Product Description
Superb novel by modern French master deals with the consequences of amoral hedonism. It is the story of Michel, who tries to rise above good and evil and give free rein to his passions. In so doing, he neglects his wife, with tragic consequences. This excellent new English translation by Stanley Appelbaum retains all the passion, intensity and purity of style of the original. Introductory Note. Map. Footnotes.
Amazon.com Review
With today's headlines and talk shows, it takes a lot to shock a reader--certainly more than was required in 1902, when André Gide's TheImmoralist was first published. What was seen then as a story ofdereliction translates today into a tale of introspection and fierceself-discovery. While traveling to Tunis with his new bride, the Parisian scholar Michel is overcome by tuberculosis. As he slowly convalesces, herevels in the physical pleasures of living and resolves toforgo his studies of the past in order to experience the present--to let"the layers of acquired knowledge peel away from the mind like a cosmeticand reveal, in patches, the naked flesh beneath, the authentic being hiddenthere."

But this is not the Michel his colleagues knew, nor the man Marcelinemarried, and he must hide his new values under the patina of what he nowreviles. Bored by Parisian society, he moves to a family farm in Normandy.He is happy there, especially in the company of young Charles, but he mustsoon return to the city and academe. Michel remains restless until he giveshis first lecture and runs into Ménalque, who has long outraged society,and recognizes in him a reflection of his torment. Finally, Michel headssouth, deeper into the desert, until, as he confides to his friends, he islost in the sea of sand, under a clear, directionless sky.

What Gide's story lacks in sensationalism is fulfilled by his descriptiveprose, which evokes the exotic nature of Michel's inner and outer journey:"I did not understand the forbearance of this African earth, submerged fordays at a time and now awakening from winter, drunk with water, burstingwith new juices; it laughed in this springtime frenzy whose echo, whoseimage I perceived within myself." --Joannie Kervran Stangeland ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

simple symbolic language
Beutiful poetic introspection--"nothing discourges thought so much as this perpetual blue sky" "the seeker must abjure, must disdain culture, propriety, rules."As Michel recovers and comes alive through humanity, although imperfect and often disorderly while Marceline perishes as her rosary falls....This book reminds me alot of The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, only alot more subtle and symbolic.

Well written, but falls short
A common ploy in literature is to hook the reader with an early confession of guilt- i.e. the narrator admits to some horrible act- without revealing the specific details of the act.Then, over the course of the book, the narrator tells his tale and slowly puts together the pieces of the puzzle which predictably concludes with the horrible act which has been hinted at but never fully disclosed.When used successfully, this ploy propels the reader forward and results in a satisfying experience from start to finish.When used unsuccessfully, this ploy also propels the reader forward only upon reaching the climax, the reader does not feel so fulfilled.
"The Immoralist", while well-written and worthy of discussion, ultimately falls into the latter category.The book starts off with the narrator's close friends gathering to hear a sordid tale from Michel, the narrator himself.We are not told what horrible act precipitates this meeting, but the bait has been set and the story begins.Michel is a bookworm, kind of a loner, who falls into an arranged marriage only to experience real love for the first time shortly thereafter.Unfortunately, Michel also becomes gravely ill, causing him to question his whole life and what it means.Upon recovering from his illness, Michel, dragging his wife along with him, sets upon a series of brief "life adventures" in which he finds happiness in a variety of different ways- ogling young boys, poaching his own wildlife, obsessing over intelligent young men with strong philosophical ideas.A strong current of existentialism underlies Michel's acts as he seeks and contemplates the meaning of life and what it means to be happy.
Ultimately, the horrible act which Michel commits is, by today's standards, nothing much.Even in the context of this book, however, Gide treats the atrocities which Michel supposedly commits in such a roundabout way that they do not come across as that horrible.In a way, this serves as a testament to Gide's writing- the existential arguments put forth through his characters are convincing enough to not cast guilt on any of these same character's actions.Unfortunately, considering the hype given Michel's tale early in the work, the sense of disappointment is inevitable.
Andre Gide is a great writer and while reading this book, one will not be bored.As a piece of fiction that will be long remembered once the book is put down, however, this book fails.

Happiness does not come off the peg...
...it has to be made to measure.
Gide's 1902 novel makes a strong statement on individualism.
A `simple' story, told in simple straight language.
Rich young nerd (Michel) without interest in women (or in men, so far) marries to please his dying father. Goes on honeymoon trip to North Africa, falls ill with tuberculosis, barely survives, and then, during reconvalescence, learns to live, to appreciate life, finds a new self, which leads him away from old habits and old convictions. This is a strong part, but it must be said that there is a distinct, if not explicit pedophile strain in Michel's revival.
On the way home via Italy he comes closer to his wife, who has been nursing him loyally during his illness, without much attention by the patient. She even becomes pregnant, so that they look forward to a `normal' life. They spend time on their farm in Normandy, then in their Paris apartment, but Michel drops out: he has lost the ability to function in his old role. He quits his lecturing job; he sells his farm after bouts with low lives.
The wife falls ill, has a miscarriage, they travel again; finally back to Tunisia... happiness is not to be found. Michel's tendency to drift off to darker worlds becomes stronger. After his wife dies, Michel reaches the end of his tether. Knowing how to free oneself is nothing; the difficult thing is knowing how to live with that freedom.

