Amélie Nothomb

Amélie Nothomb
Born	Fabienne-Claire Nothomb. (1966-07-09) 9 July 1966 Etterbeek, Belgium
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Belgian
Notable works	Stupeur et tremblements
Signature

Baroness Amélie Nothomb (born Fabienne-Claire; 9 July 1966 in Etterbeek, Belgium) is a Belgian writer who writes in French.

Biography

Amélie Nothomb, born Fabienne Claire Nothomb, was born in Etterbeek, Belgium on 9 July 1967, to Belgian diplomat fr. Although Nothomb claims to have been born in Japan, she actually began living in Japan at the age of two until she was five years old. Subsequently, she lived in China, New York, Bangladesh, Burma, the United Kingdom (Coventry) and Laos. She is from a distinguished Belgian political family: she is the grandniece of Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, a Belgian foreign minister (1980–1981), and great granddaughter of writer and politician Pierre Nothomb. She has one brother and one sister, fr.

Nothomb's first novel, Hygiène de l'assassin, was published in 1992. Since then, she has published approximately one novel per year, including Les Catilinaires (1995), Fear and Trembling (1999) and Métaphysique des tubes (2000, published in English as The Character of Rain). She has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 1999 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, the Prix René-Fallet, and the 1993 Prix Alain-Fournier.

While in Japan, Nothomb attended a local school and learned Japanese. When she was five, the family moved to China. "Quitter le Japon fut pour moi un arrachement" ("Leaving Japan was a wrenching separation for me"), she wrote in Fear and Trembling. She studied philology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. After some family tensions and having finished her studies, Nothomb returned to Japan to work in a Japanese company in Tokyo. Her experience of this time, although its authenticity has been critically called to question, is told in Fear and Trembling.

She wrote a romanticized biography (The Book of Proper Names) for the French female singer Robert in 2002 and during the period 2000–2002 she wrote the lyrics for nine tracks of the same artist.

A documentary was directed by Laureline Amanieux about Amélie's return to Japan where she finds the beauty of the landscapes, the peace of the rites of the country, the sadness of Fukushima, but especially, the arms of her Japanese nursemaid, Nishio San.

By Royal Decree of 8 July 2015 Nothomb was ennobled as a non-hereditary baroness.

Bibliography

Published (in French)	Type	Original title	English title	English publication details
1992	book	Hygiène de l'assassin	Hygiene and the Assassin	Europa Editions, hardback, 2010 ISBN 978-1-933372-77-8
1993	book	Le Sabotage amoureux	Loving Sabotage	W. W. Norton & Co, hardback, 2000, ISBN 0-8112-1459-1 Faber and Faber, paperback, 2003, ISBN 0-571-22663-9
1993	tale	Légende un peu chinoise (Longue Vue)
1994	play	Les Combustibles	Human Rites	Oberon Books, paperback, 2005, ISBN 1-84002-539-5
1995	book	Les Catilinaires	The Stranger Next Door	Holt (Henry) & Co, hardback, 1996, ISBN 0-8050-4841-3
1996	book	Péplum
1996	14 pages short story	Électre (Stock)
1996	short story	L'Existence de Dieu (La Revue Générale)
1997	book	Attentat
1998	book	Mercure
1999	book	Stupeur et tremblements	Fear and Trembling	Faber and Faber, paperback, 2002, ISBN 0-571-22048-7
1999	39 pages short story	Le Mystère par excellence (Le Grand livre du mois)
2000	book	Métaphysique des tubes	The Character of Rain	Faber and Faber, paperback, 2003, ISBN 0-571-22049-5
2000	3 tales	Brillant comme une casserole (La Pierre d'Alun)
2001	book	Cosmétique de l'ennemi	The Enemy's Cosmetique
2001	2 pages short story	Aspirin
2001	64 pages short story	Sans nom (Elle)
2002	book	Robert des noms propres	The Book of Proper Names	Faber and Faber, paperback, 2004, ISBN 0-571-22344-3
2003	book	Antéchrista	Antichrista	Faber and Faber, paperback, 2004, ISBN 0-571-22483-0
2004	46 pages short story	L'Entrée du Christ à Bruxelles (Elle)
2004	book	Biographie de la faim	The Life of Hunger	Faber and Faber, hardback, 2006
2005	book	Acide sulfurique	Sulphuric Acid	Faber and Faber, hardback, 2007
2006	book	Journal d'Hirondelle
2007	book	Ni d'Eve, ni d'Adam	Tokyo Fiancée	Europa Editions, hardback, 2008
2007	short story in 9 episodes	Les Champignons de Paris (Charlie Hebdo)
2008	book	Le Fait du prince	The Prince's Act	Éditions Albin Michel
2009	book	Le Voyage d'Hiver	The Winter Journey	Éditions Albin Michel
2010	book	Une forme de vie	Life Form	Europa Editions, hardback, forthcoming
2011	book	Tuer le père		Éditions Albin Michel
2012	book	Barbe bleue		Éditions Albin Michel
2013	book	La nostalgie heureuse		Éditions Albin Michel
2014	book	Petronille		Éditions Albin Michel

Unless otherwise stated, all works were originally published in French by Éditions Albin Michel.

Audio books

Eight of Amélie Nothomb's novels were adapted in the form of audio books, four first ones were published by the editions "VDB", the others by "Audiolib" :

• Robert des noms propres (=The Book of Proper Names): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2003 (ISBN 978-2-84694-068-9) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF39186856q).

Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 3:15 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 008.

• Antéchrista (=Antichrista): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2004 (ISBN 978-2-84694-281-2) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF412025642).

Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 2:52 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 033. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel.

• Biographie de la faim (=The life of hunger): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2005 (ISBN 978-2-84694-281-2) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF40227909h).

Support: 4 audio CD (lasted: 4:17 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 074. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel.

• Acide sulfurique (=Sulphuric acid): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2006 (ISBN 978-2-84694-403-8) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF40227903f).

Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 5:39 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 104. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel.

• Ni d'Eve, ni d'Adam (=Tokyo Fiancée): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Sylvie Testud (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 13 February 2008 (ISBN 978-2-35641-012-2) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF412025642).

Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 3:50 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0012 02.

• Le fait du prince (=The prince's act): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Patrick Waleffe (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 21 January 2009 (ISBN 978-2-356-41048-1) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF414068348).

Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 3:00 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0049 4.

• Le voyage d'hiver (=The winter journey): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Thibault de Montalembert (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 9 September 2009 (ISBN 978-2-35641-093-1) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF42044512x).

Support: 2 audio CD (lasted: 1:54 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0129 4.

• Une forme de vie (=A form of life): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Frédéric Meaux (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 13 October 2010 (ISBN 978-2-356-41245-4) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF42285807k).

Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 2:42 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 281 3.

Film adaptations

• 1999 : Hygiène de l'assassin (Hygiene and the Assassin), French movie directed by François Ruggieri, with Jean Yanne (Prétextat Tach) and Barbara Schulz (Nina).
• 2003 : Stupeur et tremblements (Fear and Trembling), French movie directed by Alain Corneau with Sylvie Testud (Amélie) and Kaori Tsuji (Fubuki).
• 2014 : "Tokyo Fiancée (film)", Belgian movie directed by Stefan Liberski with Pauline Etienne (Amélie) and Taichi Inoue (Rinri)

Stage adaptations

• Le sabotage amoureux (English: Loving sabotage), Theater Le Ranelagh, Paris, 1999

With Valérie Mairesse, Pétronille de Saint-Rapt, Vanessa Jarry Direction: Annabelle Milot

• Le sabotage amoureux (Loving Sabotage), Theater Daniel-Sorano, Vincennes, 2003–2005

With Pauline Foschia, Jeanne Gougeau, Laurence Vielle Adaptation et direction: Brigitte Bailleux, Laurence Vielle

• Cosmétique de l'ennemi (The Enemy's Cosmetique), "La Compagnie des Sept Lieux", Suisse, 2003–2008

With John Durand and Olivier Renault Adaptation and direction: Emmanuel Samatani and Jean-Daniel Uldry

• Les combustibles (Human Rites), Theater Daniel-Sorano, Vincennes, March – April 2008

With Michel Boy, Julie Turin, Grégory Gerrebo Direction: Stéphane Cottin

• Métaphysique des tubes (The Character of Rain), 2007–2009

With Cécile Schletzer and Claire Rieussec Direction: Claire Rieussec

• Hygiène de l'assassin (Hygiene and the Assassin), Theater of Namur and Theater "le Public", Bruxelles, September – October 2008

With Daniel Hanssens, Nathalie Cornet, Valérie Marchand and Vincent Lécuyer Direction: Pierre Santini

• Biographie de la Faim (The Life of Hunger), Theater of "La Place des Martyrs", Bruxelles, April – May 2009

With Nathalie Cornet, Michel Hinderyckx, Jessica Gazon, Stéphanie Blanchoud… Adaptation and direction: Christine Delmotte

• Les Combustibles (Human Rites), Theater of Nesle, Paris, 16 September 2010 – 2 October 2010

With Philippe Doré, Freddy Zimmer, Florine Moreau Direction: Hubert Vinzani

• Stupeur et Tremblements (Fear and Trembling), Theater "Le Petit Hébértot", Paris, 18 March 2011 – 22 May 2011

With Layla Metssitane Adaptation and direction: Layla Metssitane

Texts of songs

• For Juliette Gréco: "Le pont Juliette" (= "the Juliet Bridge"); text read by Guillaume Gallienne (2011)
• For the singer Robert: "L'appel de la succube" (="The call of succubus") (2000), "A la guerre comme à la guerre" (="You have to make the best of things"), "Le chant des sirènes" (="The siren song"), "Celle qui tue" (="the One who kills"), "Nitroglycérine", "Requiem pour une soeur perdue" (= "Requiem for a lost sister"),"Sorcière" (= "Witch") (2002)

External links

• Template:Fr icon Official site at Éditions Albin Michel
• Template:Fr icon Amélie Nothomb – best quotes
• Template:Fr icon Criticisms of Human Rites on Lire.fr
• Template:Fr icon Le voyage nothombien (The "nothombien" journey): A very complete French forum on Amélie Nothomb, her books, her current events, her photos and videos, with a new part on her sister Juliette.
• Template:Fr icon Amélie Nothomb, Une plume, Un univers... (=Amélie Nothomb, A style of writing, A world...): a French forum, very complete, and well-documented about the author, her work, her inspiring influences, current events, etc.
• Template:It icon amelienothomb.com, an Italian website & forum at Voland edizioni