Summary

Annie Ernaux writes in a free flow of prose from a collectively conscious perspective, using the pronouns “we” and “they,” as well as, occasionally, “her” or “she” when speaking about one specific woman who remains unnamed in the book. She begins The Years with a lamentation for all of the images that will ‘disappear’ – she does not explain this term. In short bullet points, she lists image after image that will be lost, such as an old TV ad, people one sees on the street, movie stills engrained in the mind, etc., before proceeding to list the words which will ‘disappear,’ too. Here, she lists turns-of-phrase that remind one of parents or grandparents, jargon from school days, and more. She then describes a photo of a baby, presumably the focus of the book, born during World War II. Ernaux launches from here into...