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L'Eau des Collines
The Water of the Hills: Jean de Florette & Manon of the Springs
Book by Marcel Pagnol
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
33 people are currently reading
1606 people want to read
About the author
Marcel Pagnol
318 books288 followersMarcel Pagnol was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. In 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie Française.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
May 25, 2013
Moderan klasik francuske književnosti... Knjiga koja je sjajno ovekovečena odličnom ekranizacijom sa Depardjeom u glavnoj ulozi... Potražite i knjigu i film...
April 9, 2009
If you're tired of these tricky post-modern novels, with their antiheroes and unreliable narrators and structural cleverness, then here's the perfect antidote. A really good, old-fashioned story, where you can unashamedly identify with the main characters, grit your teeth at the bad guys' perfidy, and weep the odd tear. And there is no case in literary history where the book and the film are so perfectly integrated. Pagnol started with a movie, which he wrote partly as a vehicle for his beautiful actress wife; then he turned it a pair of books, which greatly expanded the story; and finally, Claude Berri made two new films, based on the books. I believe that they are still the most successful French movies of all time, and launched both Emmanuelle Béart and Daniel Auteuil as major stars.
So, the book. The story is played out in early 20th century Provence. Simple-minded, basically well-meaning Ugolin comes home from the war with a get-rich scheme; he's going to raise carnations. He's learned the difficult art of growing them successfully, and there's a good market for the flowers, but the problem is that carnations require huge amounts of water. He discusses it with his Machiavellian uncle, César, who has an idea. There's this old farm, Les Romarins, which would be ideal: it has a fine spring.
Les Romarins is, however, just about to be occupied by Jean and his family. Jean's mother, Florette, came from the village, but he grew up in the big city, and has had a desk job. Now, he's decided that he's going to get in contact with his roots, take over the old farm, and raise rabbits. Before Jean arrives, César and Ugolin sneak in, and block up the spring. They figure that, without water, Jean won't be able to do anything; he'll be forced to give up, sell the farm, and move back to the city. Then they'll be free to start growing flowers. It seems pretty cruel to Jean, but for some reason that doesn't appear to bother César.
Unfortunately, they haven't counted on Jean's tenacity. He refuses to admit defeat, and makes a horrible trek every day to fetch water. He knows, moreover, that there used to be a spring on the farm, and keeps searching for it. But he doesn't find it, and, despite all his energy and determination, you can't run a farm without a good water supply. In the end, his options run out. César and Ugolin get control of the farm, and unblock the spring. What they don't realise is that Jean's young daughter, Manon, has seen them do it. She puts the pieces together, and swears that she will get revenge.
I won't give away any more spoilers, but suffice to say that the plot is quite perfect, and the ending is one of the most satisfying I know. Justice is done, but not in the way you expect. And if you have some French, consider reading it in the original; the language is pleasing and not at all difficult.
So, the book. The story is played out in early 20th century Provence. Simple-minded, basically well-meaning Ugolin comes home from the war with a get-rich scheme; he's going to raise carnations. He's learned the difficult art of growing them successfully, and there's a good market for the flowers, but the problem is that carnations require huge amounts of water. He discusses it with his Machiavellian uncle, César, who has an idea. There's this old farm, Les Romarins, which would be ideal: it has a fine spring.
Les Romarins is, however, just about to be occupied by Jean and his family. Jean's mother, Florette, came from the village, but he grew up in the big city, and has had a desk job. Now, he's decided that he's going to get in contact with his roots, take over the old farm, and raise rabbits. Before Jean arrives, César and Ugolin sneak in, and block up the spring. They figure that, without water, Jean won't be able to do anything; he'll be forced to give up, sell the farm, and move back to the city. Then they'll be free to start growing flowers. It seems pretty cruel to Jean, but for some reason that doesn't appear to bother César.
Unfortunately, they haven't counted on Jean's tenacity. He refuses to admit defeat, and makes a horrible trek every day to fetch water. He knows, moreover, that there used to be a spring on the farm, and keeps searching for it. But he doesn't find it, and, despite all his energy and determination, you can't run a farm without a good water supply. In the end, his options run out. César and Ugolin get control of the farm, and unblock the spring. What they don't realise is that Jean's young daughter, Manon, has seen them do it. She puts the pieces together, and swears that she will get revenge.
