La Place by Annie Ernaux (Nobel Prize in Literature 2022) | Folio

"As a child, when I tried to express myself in chastened language, I felt like I was throwing myself into the void. One of my imaginary fears, having a father who was a teacher who would have forced me to speak well all the time by detaching the words. We spoke with our whole mouths. Since the ma was "taking over" me, later I wanted to take my father back, to tell him that "to go to the ground" or "quarter less than eleven o'clock" did not exist. He became violently angry. Another time: "How can you expect me not to be reprimanded if you speak badly all the time!" I was crying. He was unhappy. Everything that has to do with language is in my memory a reason for resentment and painful quarrels, much more than money."