Structurally, the narration is first person by Michel, but wrapped in a fiction that he tells his story and his predicament to some friends of his, who come to see him in Tunisia.
I was motivated to try Gide again (after over 40 years, hadn't read him since high school, and did not keep such great recollections) by his friendship with Conrad. However similarities in narrative style or content are negligible.
The Penguin edition that I read has this to say on the back: A frank defense of homosexuality and a challenge to prevailing ethical concepts...
Hmm. Is it possible that even Penguin editors don't read the books that they praise? Where is the `frank defense'? There is nothing frank in this book, probably with good reason. It was 1902 after all. There is no explicitness. We need to guess what Michel is doing. What we see is this: his new found attitudes don't seem to make him happier.
That is not a criticism of the novel, but of the simplifiers.

While reading this, I was torn between respect for the man's struggles, his attempts to be decent, i.e. not all that much of an immoralist, on one side, and rejecting his spineless lack of direction on the other. The man is a pushover. Once he drops out of his world of respectability, he loses solid ground under his feet.
A strong novel about a weak man.

Freedom vs. responsibility
Having faced his mortality following a bout with tuberculosis, scholar Michel resolves to live a more "authentic" life, obeying the dictates of his heart rather than the repressive strictures of society.

For me, the fascinating tension in this novel concerns the balance between selfish egotism and one's responsibility to others.Andre Gide's presentation of illness is compelling and horrifying, offering a plausible catalyst for Michel's decision to change his life in fundamental ways.It is easy to sympathize with him as he struggles to rearrange his priorities, particularly considering that he is clearly a repressed homosexual living during oppressive times who feels compelled to marry a woman he doesn't love.However, he loses sympathy when he repays her attentive nursing during his own illness by dragging her about on a debilitating journey when she herself becomes sick.In my view, Michel emerges as a cautionary figure.Everyone would like to live a life unencumbered by expectations from others, but the ultimate test of character lies in recognizing the line between legitimate personal freedom and reckless disregard of other people.I fear that Michel failed his test.

Intelligent, engaging, and enjoyable.
THE IMMORALIST (written in 1902) is a predecessor, both chronologically, literarily, and intellectually, to central works such as Nietzche's WILL TO POWER (1903), Albert Camus' THE FALL (1956), among others.If you have already read the nihilists, existentialists, and absurdists, this work is particularly interesting given its influence on Camus and Sartre, particularly.If you have not, Gide's THE IMMORALIST provides an excellent entry point into these distinct philosophical areas.THE IMMORALIST has considerable depth.Gide wrote in the preface to the Vintage edition (Paul Howard translator): "One may without too much conceit, I think, prefer the risk of failing to interest the moment by what is genuinely interesting -- to beguiling momentarily a public fond of trash."Gide did tackle the genuinely interesting.

Structurally, the novel is interesting in that most of the novel is told in the first person from the perspective of Michel. However, Michel's narrative is related to us secondhand through one of his friends. The novel begins with a letter from one friend of Michel's to a government official. The short letter poses an opening question: "Can we accommodate so much intelligence, so much strength-or must we refuse them any place among us?"

While the question is posed in the context of a letter examining whether Michel could be of use to the state, Gide is really asking the reader about such supermen and society.Gide does not answer the question. As he explained: "I wanted to write this book neither as an indictment of Michel nor as an apology, and I have taken care not to pass judgment."

The text of the letter is followed by a purportedly verbatim account by Michel.Michel's account begins with his marriage to Marceline, a woman towards whom he felt "tenderness" and "a kind of pity" rather than love.While in a small desert town, Michel contracts tuberculosis.Marceline dutifully nurses him back to health.Michel's illness renews his passion for living:"Now I would make the thrilling discovery of life."during his recovery, he decides he must redefine "Good" and "Right" to mean "whatever was healthy for [him]."He rejects his formerly bookish ways and sets out to define a new path, wringing from life what pleasure he can.

When his health improves enough to leave his sickbed, he discovers that Marceline has been become acquainted with a group of local boys.He starts avoiding Marceline's company in favor of the company of the boys. The boys are, after all, vigorously alive and youthful.This trend is repeated in numerous locales, where Michel finds someone new and, in their way, exotic to him.His friendships usually involve breaking social mores and, often, the law.