I won't give away any more spoilers, but suffice to say that the plot is quite perfect, and the ending is one of the most satisfying I know. Justice is done, but not in the way you expect. And if you have some French, consider reading it in the original; the language is pleasing and not at all difficult.
March 8, 2014
Jean de Florette: The Water of the Hills, première partie
Jean de Florette is the first part of Marcel Pagnol's moving, humorous, mournful, triumphant two-part novel titled The Water of the Hills. His story, set in the bucolic hillside of Provence, is a lesson in the power of nature- of the land in its capacity for sustaining life and destroying it; it represents the varying shades of human nature, determined resolve and resilience. Family, and the continuity of generations are also a significant aspect of the novel's theme.
The provincial drama sets the sly, old peasant Cesar Soubeyran(aka Papet), and his dimwitted nephew, Ugolin(aka Galinette) against the cultured, refined hunchback from Crespin, Jean Cadoret, focusing on a plot of land that is fundamental to them all.
On the deaths of his grandfather and his mother, Florette, Jean inherits a farm, Les Romarins, near the small town of Les Bastides. Being disgusted with city life in Crespin, he moves with his wife, Aimee and little daughter, Manon, devising grandiose plans to cultivate and live off the land. The Soubeyrans have their own schemes for the land--rich of soil, under which flows the eponymous natural springs--and deviously plot to sabotage Jean's endeavors.
The ill-treatment of Jean de Florette from the villagers of Les Bastides bears a slight resemblance to that of Victor Hugo's Notre Dame character, Quasimodo. He is looked upon as an unwelcomed stranger, an outsider, mistrusted, alienated, and even abused by a 'stray' boule.
Jean's farming devices are successful when nature is kind, but eventually, he is dishearteningly defeated by its destructive wrath. His refusal to 'never give up' stems from the city life he left, where he was humiliated, also for his hunchback. The stubbornness and determination to forge on, despite the disastrous toll on his finances and health, not withstanding the devious actions of the Soubeyrans, lead to his tragic downfall, creating the opportunity for the Soubeyrans to takeover the coveted land.
Pagnol's dual tales were well rendered in film, but to read the novel version was a sheer delight. His literary style was easy flowing, his prose vivid. Many a well-turned phrase made me utter praise for the author and the translator.
Part One ends: ***weeps uncontrollably***
Jean's story, as anticipated, ends tragically but very compelling to catapult the reader head on to the next part.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJXPiyvQfg ( Jean de Florette trailer, 1986)
**********
Manon of the Springs: The Water of the Hills, deuxième partie
The story picks up a few years later. Papet, anxious for an heir to continue the Soubeyran bloodline, has only his not-too-sharp-thinking nephew, Ugolin, to consider. He justifies his family's lineage: "partly out of pride and partly not to be separated from their money, they intermarry, cousin to cousin, and even uncles and nieces... At the end of four or five generations you get a maniac like my grand uncle, Elzéar. Two maniacs and three suicides. And now there's the two of us, and I don't count anymore. Now this Soubeyran family is you!"
Manon, now a teenaged beauty, educated, smart and a bit of a wildling shepherdess, is at the center of attention. The self-indulgent Ugolin choosing her for a wife and obsesses about her to an ever-climbing psychopathic degree: "I saw you when you were bathing in the rain pool... I looked at you for a long time, you were so beautiful I was afraid of committing a crime." (not a very gallant way to declare one's love, dimwit!)
Manon could hardly recognize him after four years, "but this person had played a large part in her past ...since her childhood he had inspired in her an irrational aversion, and since he had taken the farm from her, this aversion had turned to hate."
The stirrings of love enters Manon's heart for the first time, but they are for Bernard, the new schoolteacher in Les Bastides. Besides the tension of love-rivalry, Manon realizes the treacherous hand that Ugolin and his uncle played in her father's ultimate demise:
The way she settles her revenge is one of the book's bitter ironies that inspired a hearty: "You go, girl!" from this reader.
