Vienna. A musicologist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of this universe, Robert Levin takes advantage of the luminous and light sound of the instrument to speak a clearly enunciated Mozart, rich in consonants and contrasts. Freed from irrelevant romanticism, these sonatas lay bare the soul of a musician who knew how to hide a deep melancholy behind pleasantries. Ph.V.

HAVE

“Crywolf”

art. TV

A 14-year-old girl denounces in a dissertation the violence she suffers from her stepfather. The parents totally deny her accusations… Should we believe her? The social worker who placed her in a home with her little brother only has a few weeks to sort out the real from the fake… A harsh and refined Danish series, created by Maja Jul Larsen, (“The Heirs” and “Borgen”) which explores the theme of family violence by focusing on the points of view of the five main characters. LB

“The Last of Us”

HBO Max, January 15

Created by Craig Mazin, showrunner of Chernobyl , and Neil Druckmann, co-president of Naughty Dog, this big HBO production is one of the most anticipated of the year. In a world of the future ravaged by an epidemic, a few survivors try to escape the “infected”, transformed into voracious and bloodthirsty creatures. Joel (Pedro Pascal) must cross the United States to the young Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who embodies the only hope of finding a cure for the terrible virus. LB

“The Litvinenko Affair”

M6, January 19

This British series in four episodes traces the police investigation linked to the assassination of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned with polonium-210 in a London hotel in 2006. It concluded ten years later that Vladimir Putin had “probably approved” the death of the ex-KGB agent. After the fiction about the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, in 2020 here is a new charge against the Kremlin, carried out with mastery by George Kay, the creator of “Lupin”, with the excellent David Tennant in the role of the dying spy. LB