Michel spends the rest of the novel exploring the world and his newfound philosophy of life. For Michel, "sensation was becoming as powerful as thoughts." Gide magnificently manages Michel's transformation from a dependable, bookish man of means to a rather self-centered, erratic, pleasure-seeker. But Michel's pleasure-seeking is not simple hedonism, he is trying to navigate between living in the past (as in his previous vocation as scholar of history) and living only for the future.A man Michel meets, Menalque, encourages Michel to adopt his own philosophy:

"I create each hour's newness by forgetting yesterday completely. Having been happy is never enough for me. I don't believe in dead things. What's the difference between no longer being and never having been?"

Gide never spells out whether Michel answers this or any of the other questions so adroitly presented.Readers are left to ponder the weighty issues raised for themselves.This is an idea-driven novel.However, there are compelling plot points throughout, which I will not ruin by detailing.The book is a quick read.

THE IMMORALIST has the potential to be life changing in ways that few books are.Gide's Nobel Prize for Literature was well-deserved. ... Read more

Product Description
A young artist pursues a search for knowledge through the treatment of homosexuality and the collapse of morality in middle class France. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Pretense and Compassion
Andre Gide's "The Counterfeiters" is a novel about individual development in a society structured by deceit. The French writer began the novel after World War I and continued working on it for years until it was published in 1927.Set in Paris, the story describes upper middle class adolescent boys and the men who exploit them. The plot progresses in a somewhat disjointed fashion as Gide inserts psychoanalytic insights popular at the time. Some of Gide's journal entries, included as an appendix to the novel, indicate a dissatisfaction with his ability to produceseamless connections between realistic structure and unconscious processes.

In the first half of the novel, the young characters are introduced, and their intellectual, social, and artistic developments are described in an engaging manner reminiscent of Balzac. The reader is involved in the plot and cares about the behavior of each of the boys. The children are becoming adults without the realization that a single immature act can determine a life path.

In the second half of the book, the pace of the plot slows as Gide inserts an increasing number of psychological interpretations into the story.The device he uses is a journal written by a novelist character, Edouard, who is using his experience with the boys and their families to write his own novel.With this voice, Gide is able to discuss events from the point of view of a witness who is intimately involved in the action and assumes a role of psychoanalyst.

The final chapters of the novel demonstrate Gide's success in the integration of form and free expression as the plot accelerates to chaos and resolution. The reader understands that all of the boys are counterfeiters in their interactions with family, friends, and others. This is expected from adolescents who are impulsive and largely ignorant of life's consequences.But we do not expect the adult characters to be counterfeiters, to try to deceive by pretense and dissembling in order to exploit the boys socially, intellectually, and sexually. Though this counterfeit life is entrenched in the adults, Gide provides hope that the younger generation is capable of insight and judgment and can avoid dissolute lives.

Complete redemption by the boys is possible if they recognize the immorality of their external counterfeit roles. They must learn to stop the narcissistic internal voice that speaks to them incessantly reflecting the counterfeit influence of parents and friends. Finally, they can enter the silence of genuine communication with people, without guile or envy, and experience a compassionate and selfless immersion in the lives of others.

Minor Masterpiece
This qualifies as literature, and should be read by everyone, but, compared to the rest of the literary pantheon, it really is a bagatelle. It's quintessentially Gallic in style, and Gide inserts a great deal of his Oscar Wilde-like wit into the characters' dialogue; this accounts for most of the reading pleasure. There is a plot of sorts, but the narrative isn't plot-driven. Very easy to read, funny, and well-written. (There is a dour, rather melodramatic climax, but I got the sense that this was dutifully tacked on, as it didn't represent the culmination of the overall arc of the novel...which may have been the point!)

good read
This is not a plot-oriented story, so if you are looking for "what happens next", you will be disappointed, even though there is enough happening.For example, in the beginning, the affair of Vincent and Laura is in the foreground, but then half way through, after Laura goes back to her husband, it's almost forgotten and Vincent is out of the picture, and the reader is not going to be informed about what happened to him or Laura in details.Instead, the other issues of the other characters take over the story.In other words, the "events" aren't the important issue Gide is dealing with.

There are so many, in fact too many, for my little brain to grasp, characters and each of them has his/her own story and issues to be dealt with, and at times I felt I couldn't digest them all (to remember all the names alone was a challenge).As Gide says in his notebook, this book could have been divided into two books.Nonetheless, he decided to put everything in one book, one story, and he "gave everything" he had, as he expected this story to be his last novel.
There are more discussions on art, literature, and moral issues than the story itself, which I enjoyed and learned a great deal.This sort of novels are very rare these days, as the current trend of novels are more "event-based" than "idea-based".
His notebooks are even more enjoyable.

As for homosexuality, I didn't find a trace of it in this novel.Would someone tell me where people got that idea?Or am I missing something?My guess is the affection and respect between Eduard and Oliver is the cause of it, but they're Uncle and Nephew, which makes it only natural that they possess affection, fondness and love, especially if they share the same interest, and both of them being artists, shy and sensitive by nature.
The corruption of the society, both in adults and young people, was brought up brilliantly.Only, I wish it was told throughOliver's eye.(I really wanted to get to know him better, but there were too many other characters who took up the pages.)