Pagnol portrayed the French pastoral life and small town idiosyncrasies with precise accuracy, down to the petty little squabbles, superstitions, jealousies, prejudices, and even the little secrets no-one claims to 'know' about:
On the lighter side, these characteristics of the townfolk are more amoral than fatalistic; mostly, they are humorously co-mingled with the community's bond of camaraderie, and general sense of good nature, once they get to know you. For, if called upon to dig a little deeper, they would put aside the pettiness for the sense of 'right and good conscience' to surface.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_sdSX4V9XAo (Manon of the Springs trailer, 1986)
Revenge, justice, well-conceived ironic twists, and the examination of earthly darkness and light: melodramatically build the final part of this captivating, well-written novel of the forces of nature, both divine and humanistic; a fertile mixture of tears and laughs, which I could only highly recommend.
Jean de Florette is the first part of Marcel Pagnol's moving, humorous, mournful, triumphant two-part novel titled The Water of the Hills. His story, set in the bucolic hillside of Provence, is a lesson in the power of nature- of the land in its capacity for sustaining life and destroying it; it represents the varying shades of human nature, determined resolve and resilience. Family, and the continuity of generations are also a significant aspect of the novel's theme.
The provincial drama sets the sly, old peasant Cesar Soubeyran(aka Papet), and his dimwitted nephew, Ugolin(aka Galinette) against the cultured, refined hunchback from Crespin, Jean Cadoret, focusing on a plot of land that is fundamental to them all.
On the deaths of his grandfather and his mother, Florette, Jean inherits a farm, Les Romarins, near the small town of Les Bastides. Being disgusted with city life in Crespin, he moves with his wife, Aimee and little daughter, Manon, devising grandiose plans to cultivate and live off the land. The Soubeyrans have their own schemes for the land--rich of soil, under which flows the eponymous natural springs--and deviously plot to sabotage Jean's endeavors.
The ill-treatment of Jean de Florette from the villagers of Les Bastides bears a slight resemblance to that of Victor Hugo's Notre Dame character, Quasimodo. He is looked upon as an unwelcomed stranger, an outsider, mistrusted, alienated, and even abused by a 'stray' boule.
Jean's farming devices are successful when nature is kind, but eventually, he is dishearteningly defeated by its destructive wrath. His refusal to 'never give up' stems from the city life he left, where he was humiliated, also for his hunchback. The stubbornness and determination to forge on, despite the disastrous toll on his finances and health, not withstanding the devious actions of the Soubeyrans, lead to his tragic downfall, creating the opportunity for the Soubeyrans to takeover the coveted land.
Pagnol's dual tales were well rendered in film, but to read the novel version was a sheer delight. His literary style was easy flowing, his prose vivid. Many a well-turned phrase made me utter praise for the author and the translator.
Part One ends: ***weeps uncontrollably***
Jean's story, as anticipated, ends tragically but very compelling to catapult the reader head on to the next part.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJXPiyvQfg ( Jean de Florette trailer, 1986)
**********
Manon of the Springs: The Water of the Hills, deuxième partie
The story picks up a few years later. Papet, anxious for an heir to continue the Soubeyran bloodline, has only his not-too-sharp-thinking nephew, Ugolin, to consider. He justifies his family's lineage: "partly out of pride and partly not to be separated from their money, they intermarry, cousin to cousin, and even uncles and nieces... At the end of four or five generations you get a maniac like my grand uncle, Elzéar. Two maniacs and three suicides. And now there's the two of us, and I don't count anymore. Now this Soubeyran family is you!"
Manon, now a teenaged beauty, educated, smart and a bit of a wildling shepherdess, is at the center of attention. The self-indulgent Ugolin choosing her for a wife and obsesses about her to an ever-climbing psychopathic degree: "I saw you when you were bathing in the rain pool... I looked at you for a long time, you were so beautiful I was afraid of committing a crime." (not a very gallant way to declare one's love, dimwit!)
Manon could hardly recognize him after four years, "but this person had played a large part in her past ...since her childhood he had inspired in her an irrational aversion, and since he had taken the farm from her, this aversion had turned to hate."
