Un barrage contre l'Atlantique

Un barrage contre l'Atlantique is an autobiographical novel similar to Frédéric Beigbeder's previous A French Novel and has the subtitle Un roman français, tome 2 (lit. 'A French Novel, Volume 2'). It is largely told in fragments, consisting of paragraphs with one sentence each. Inspired by a painting he spontaneously buys, Beigbeder reminisces about his life and French society, from his childhood in the 1970s through his time as a dandy in Paris, his relationship with Laura Smet, and his hermit-like life in Guéthary. The book was written at the compound of Benoît Bartherotte, a wealthy man who tries to stop the erosion of Cap Ferret by building a large and unauthorised seawall.[1]

Grégory Plouviez of Le Parisien wrote that the book is written with "exquisite melancholy".[2] Jean-Paul Brighelli of Marianne wrote that Beigbeder handles the fragmentary form in a way similar to Heraclitus and Emil Cioran and that Un barrage contre l'Atlantique is a more profound book than A French Novel.[3] The French Review wrote that the book is "much more disparate in content and form" than A French Novel and that "Beigbeder’s admirers and detractors will find much fodder here".[1]

• Grasset