The sudden ending caught me by surprise, and I was a bit dissatisfied, but after reading the notebooks and realized that's how Gide wanted it, I decided to respect his decision.
Some of the characters needed a bit more attention and needed to be developed a little more, I think, especially Boris, as he is the one who ends the story by a drastic action such as committing suicide.(I never got to know him well enough to know what was going on in his head.)

The style is unique.It's written mainly in 3rd person omnicient, but often Gide lets Eduard tell the story in his journal, in 1st person. And then he goes back to omnicient again in the next chapter.This repeats throughout.The trouble I had was that there were so many characters, and I really didn't get to know any of them intimately.Eduard was the only one I felt I got to know, but that's because he was given many chances to write journals in 1st person.
There are several main characters obviously, but then occasionally the less important characters also come out in the foreground. So you think there's going to be a story about them, but then they disappear and you don't hear about them for a while.
In the notebook, he says that the important characters shouldn't be in the foreground but instead let the reader figure them out, or something to that effect.It was only then I realized what he was trying to do.It is a rare style, I think, and requires some adjusting.

In any case, it's a very readable novel, has a lot to offer, and I should say you will get your money's worth.

"Strip from the novel everything that does not belong to it"
There's no shortage of quality literature, but it's not so often that you find someone who actually seems to be working with the limits of the medium, and stretching them. With this book, Gide did for the novel what people like Lynch and Tarentino have done for film.

'The Counterfeiters' is a novel presumably written by one of its characters, Edouard, who is planning to write a novel titled 'The Counterfeiters,' but is struggling with a case of writer's block. What seems to give him trouble is that the complexity of his experience keeps defying his attempts to apply a scheme of interpretation to it, and a sense of personal crisis which makes it difficult for him to maintain his objectivity as an artist. As a read, though, it isn't half as strange and experimental as that might make it sound; its wide cast of characters is typical of a traditional novel, such as War and Peace or a Tale of Two Cities, but Gide works with incredible subtley behind the scenes. Edouard's musing about the nature of narrative structure (to other characters) is suddenly reflected in his world, as though he were unconsciously God. The themes are tenuous and only gradually developed. Some characters are the ordinary sort of people who began to emerge in the literature of Twain, Dostoevsky and Turgenev, while some are more like the dramatic heroes of Shakespeare and Dickens. There's even a guest appearance by Alfred Jarry, the gleefully profane French dramatist of the period. Halfway through, in a chapter titled 'The Author Stops to Appraise his Characters,' Gide himself (or possibly Eduoard) offers his frank opinions on the characters (or real people?) who populate the novel.

If possible, buy a copy which includes 'The Journals...,' the record that Gide kept while writing this, which provides even more insight into his method.

Decent novel, but overrated
Three-and-a-half stars.Gide's reputation precedes him.He is generally regarded as one of France's best novelists and is widely admired by American writers as well.I plunged into this novel eagerly and emerged from it, two days later, with little more than a shrug.I hesitate to be too critical about books that I read in translation; one never knows how accurately the translator has captured the original work.

All in all, there's nothing really wrong with The Counterfeiters; it reads and feels at times like Dickens and a spate of other nineteenth-century British novels--the cast of characters is rather large, there are ample doses of melodrama, and the story makes use of several nice "coincidences" to tie otherwise disparate storylines together.It's been said that Gide's style was revolutionary for his day, but it's fair to say that readers today will find it fairly conventional.The same goes for the book's "scandalous" reputation--there is nothing about The Counterfeiters that will shock or amaze readers in 2003 the way it may have in 1926, when it was first published.

That said, The Counterfeiters is a decent book.There are moments when the reader feels that Gide has touched upon something greater than the story itself; some cutting observation about the relationship between Art and Morality, or the decline of social morals.But the material and style is otherwise dated.I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading this book, if so inclined.But as for me, six months from now, I'm doubt I'll remember much about it.It just didn't make much of an impression. ... Read more

Product Description
"Strait is the Gate", first published in 1909 in France as "La Porte etroite", is a novel about the failure of love in the face of the narrowness of the moral philosophy of Protestantism. --- André Gide (1869 - 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career spanned from the symbolist movement to the advent of anticolonialism in between the two World Wars. Gide's work can be seen as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of how to be fully oneself, without at the same time betraying one's values... --- "For Gide was very different from the picture most people had of him. He was the very reverse of an aesthete, and, as a writer, had nothing in common with the doctrine of art for art's sake. He was a man deeply involved in a specific struggle, a specific fight, who never wrote a line which he did not think was of service to the cause he had at heart." (Francois Mauriac) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A Favorite
"Now that I have found you again, life, thought, our souls-everything seems beautiful, adorable, inexhaustibly fertile"

This is one of the most complex, heart wrenching books I've ever read. Its beautifully written too, almost poetic. I won't get into the plot, but it goes much, much deeper than religious piety; if thats all you got out of it you weren't reading close enough. It's the first and only book I've read by Gide; I'm afraid to read others in case they don't live up to the expectations this book gave me.