The stirrings of love enters Manon's heart for the first time, but they are for Bernard, the new schoolteacher in Les Bastides. Besides the tension of love-rivalry, Manon realizes the treacherous hand that Ugolin and his uncle played in her father's ultimate demise:
"The long suffering of her father, his three years of heroic effort, had become almost ridiculous ...the little hunter had said that people had laughed at him. It was not the blind forces of nature, or the cruelty of fate, that he had fought for such a long time, but the tricks and hypocrisy of stupid peasants, sustained by the silence of a coalition of miserable wretches, whose spirit was as low as their feet. He was no longer a vanquished hero, but the pitiable victim of a monstrous farce, a weakling who had employed all his efforts for the amusement of an entire village."
The way she settles her revenge is one of the book's bitter ironies that inspired a hearty: "You go, girl!" from this reader.
Pagnol portrayed the French pastoral life and small town idiosyncrasies with precise accuracy, down to the petty little squabbles, superstitions, jealousies, prejudices, and even the little secrets no-one claims to 'know' about:
"The 'band of unbelievers' (thus referred since they never went to mass) would often gather around the terrace of Philoxène's café for gossip, and so they talked about 'other people's business,' but by means of discreet allusions--for example, when the baker said one evening: "some families are really on good terms with each other," it was because Petoffi had just gone by and he was suspected of being the father of his sister-in-law's child."
On the lighter side, these characteristics of the townfolk are more amoral than fatalistic; mostly, they are humorously co-mingled with the community's bond of camaraderie, and general sense of good nature, once they get to know you. For, if called upon to dig a little deeper, they would put aside the pettiness for the sense of 'right and good conscience' to surface.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_sdSX4V9XAo (Manon of the Springs trailer, 1986)
Revenge, justice, well-conceived ironic twists, and the examination of earthly darkness and light: melodramatically build the final part of this captivating, well-written novel of the forces of nature, both divine and humanistic; a fertile mixture of tears and laughs, which I could only highly recommend.
June 17, 2020
10* How on earth can I comment on these books?! There is too much to say. I was irritated by the fact that they were put into one volume, but as I began Manon of the Springs, I saw why they had done it. The two are inseparable. Manon of the Springs doesn't work without Jean de Florette, but there is a definite need for a division between the two. So if you're just considering reading these - have a little faith.
I've been wracking my brain trying to puzzle out what it is about Marcel Pagnol's writing that is so outstanding, and I can't say I've got the answer yet. I do think that there is something unique about French authors - Jean Giono has this quality as well (although I don't like all of his novels). Would it be going too far to say there's a certain sense of sun in them? I don't know how to explain it - but really, there is a specific quality of light. (I'm off my onion, of course, but you're reading this, so you're a little off too.) I can feel the sun's heat on my skin in this book. I almost have to read it with my hand shading my eyes. Yes, it's ridiculous, but I won't recant.
The other thing I've come up with is that somehow, in an amazing feat of insight and skill that most authors wouldn't dare or even think to try, Pagnol has made all his characters Children. Of course I don't mean children as in young humans, but as in seeing them from the inside out. Their motives, their foibles, their bubbling cauldrons of good and evil desires and emotions. All these things are as transparent as glass in them. Greed, hope, lust, love, self-sacrifice, vision, envy - you name it, each character is open to us in a strangely beautiful and loving way, and without softening the edges. I cannot say enough about how amazing I find this.
And then there is the setting. Well. This is as much a novel about the earth and seasons and nature - and gardening - as anything. So naturally it comes near to my heart. Manon and the Hunchback are Nature's Children, and I feel as if Pagnol gave me a gift, introducing me to them as he has.
Highly, highly recommended.
I've been wracking my brain trying to puzzle out what it is about Marcel Pagnol's writing that is so outstanding, and I can't say I've got the answer yet. I do think that there is something unique about French authors - Jean Giono has this quality as well (although I don't like all of his novels). Would it be going too far to say there's a certain sense of sun in them? I don't know how to explain it - but really, there is a specific quality of light. (I'm off my onion, of course, but you're reading this, so you're a little off too.) I can feel the sun's heat on my skin in this book. I almost have to read it with my hand shading my eyes. Yes, it's ridiculous, but I won't recant.
