OUR TERRITORIES OF INCOMPLETION

Blanche Leridon

Le Seuil, 208 pages, 2026

Why you should look at it:

√ How to turn everything we don't finish into life lessons
√ A sensitive, humorous and vital critique of our contemporary world
√ Noted author and winner of the  2024 Psychologies Magazine Essay Prize

Abandoning a half-read book on a night stand, putting a home renovation project on permanent pause, clinging to a relationship that’s running out of steam…In this bold and insightful essay, Blanche Leridon finds in the unfinished tasks of our daily lives rich material to reflect on our contemporary struggle with closure—from ghosting to pop culture's endless TV series in an era more than ever haunted by the fear of its own end.

Quitting isn't just a symptom of short attention spans. Leridon argues that abandoning projects—which we often treat as a guilty failure—is actually driven by deeper motives: a fear of finitude, a resistance to letting go, and a desire to stay vibrant and open to life. Could we not welcome them more generously, she asks? What if the unfinished were not just considered an escape, but also a form of clarity, courage, and freedom?

Weaving together cinematic history, literature, and intimate memories, Leridon invites readers to embrace the unfinished as a vital space for poetry and human agency. Our territories of Incompletion is a timely defense of the open ended, offering a refreshing lens through which to view our cluttered minds and beautifully messy lives.

Blanche Leridon is an essayist, professor at Sciences Po and the editorial director of the Institut Montaigne. She is the author of Le Château de mes sœurs. Des Brontë aux Kardashians, enquête (Les Pérégrines, 2024; Points, 2026, Prix de l’Essai Psychologies 2024 ) and Odyssées ordinaires. Le matin, mode d’emploi (Bouquins, 2022).