Piercing psychological observations into the facade of Romanticism...
Subtle; powerful. The limited point of view demands much patience, but the work ends with a searing revelation of the lie that is Romanticism, in all its guises, whether it is Jerome's saintly idealization of Alissa, or Alissa's self-alienating and eventually suicidal devotion to a God that is really an aspect of her own unloved Self.

Pretty Good
I first heard about André Gide, I believe, while reading one of Boyle's short story. It was some off handed reference but I found myself picking up Strait is the Gate and the book the proceeded to live on my shelf for quite some time before I read it. The plot is intriguing but somewhat generic: two sisters fall in love with the same man. Some interesting twists occur, the man is rejected by both women, and the book ends developing both of the sister's positions in the relationship (otherwise the book is narrated by the man). However, the book increasingly became annoying as the relationships floundered for no apparent reason. Even by the end of the novel once reasons of sacrifice and a hire calling are pursued one still stops and wonders: say what? Strait is the Gate is filled with a misogynistic tendency of consistent and regular female sacrifice for the higher calling of a man. It's interesting in its fashion and a short read but the constant referencing of the childlike love is very true - it's a very immature and over romanticized love that blossoms.

a strange emptiness
A reviewer said earlier that he became physically ill as he read on. I felt something similar. The story gripped me in my throat, and there were moments when I think I stopped breathing. The story of utmost purity and self-sacrifice (utter foolishness to cynics) cut so close that I think it tore my heart. The image painted at the end of the story was so sublime that the reader will find himself unable to utter a single word, and at the same time, a strange emptiness wells up within...

beautiful book
I read this book long long ago when I was 15 or so.It was one of the first real literary works I have ever read, and, at that age, the purity in human relationship which this story pursuits came through naturally for me (getting ideas about human relationship through this book was definitely better than through tabloids or crappy magazines or romance novels or Hollywood movies!).I have never cried or suffered over a relationship, and been happily married for 25 yrs now.

In the Afterward in the edition I have read, the translator explained that the story reflects Gide's own marriage, or the relationship with his wife.Gide loved his wife dearly, but they hardly had a sexual relationship, or something to that effect, and throughout their marriage, Gide was tormented.

To me, at age 15, the idea, the kind of love that Alissa was looking for -- "divine" and on a higher plane, spiritual than physical, intangible than tangible, and eternal and true -- was quite attractive.It may look unhealthy, but you don't read a story and take it literally.It is a story of Gide's thoughts and ideals, not the story of literal facts.You don't really live your ideal, but to keep that ideal in your mind while you live your daily life is a great way to live.
This book's ideal doesn't go with today's trend or culture, and it is hard to understand.But I think Gide's endeaver was well worth it. It's a very good book to read, especially for young people.It will take you to a -- if not a higher plane, a different realm, and you will see love and relationship from a totally different angle.
... Read more

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Isabelle is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Andre Gide is in the French language. If you enjoy the works of Andre Gide then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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This is the major autobiographical statement from Nobel laureate André Gide. In the events and musings recorded here we find the seeds of those themes that obsessed him throughout his career and imbued his classic novels The Immoralist and The Counterfeiters.

Gide led a life of uncompromising self-scrutiny, and his literary works resembled moments of that life. With If It Die, Gide determined to relay without sentiment or embellishment the circumstances of his childhood and the birth of his philosophic wanderings, and in doing so to bring it all to light. Gide’s unapologetic account of his awakening homosexual desire and his portrait of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas as they indulged in debauchery in North Africa are thrilling in their frankness and alone make If It Die an essential companion to the work of a twentieth-century literary master.
... Read more

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The book "Prometheus Illbound" is one of the most characteristic books of Andre Gide: a work of pure intelectual fantasy, where the subtle brain of the author has full play. It is the expression of the humorous side of a mind which must be ranked among the greatest of the world's literature. "The work of art is the exaggeration of an idea," says Gide in the epilogue of "Prometheus Illbound". This is really the explanation of the whole book and of many other books of Gide. --- Andre Paul Guillaume Gide (1869-1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. His other works include: "Les Caves du Vatican" ("Lafcadio's Adventures"), "Les Nourritures Terrestres" ("Fruits of the Earth"), "La Porte Etroite" ("Strait is the Gate"), "L'Immoraliste" ("The Immoralist") and many others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

loved it
This was an exciting book to read in its own bizarre way.I think the author sums it up best when he calls it the "exaggeration of an idea".What that idea is however; eluded me.It carries a big punch for such a little book and I'm already looking forward to re-reading it!
... Read more