The other thing I've come up with is that somehow, in an amazing feat of insight and skill that most authors wouldn't dare or even think to try, Pagnol has made all his characters Children. Of course I don't mean children as in young humans, but as in seeing them from the inside out. Their motives, their foibles, their bubbling cauldrons of good and evil desires and emotions. All these things are as transparent as glass in them. Greed, hope, lust, love, self-sacrifice, vision, envy - you name it, each character is open to us in a strangely beautiful and loving way, and without softening the edges. I cannot say enough about how amazing I find this.
And then there is the setting. Well. This is as much a novel about the earth and seasons and nature - and gardening - as anything. So naturally it comes near to my heart. Manon and the Hunchback are Nature's Children, and I feel as if Pagnol gave me a gift, introducing me to them as he has.
Highly, highly recommended.
September 25, 2025
یه کلاسیک دلنشین با یک پایان فوقالعاده 😍🤌🍂
September 27, 2012
Golden Words
Some weeks ago in writing about Alphonse Daudet’s Letters from my Windmill I touched on the work of Marcel Pagnol, another prophet of Provence. He originally started as a filmmaker who later branched into literature; and how he branched, in such delightful autobiographical novels as My Father’s Glory and My Mother’s Castle, works of outstanding lyrical beauty based on a deep love of a country, a place, a time and a people. There is a magic here that I simply can’t catch in words.
Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, two of his later Provence novels, were made into movies directed by Claude Berri. If you haven’t seen these you are in for a real treat. The sheer beauty of the cinematography, the sheer beauty of the Provencal landscape, is bound to seduce you, along with that soundtrack, a melancholy mouth-organ air as compelling as the song of the Sirens.
I saw them both, back to back, some years ago. It’s the poignant story of Jean, an idealistic townsman who decides to make the most of a farm he inherits, only to be thwarted and effectively driven to his death by two of his grasping peasant neighbours. It’s the story of Manon, his daughter, the little shepherdess of the hills, destined to take on the guise of nemesis.
I saw the films but I had not yet read the books. Now I have. Pagnol’s earlier books left me with high expectations. Is it possible, I wondered, to match such simple and elegant beauty? Indeed it is, and more. The film adaptations faithfully captured a story that has the sweep, the depth and the intensity of a classical myth.
Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, originally published as L’Eau des Collines – the Water of the Hills – is a kind of anthem: an anthem to the sun and an anthem to life. The novels deal with a whole range of emotions, beginning with avarice and ending in the most heart-wrenching forms of regret. The language is beautiful, limpid and elegant, the story told with economy and precision of expression. It captures a mood, delicate and diaphanous. These are books not so much read through the eye as processed through the heart; they were processed through my heart.
I could not fail to love Jean the hunchback; I could not fail to love golden-haired Manon, in her simplicity and in her beauty. Berri’s films are an honest recreation of the novels, with very little deviation. I was able to walk in the same steps as I read and relive the same emotions. In Manon’s hills, water is more precious than gold; in Pagnol’s novels, words are more precious than gold.
The novels conclude with a letter; no word is offered beyond, no reaction recorded. One can only imagine Manon’s response to this voice from beyond the grave, from a man she took to be her enemy, the chief architect of her father’s tragedy. My reaction was to dissolve in tears
Some weeks ago in writing about Alphonse Daudet’s Letters from my Windmill I touched on the work of Marcel Pagnol, another prophet of Provence. He originally started as a filmmaker who later branched into literature; and how he branched, in such delightful autobiographical novels as My Father’s Glory and My Mother’s Castle, works of outstanding lyrical beauty based on a deep love of a country, a place, a time and a people. There is a magic here that I simply can’t catch in words.
Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, two of his later Provence novels, were made into movies directed by Claude Berri. If you haven’t seen these you are in for a real treat. The sheer beauty of the cinematography, the sheer beauty of the Provencal landscape, is bound to seduce you, along with that soundtrack, a melancholy mouth-organ air as compelling as the song of the Sirens.
I saw them both, back to back, some years ago. It’s the poignant story of Jean, an idealistic townsman who decides to make the most of a farm he inherits, only to be thwarted and effectively driven to his death by two of his grasping peasant neighbours. It’s the story of Manon, his daughter, the little shepherdess of the hills, destined to take on the guise of nemesis.
