"J'ai surtout revu des films de Tati, et je me suis beaucoup ennuyé, dans une salle déserte, au film de Mme Sagan."

Important autograph letter signed by Julien Gracq, 53 lines in black ink, addressed to his close friend and monographer Ariel Denis, establishing him as his biographer.
Julien Gracq expresses his regret that his friend Ariel Denis was not selected, despite his intervention, by the Berlin Academy to teach: "Je vous avais recommandé de mon mieux mais je doute que cela ait été en Allemagne d'une grande efficacité... Je sais d'ailleurs que, comme vous le pressentiez, les concurents étaient en nombre." ["I recommended you as best I could but I doubt that was very effective in Germany... I know moreover that, as you suspected, there were many competitors."]
To help his friend, the author of Rivage des Syrtes suggested to publisher Seghers, who wanted to publish a work about him in his famous "Poètes d'aujourd'hui" collection, the name of Ariel Denis, having had no news from the first biographer considered for this publication: "Ils me demandent de leur suggérer un nom. J'ai indiqué celui de Lautrat... Et j'ai indiqué le vôtre, ne sachant bien sûr aucunement si un travail de ce genre pourrait vous plaire... Il va de soi que si Seghers s'adressait à vous, vous devez être absolument libre d'accepter ou de refuser." ["They ask me to suggest a name. I indicated Lautrat's... And I indicated yours, not knowing of course at all whether work of this kind might please you... It goes without saying that if Seghers approached you, you must be absolutely free to accept or refuse."]
He also hopes to see his friend again soon before the summer holidays: "... si je ne vous revois pas avant juillet, je vous souhiate des vacances à la fois paisibles et laborieuses, en comptant vous revoir d'ici l'automne." ["...if I don't see you again before July, I wish you holidays that are both peaceful and productive, counting on seeing you again by autumn."]
He concludes his letter with his judgments as an informed cinephile: "J'ai surtout revu des films de Tati, et je me suis beaucoup ennuyé, dans une salle déserte, au film de Mme Sagan." ["I mainly rewatched Tati films, and I was very bored, in a deserted theater, by Mme Sagan's film."]
At Julien Gracq's instigation, Ariel Denis would indeed accept Seghers' proposal to publish a volume in his "Poètes d'aujourd'hui" collection about the author of Au château d'Argol, thereby becoming one of his best and most remarkable biographers.