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Andre Gide's lifelong fascination with the conventions of society led naturally to a strong interest in France's judicial system. Judge Not details his experiences with the law as well as his thoughts on truth, justice, and judgment. Gide writes about his experience as a juror in several trials, including that of an arsonist, and he analyzes two famous crimes of his day: Marcel Redureau, a docile fifteen-year old vineyard labourer who violently murdered his employer's family, and the respected Monnier family's confinement of their daughter, Blanche. Andre Gide (1869-1951) is one of the giants of twentieth century literature, honoured for his plays, fiction, and criticism, as well as his extraordinary Journals. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1947. Benjamin Ivry 's translations from the French include Vanished Splendors: The Memoirs of Balthus, Jules Verne's Magellania, Witold Gombrowicz's A Guide to Philosophy in Six Hours and Fifteen Minutes, and other books. ... Read more

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The Journals of Andre GideVolume 1Translated, selected, and edited by Justin O'Brien ... Read more

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In beautiful, evocative prose, Gide's short novel explores such themes as love, blindness, honor, and mortality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

One of the best
This is a beautifully written tale of how a good person can deceive himself (or herself) and do great damage. It is as good an examination of self centeredness and the suffering it causes as any Buddhist text (I'm a 19 year Chan and Tibetan practitioner) and a gorgeous peice of literature besides.

A fascinating novella
The 60 or so pages of 'La Symphonie Pastorale' was all that Andre Gide needed to offer us a beautifully rendered account of the passions of a rural, Protestant minister, and their affects on him and those around him.

Gide's novella circles around the aforementioned minister and his 'Christian Mission' to take in and educate a blind, mute girl who lives in his parish. Gide provides an interesting reflection on the clash that occurs when optimistic Christian idealism comes head to head with the realities of life. The zealotry of this good samaritan is brought crashing down to earth when his ambitions are expressed to his exasperated wife and his less than enthusiatic family.

What proves more interesting however is Gide's development of the relationship between the minister and the young blind girl. The affection that develops in the heart of the minister forges parallels with Vladimir Nabokov's 'Lolita', however Gide develops this bond in a different manner. This closeness is on far more of an emotional and spiritual level and does not have the lascivious or explicitly sexual leanings of Nabokov's novel.

Gide's talents in respect of both depth of character and richness of prose, are well exemplified in this very attractive novella. For those interested in reading Gide, 'La Symphonie Pastorale' is a perfect starting point.

Un émouvant roman
Un roman émouvant avec un amour difficile, voire impossible, entre le narrateur, pasteur dans le Jura, et une orpheline aveugle, Gertrude. Le pasteur rencontre Gertrude dans une ferme. La jeune femme se trouve dans un état physique lamentable et le pasteur décide de l'emmener chez lui pour faire son éducation. Il passe beaucoup de temps avec elle, lui apprend à lire. Le mécontentement de sa femme Amélie va grandissant : elle reproche au pasteur de s'occuper davantage de Gertrude que de ses propres enfants. Il n'échappe pas à Amélie que bientôt le pasteur développera un sentiment plus que paternel pour Gertrude. Lorsque Gertrude va recouvrer la vue, sa relation avec le pasteur court vers le désastre.
Un des meilleurs romans d'André Gide.

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The 1947 Nobel Laureate in literature Andre Gide (1869-1951) wrote this short story in 1919. It is considered to be a lyrical prelude to his major novel "the Counterfeiters", published seven years later. This story is similar to "the Counterfeiters" in a way that it explores the falsehood that exists in the relationships between people.

The story tells about a rural pastor, who adopts, out of mercy, an orphaned girl, whose condition is further aggravated by the fact that prior to becoming an orphan, she had been living with an elderly and somewhat deaf aunt; therefore, she is not adept in understanding the language that people speak and the connection that exists between words and perceptions. The pastor undertakes the responsibility of educating the blind girl - her name is Gertrude - in accordance with the methods that are used to educate the blind. At the same time, the relationships within the pastor's family grow complex ...

This story is a rebellion against rigours of religious postulates. At one time it enjoyed a great popularity in author's native France and in 1946 its screen version was released. However, the likelihood that the story, the way it is described, could take place indeed is somewhat low. Not only the believability of the plot line is questionable, the emotions seem to be overdramatised. "The Counterfeiters" does not share these drawbacks, though.