I saw the films but I had not yet read the books. Now I have. Pagnol’s earlier books left me with high expectations. Is it possible, I wondered, to match such simple and elegant beauty? Indeed it is, and more. The film adaptations faithfully captured a story that has the sweep, the depth and the intensity of a classical myth.
Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, originally published as L’Eau des Collines – the Water of the Hills – is a kind of anthem: an anthem to the sun and an anthem to life. The novels deal with a whole range of emotions, beginning with avarice and ending in the most heart-wrenching forms of regret. The language is beautiful, limpid and elegant, the story told with economy and precision of expression. It captures a mood, delicate and diaphanous. These are books not so much read through the eye as processed through the heart; they were processed through my heart.
I could not fail to love Jean the hunchback; I could not fail to love golden-haired Manon, in her simplicity and in her beauty. Berri’s films are an honest recreation of the novels, with very little deviation. I was able to walk in the same steps as I read and relive the same emotions. In Manon’s hills, water is more precious than gold; in Pagnol’s novels, words are more precious than gold.
The novels conclude with a letter; no word is offered beyond, no reaction recorded. One can only imagine Manon’s response to this voice from beyond the grave, from a man she took to be her enemy, the chief architect of her father’s tragedy. My reaction was to dissolve in tears
April 18, 2017
اگر دلتان هوس شنیدن قصه ای دارد ، این کتاب را بخوانید
ماجرای لطیفی که مثل جریان زلالی از پنجره ی ذهن بگذرد و شوق کودکی که در انتظار شنیدن دقایق بعدی داستان است را در دل ما زنده کند
تصویرسازی بسیار دلنشینی در سطرهای کتاب هست که احساس میکردم از بین صفحه ها پنجره ای بازمیکرد به تپه های رومارن و نسیم خنکی از عطر میخک ها چشم های مشتاق مرا نوازش میداد
مارسل پانیول برای شما قصه می گوید،از سرزمینی که مردم ساده ای دارد
محل زیباییست و مردی در جستجوی زندگی آرامی قدم به این ده میگذارد و داستان های زیادی را زنده می کند
حلقه ی مرگ و زندگی در اخرین صفحات کتاب به هم می پیوندد و آنجا که نفسی از حیاتی بیرون میرود، شور زندگی از روزنه دیگری جوانه میزند
+هم ذات پنداری شدید با ژان احساس میکردم ، به ویژه که در دلم همیشه رویای کوچکی از زندگی در دهکده ی کوچکی جوشیده بود
++انقدر روایت داستان ساده و زیباست که احساس میکنم فیلم این کتاب رو هم زمان با خواندنش در ذهنم دیده ام!
+++شاید برای کسی که از خواندن لذت میبرد ، اینکه در محیط کارش ، کم کم افراد کتاب روی میز جا مانده ی او را ورق بزنند و از او کتابی قرض بگیرند ،موفقیت چشم گیری در ترویج فرهنگ مطالعه باشد!
ماجرای لطیفی که مثل جریان زلالی از پنجره ی ذهن بگذرد و شوق کودکی که در انتظار شنیدن دقایق بعدی داستان است را در دل ما زنده کند
تصویرسازی بسیار دلنشینی در سطرهای کتاب هست که احساس میکردم از بین صفحه ها پنجره ای بازمیکرد به تپه های رومارن و نسیم خنکی از عطر میخک ها چشم های مشتاق مرا نوازش میداد
مارسل پانیول برای شما قصه می گوید،از سرزمینی که مردم ساده ای دارد
محل زیباییست و مردی در جستجوی زندگی آرامی قدم به این ده میگذارد و داستان های زیادی را زنده می کند
حلقه ی مرگ و زندگی در اخرین صفحات کتاب به هم می پیوندد و آنجا که نفسی از حیاتی بیرون میرود، شور زندگی از روزنه دیگری جوانه میزند
+هم ذات پنداری شدید با ژان احساس میکردم ، به ویژه که در دلم همیشه رویای کوچکی از زندگی در دهکده ی کوچکی جوشیده بود
++انقدر روایت داستان ساده و زیباست که احساس میکنم فیلم این کتاب رو هم زمان با خواندنش در ذهنم دیده ام!
