Jacques Henric Reviews Two Books on Love: Grimaldi's Metamorphoses and Pachet's Sans Amour

In a feuilleton for artpress, Jacques Henric reviews two recent French publications exploring the nature of love: Nicolas Grimaldi's "Métamorphoses de l'amour" (Grasset) and Pierre Pachet's "Sans amour" (Denoël). Grimaldi's work examines love through literary case studies, drawing on Balzac, Constant, Stendhal, Fromentin, Proust, and especially Simenon, to dissect love's pathologies—jealousy, masochism, hatred. Henric notes Grimaldi's earlier studies on Proustian jealousy and his conclusion that love often involves irrational attachment to unworthy objects, citing Catherine Breillat's real-life financial ruin at the hands of a con man. Lacan's definition is invoked: "Love is giving something you don't have to someone who doesn't want it." Pachet's "Sans amour" shifts from fiction to real women—Holocaust survivors and others—who have renounced love due to historical trauma and personal loss. Henric highlights Pachet's own experience of loss (his wife's death) and his sensual approach to time. The review contrasts Grimaldi's philosophical-literary analysis with Pachet's poignant portraits of aging women, emphasizing the enduring power of the senses.