Most of Andre 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 Mallarme, Baudelaire, Proust,
Gautier, and Valery, among others; letters to Jacques Riviere, 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.
General
Imprint: |
Routledge
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
September 2017 |
First published: |
2011 |
Authors: |
Andre Gide
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152mm (L x W) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
352 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-138-53070-6 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
Philosophy >
General
Books >
Philosophy >
General
|
LSN: |
1-138-53070-0 |
Barcode: |
9781138530706 |
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