Thaïs Classiques de la littrature French Edition Anatole France 9781542620321 Books
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Thaïs par Anatole France. Littérature française Top 100 des meilleurs classiques de la littérature française. Quels sont les meilleurs classiques de la littérature française?
Thaïs Classiques de la littrature French Edition Anatole France 9781542620321 Books
Anatole France is best known as a satirist, including such pointed goofiness as his "Penguin Island." This story lacks the overt humor of PI, but lacks none of its thrust.The story itself is simple enough. Paphnutius, an ascetic hermit, lives a desert life of fasting, flagellation, and isolation in the name of his God of Love. He recalls the dissipations of his mundane life before donning the sack-cloth, most especially his dissipations with seductress Thaïs. In a twisted infatuation, he determines to become the pander who will deliver her body and spirit to the exclusive service of that god, "for her own good" of course. France's story allows Thaïs a relatively gentle passing from this plane. Paphnutius, however suffers the agonies in himself of all the contradiction that he imposed onto those around him, without ever discovering the source of his self-inflicted injury.
As with a dinner of many courses, France's writing delivers its substance in the main dishes but its piquancy in the little bits on the sides. He introduces a minor character to baffle the self-righteous Paphnutius, an anchorite who practices austerities like his own but not for a god like his own - a neat jab at religious extremists who can't understand that they don't have a monopoly on morality. He also introduces the effete philosopher who reads about morality, when no other entertainment presents itself. Then he offers us Thaïs herself. She beguiles men's minds on stage, and amasses a fortune of love-offerings in her harlotry. But she returns good value for value given, and those who have lost the most to her seem to think it a fair trade. France may not propose any clear code of upright behavior, but he's energetic in tweaking the bluenoses who claim to have all the answers.
Despite being a century old or more, this has a lot to say about today's religious loudmouths, the ones who live in the black-and-white world of obedience or opposition. France doesn't single them out, though. He also sees and describes lots of others, both the elevated and the debased. Without providing any clear answers or even clear questions, he offers an interesting and contrasting set of case studies. The interaction of those characters is their comparison, and France leaves any conclusion to the reader. Which, of course, is where it belongs.
//wiredweird
PS: I'm reviewing a different edition of this book than the ISBN on this page would indicate. This is a 1920s or 1930s volume from the "Illustrated Editions Company" with no attribution for the translator. It's a beautiful object, though, with rough-cut and un-cut pages, archaic illustration, and paper so thick and soft that it makes me think of flannel sheets. If I find a product listing for this specific edition, I'll move my review there.
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Thaïs Classiques de la littrature French Edition Anatole France 9781542620321 Books Reviews
This book tells the tragic story of Paphnutius, a self-righteous monk who temporarily abandons his isolated desert life to save a famous courtesan and actress, Thais, from a life of sin. As the rescue of Thais unfolds it becomes clear that the main drive of Paphnutius is not virtue but, greatest sin of all, his own vanity. Thais is his trophy for God. A witness to his own spiritual breakdown, he tries more and more extravagant acts of penitence that, to his despair, deepen his moral crisis. Ultimately his efforts are condemned by Paul, the saintly fool, as nothing more than Pride, Lust and Doubt.
The moral message, about the dangers of self-righteousness, is clear and well delivered. Some consider the book anti-religious or anti-christian. It obviously isn't either. What it criticizes is the danger to have one's common sense blinded by religious zeal in a way which ends up being ultimately self-defeating.
The spiritually confused Paphnutius is portraid kindly by Anatole France, which makes his tragedy even more poignant. One cannot but sympathise with his intense, yet misguided, efforts.
This is the first book I've ever read of Anatole France and I was expecting some sort of laugh out loud satire but this book is quite serious.
The basic plot of the story is as follows. It is set in the early centuries after the death of Christ, in Egypt. The hero is Phaphnutuis a fanatical ascetic monk living in a desert monastary, who pleasures himself by subjecting his person to as much bodily deprivaiton as possibly, which he thinks is pleasing to god. He gets a vision that tells him to go to Alexandria and Cairo to seek out the actress Thais, a lady of incomporable beauty and sensuality who lives a life of extreme luxury and gets favors from powerful men by fornicating with them. Phaphnutius with single minded zeal hopes to rescue Thais from this life of sin and bring her to Jesus.
In a way this story is one of awesome power, not just for the stretches of excellent writing it contains, but for the staggering tragedy of how Phaphnutius's life turns out, how he is overwhelmed by demons. But the story itself suffers I think, by how France's structures his dialogue. In the Dostoyevsky style, he has his characters talking to each other in the form of lengthy speeches. Unlike Dostoyevsky's dialogue, the prose of the dialogue in this book is in ornate style. However this prose is still beautiful. Nonetheless, these long speeches interrupt the power of the narration. This is particularly the case where about two thirds of the way through, France afflicts the reader with 15 or so pages of tedious rambling philosophical discourses from the mouths of the politicians and generals at the drunken party to which Phaphnutius accompanies Thais. There is a certain sloppiness in the narration in this part but following it, is the best writing of the book. This writing indeed is really first rate.
I get the feeling that the book could have been better if it had had more editing to it, but I really don't know anything.
Anatole France is best known as a satirist, including such pointed goofiness as his "Penguin Island." This story lacks the overt humor of PI, but lacks none of its thrust.
The story itself is simple enough. Paphnutius, an ascetic hermit, lives a desert life of fasting, flagellation, and isolation in the name of his God of Love. He recalls the dissipations of his mundane life before donning the sack-cloth, most especially his dissipations with seductress Thaïs. In a twisted infatuation, he determines to become the pander who will deliver her body and spirit to the exclusive service of that god, "for her own good" of course. France's story allows Thaïs a relatively gentle passing from this plane. Paphnutius, however suffers the agonies in himself of all the contradiction that he imposed onto those around him, without ever discovering the source of his self-inflicted injury.
As with a dinner of many courses, France's writing delivers its substance in the main dishes but its piquancy in the little bits on the sides. He introduces a minor character to baffle the self-righteous Paphnutius, an anchorite who practices austerities like his own but not for a god like his own - a neat jab at religious extremists who can't understand that they don't have a monopoly on morality. He also introduces the effete philosopher who reads about morality, when no other entertainment presents itself. Then he offers us Thaïs herself. She beguiles men's minds on stage, and amasses a fortune of love-offerings in her harlotry. But she returns good value for value given, and those who have lost the most to her seem to think it a fair trade. France may not propose any clear code of upright behavior, but he's energetic in tweaking the bluenoses who claim to have all the answers.
Despite being a century old or more, this has a lot to say about today's religious loudmouths, the ones who live in the black-and-white world of obedience or opposition. France doesn't single them out, though. He also sees and describes lots of others, both the elevated and the debased. Without providing any clear answers or even clear questions, he offers an interesting and contrasting set of case studies. The interaction of those characters is their comparison, and France leaves any conclusion to the reader. Which, of course, is where it belongs.
//wiredweird
PS I'm reviewing a different edition of this book than the ISBN on this page would indicate. This is a 1920s or 1930s volume from the "Illustrated Editions Company" with no attribution for the translator. It's a beautiful object, though, with rough-cut and un-cut pages, archaic illustration, and paper so thick and soft that it makes me think of flannel sheets. If I find a product listing for this specific edition, I'll move my review there.
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