A good french read
Andre Gide's Symphonie Pastorale was a wonderful book, but a hard read if you are not fluent in french. Many details are easily overlooked that are important to the book if you don't have perfected french reading skills. The book itself, was a wonderful and emotional tail that asked me questions I've never thought of before. But, sincerly, if you're not yet fluent in french, wait a year or two until you know french better to read this book. The symbolism and artful writing deserves is only effective if fully understood.√ ... Read more

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1925. French writer, humanist, and moralist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947. Gide's search for self, the underlying theme of his several works, remained essentially religious. Throughout his career Gide used his writings to examine moral questions. He is as well known for his influence as a moralist and a thinker as for his contributions to literature. Lafcadio Wluiki is one of the original creations in modern fiction. Gide's preoccupation with the gratuitous action, the unmotivated crime-it has a place in more than one of his books-here receives its most extended treatment, and Lafcadio is the instrument. With characteristic irony, Gide leads the police to a solution wherein the wrong man is apprehended and punished for the crime, while the charmingly perverse Lafcadio goes free. The action passes with cinematographic speed, chiefly in the capitals of Europe. The actors, other than Lafcadio, are noblemen, saints, adventurers and pickpockets. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

An Examination of an Exceedingly Relevant Question
I came to this after reading, and loving, The Immoralist, and I was not disappointed. In this novel, Gide seems to be continuing the examination of personal responsibility to others and oneself--there's very little logical reason to avoid that which society considers "bad," (murder, stealing) so long as there is a good chance of anonymity. This sort of question has continued relevance to a modern audience, and Gide offers some interesting outcomes.
As for the translation, admittedly never having read the French, it seemed a bit wordy compared to the economy of version The Immoralist I'm familiar with. However as I have not compared the styles of the novels in their original tongue I can't say if this discrepancy lies there or with the different translators.

a very funny soap opera book
the writingwas wonderful, it flowed beautifully between characters and theplots, you didn;t have to go back 20 pages to remember who was whom, (i think thats correct english)it was funny and the characters were believable,i thoroughly enjoyed the book....

Nobel Prize Winner Andre Gide at his best!
Anything but common place writing ... so original in thinking. I also loved the hop-scotching through all the European cities and meeting all the characters he ran into. Find it interesting that his books at the time became banned by the Vatican, but werent so many. Great read.

Boring and definitely didn't get to me.....
I am used to the fact that whenever I pick up a book by a Nobel laureate, it's usually a pretty safe bet.Unfortunately, this was not the case with Andre Gide's LAFCADIO'S ADVENTURES.To be quite frank, I had a very hard time finishisng the novel.

Lafcadio, the main character, has had a very hard life.His mother went through a series of lovers, whom she made him call "uncle" every single time.These men marked Lafcadio's life each in a different manner.He turns out to be a poor man, both economically and emotionally.All of a sudden he finds out he is the [illegal] son of a very rich man, and his life suddenly changes.Combining his new situation with wit, imagination and a few perverse ideas, provides enough for what could have been an excellent plot and novel.

Together with a close friend, he designs a scam, involving the supposed kidnapping of the Pope, to swindle rich people out of their money.Although the book is supposed to be funny and very witty, I must admit I simply did not get it.Boring is the first word that comes to mind.

As I mentioned before, even the not-so-good books by Nobel laureates are usually above average.In my opinion, not the case with LAFCADIO'S ADVENTURES

Much more here than meets the eye
Gide's _Lafacdio's Adventures_ is much more than a book about a young man who commits a senseless crime.It is also far more than just a couple of mascarading crooks who concoct a story of the kidnapping of a high church official as a means of bilking a naive gentleman of his money.Gide has written a marvelously twisty-even slightly twisted-and often hillariously funny crime novel.What places _Lafcadio's Adventures_ far above that genre is its emphasis on the meaning of friendship, loyalty, genuine caring and a real sense of responsibility for another human being that can and often does transform people.Gide takes an interesting look at a social outsider in a fresh and humane way.The result is a truer and far more complex and sympathetic picture of such an individual.Even if I could not quite make out his motivations there is still much to think about in Gide's brilliant study of saints and sinners. ... Read more

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Beginning with a single entry for the year 1889, when he was twenty, and continuing intermittently but indefatigably through his life, the Journals of Andr Gide constitute an enlightening, moving, and endlessly fascinating chronicle of creative energy and conviction. Astutely and thoroughly annotated by Justin O'Brien in consultation with Gide himself, this translation is the definitive edition of Gide's complete journals.The complete journals, representing sixty years of a varied life, testify to a disciplined intelligence in a constantly maturing thought. These pages contain aesthetic appreciations, philosophic reflections, sustained literary criticism, notes for the composition of his works, details of his personal life and spiritual conflicts, accounts of his extensive travels, and comments on the political and social events of the day, from the Dreyfus case to the German occupation.Gide records his progress as a writer and a reader as well as his contacts and conversations with the bright lights of contemporary Europe, from Paul Valry, Paul Claudel, Lon Blum, and Auguste Rodin to Marcel Proust, Stephen Mallarm, Oscar Wilde, and Nadia Boulanger.Devoid of affectation, alternately overtaken by depression and animated by a sense of urgency and hunger for literature and beauty, Gide read voraciously, corresponded voluminously, and thought profoundly, always questioning and doubting in search of the unadulterated truth. 'The only drama that really interests me and that I should always be willing to depict anew', he wrote, is the debate of the individual with whatever keeps him from being authentic, with whatever is opposed to his integrity, to his integration. Most often the obstacle is within him. And all the rest is merely accidental. ... Read more

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Considered by Gide to be the most important of his books, this slim, exquisitely crafted volume consists of four dialogues on the subject of homosexuality and its place in society.

