Éric Antoine, a magical godfather for the 2023 edition of the Partir en livre festival

He stood us up, but we forgive him, he's a magician. Éric Antoine is the sponsor of this 9th edition of the Partir en livre festival. A choice at first sight surprising on the part of the National Book Center (CNL). And yet, isn't an actor, comedian and illusionist best suited to prove to young people that magic and reading are one and the same? Without a doubt, it took 2.07 meters of “sweet madness, poetry and talent” to be worthy of a national event!

“Becoming a sponsor seemed essential to me,” explains Éric Antoine. Reader since his childhood, the comedian was first “an eclectic reader guided by pleasure and not by duty. Passing through all possible genres, avoiding the readings ordered by the school, replaced by those that were offered to me or that I chose. What was he reading? Dune by Frank Herbert for example. When we were talking about fantasy… The child already had both hands in it. “I spent more time reading than talking. Today the proportions have been reversed to the great displeasure of those around me.

Éric Antoine read what he liked. And this latitude is precisely what the CNL seeks to highlight this year with a key word: freedom. What does this term inspire in the actor? “I associate the word freedom with the notion of choice and oppose it to that of illusion. Being a specialist in illusion, I see every day that the notion of freedom is completely relative. Our choices are oriented from an early age by our education, our culture, the country where we are born... we are conditioned by so many doxa. Fortunately, literature allows a completely liberating journey both inside and outside!”

Which book then embodies this notion? “The initiatory novel seems to me to be the most suitable genre. I am thinking of Narcissus and Goldmund, by Hermann Hesse, The Enchanter by René Barjavel, Jonathan Livingston the seagull by Richard Bach.” Finally, judging by Eric Antoine's bibliography, reading is an adventure and adventure is reading. So why deprive yourself of it?

According to the latest CNL report, one in five young people say they do not read at all. People under 25 spend six times more time on screens than in books. With his 279,000 people who follow him on Instagram, Éric Antoine can make the link between paper and digital. "For me, social networks are useful while books are essential."