'A book that writes itself'

 

“Our life is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escape us. We are like characters in a novel who do not always understand what the author wants of them.” – Julien Green

The first non-French national (he’s American) to be admitted to the famed Académie Française, Green was born on this date in 1900 to American parents living in France.  After spending time in America in his late teens, he returned to France and in 1922 – after a false start as a painter – began a nearly 80-year career as a writer.

 

By 1927 he had established himself on France’s literary scene only to leave at the outbreak of World War II, which once again drove him to the U.S.  During the war, he played a major role in the United States Office of War Information, becoming the “French” voice for Voice of America’s war efforts. 

 

Following the war, he wrote numerous essays on faith and religion but is most noted for his 19-volume diary.  Spanning 80 years (until his death in 1998) the diary provided the world with a unique window on the artistic and literary scene in Paris.  Its popularity was, he said, based on his free form and spontaneous writing style, folksy and highly readable.

 

 “The secret is to write just anything, to dare to write just anything,” he said,  “because when you write just anything, you begin to say what is important.”