Published anonymously in bits and pieces between 1911 and 1920, Corydon first appeared in a signed, commercial edition in France in 1924 and in the United States in 1950, the year before Gide's death. The present edition features the impeccable translation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Richard Howard.

In spirited dialogue with his bigoted, boorish interviewer, Corydon marshals evidence from naturalists, historians, poets, and philosophers to support his contention that homosexuality pervaded the most culturally and artistically advanced civilizations, from Greece in the age of Pericles to Renaissance Italy and England in the age of Shakespeare. Although obscured by later critics, literature and art from Homer to Titian proclaim the true nature of relationships between such lovers as Achilles and Patrocles--not to mention Virgil's mythical Corydon and his shepherd, Alexis. The evidence, Corydon suggests, points to heterosexuality as a socially constructed union, while the more fundamental, natural relation is the homosexual one.

"My friends insist that this little book is of the kind which will do me the greatest harm," Gide wrote of his Corydon. In these pages, contemporary readers will find a prescient and courageous treatment of a topic that has scarcely become less controversial. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A quick amusing read
A quick, amusing read, but not Gide's best work.The work doesn't have the same subjective character studies I've grown to love, but rather readslike a scientific paper written by a skeptical college student. Nonetheless, it is a landmark work in gay literature and so I gave it 4stars instead of the 3 it actually earned. ... Read more

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Most of André Gide’s richly-varied literary output has long been available to American readers. Only one aspect of his protean career has been lacking in translation: the essays, the publication of which will go far to explain why Gide holds in France such high rank as a critic. Many of the essays in Pretexts: Reflections on Literature and Morality were provoked by events in the cultural and political world of twentieth-century France, a turbulent setting that produced a lasting literature. These essays are vintage Gide, informed by his characteristic spirit—his hard brilliance, pointed honesty, and the enduring relevance of his concerns.

Readers of his Journals will be prepared for the style, intelligence, and marksmanship that Gide brings to bear in these forty-two articles on life as well as on letters. His range, as always, is broad: a long and moving memoir of his encounters with Oscar Wilde; a series of combats against reactionary nationalists and self-appointed purifiers of morals; estimates of Mallarmé, Baudelaire, Proust, Gautier, and Valéry, among others; letters to Jacques Rivière, Jean Cocteau, and Francis Jammes; and general essays on art, literature, the theater, and politics.

Justin O’Brien, famous for his studies in modern French literature, has written that Gide is "related to La Fontaine and Racine by his essential conciseness and crystalline style, to Montaigne and Goethe by his inquiring mind which reconciled unrest and serenity, to Baudelaire by his lucid, prophetic criticism." O’Brien, who has done so much to bring contemporary French literature to America, supervised the translations in Pretexts: Reflections on Literature and Morality, prepared several of them himself, and contributes an informative general introduction and additional commentary to preface the various sections of this major book.

Andre Gide (1869-1951) was a French author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. He began his writings at the start of the symbolist movement and was most widely known for his fictional and autobiographical works. Among his best-known works are The Counterfeiters, The Immoralist, Lafcadio’s Adventures, Strait Is the Gate, and the Journals.

Justin O’Brien (1906-1969) was an author famous for his studies in modern French literature. Some of his works include Portrait of André Gide, The French Literary Horizon, and Literature to Us.

Customer Reviews (1)

A LIITERARY WORKNOT A POLITICAL TRACT
ANDRE GIDE travelled for 11 months in the western French African colonies, with his lover MARC ALLEGRET who shot a documentary under the same title: VOYAGE AU CONGO.
Gide was not an effete epicurian and he shows his anger against he unspeakable treatment of the Africans by the private companies and against the colonial administration who doesn't do anything.
He came from a rich family and we can't expect from him a denunciation of colonialism in its principle. It's only a system
to be improved by the French government against the greed of the colonial agents.
But it was too much for the press and the politicians, except for the communists (nice LEON BLUM did nothing, as usual).
The question came to the parliament but GIDE soon was the accused, not the system.
The main part of this thin book is not about colonialism but the nature who amazed, charmed and frightened Gide, who writes with his usual guilessness, without any aesthetic pretentiousness.
In 1928, GIDE published RETURN TO TCHAD (RETOUR AU TCHAD), a comparable book who can seem to be the same thing.
The Soviet government was stupîd enough to invite him,along with other writers.
He published RETURN FROM USSR (RETOUR DE L'URSS) in 1936, who condemned communism, without reservation.
That didn't stop the VICHY REGIME (the secretary of education was gay too) from accusing him of having "demoralized French youth".
... Read more