+++شاید برای کسی که از خواندن لذت میبرد ، اینکه در محیط کارش ، کم کم افراد کتاب روی میز جا مانده ی او را ورق بزنند و از او کتابی قرض بگیرند ،موفقیت چشم گیری در ترویج فرهنگ مطالعه باشد!
July 9, 2018
6 JUL 2018 - film today - Jean de Florette (1986) - and, it is a wonderful film. The film is in the original French, of which I have none. Thank good for subtitles. I do own this book - a 2-in-1 novel - which I will begin reading tonight.
9 JUL 2018 - the films were presented back-to-back and were each equally wonderful. The novels are sublime. It is a rare thing when film and book are equally outstanding - this is that rare time.
9 JUL 2018 - the films were presented back-to-back and were each equally wonderful. The novels are sublime. It is a rare thing when film and book are equally outstanding - this is that rare time.
November 3, 2015
تلخی ِسیاه ِواقعیت وقتی با پلیدیهای ِپنهان ِروح ِآدمی همراه می شود آنچه به بار می نشیند چیزی جز سیه روزی و حرمان و نکبت نخواهد شد.داستانی بی ادعا شسته رفته و به لطف ترجمه های دوست داشتنی سروش خان حبیبی روان و سهل خوان که یکسره در تلاش است که پیوستگی ابتدا و انتهای داستان را با تعلیق ها و پیرنگ ها و بستر های مناسب برای هر اتفاق تا انتها حفظ کند که خوب در انجام این مهم بسیار هم موفق است .
October 25, 2018
I had seen the movies years ago and remembered really liking them, so I stuck with reading the novels even though they are more character/theme driven than plot based. Somehow Pagnol can really nail a fully-developed, nuanced character just with a few words of dialogue. It must be a French thing, it seems like Dumas and Maupassant both do this too. Anyway, it may seem slow, but I believe that great novelists take really complex questions and then attempt to answer them in hundreds of pages, because there is no simple answer. Two of the main questions that these novels address include: "Am I my brother's keeper?" and "Who is my brother/neighbor?" It's worth wading through to the end, where the plot does kick in with a serious and Greek-tragedy worthy twist.
The films are very true to the book, often down to the exact wording, and with stellar casting and performances, so if you want to save time, just watch the movies. Personally, I'm glad I made the effort to read as well, there are added layers of depth that can't be fit into the time frame of a movie. So I'd recommend both, but at least the movies! (Unless you only like action films, then you probably won't enjoy either the books or the films. :)
The films are very true to the book, often down to the exact wording, and with stellar casting and performances, so if you want to save time, just watch the movies. Personally, I'm glad I made the effort to read as well, there are added layers of depth that can't be fit into the time frame of a movie. So I'd recommend both, but at least the movies! (Unless you only like action films, then you probably won't enjoy either the books or the films. :)
February 3, 2025
چاپ اول کتاب را همان وقت که در آمد خواندم و خوب یادم هست که کل خانواده از خواندنش لذت برده بودند؛ ستاره باران مال همان زمان است. به هر حال داستان پرکششی است درباره بدذاتیهای آدمها و فرهنگ روستایی منطقهای از فرانسه؛ از آن کتابهایی که نمیشود زمین گذاشت.
April 1, 2021
Jean de Florette: 5 stars
Manon of the Springs: 5 stars
No sense in listing the superlatives; suffice it to say that these novels are about as perfect as they come. It is correct to have both novels in one volume because they are two parts of one whole and should be read as one.
This marvelous work has it all. Gorgeous setting; passionate, human characters; gripping story.
Going onto my favorites shelf and planning on re-watching the magnificent Claude Berri films.
Manon of the Springs: 5 stars
No sense in listing the superlatives; suffice it to say that these novels are about as perfect as they come. It is correct to have both novels in one volume because they are two parts of one whole and should be read as one.
This marvelous work has it all. Gorgeous setting; passionate, human characters; gripping story.
Going onto my favorites shelf and planning on re-watching the magnificent Claude Berri films.
May 28, 2021
France, c1920s
Jean's story was a struggle that I didn't find all that engaging. Yes, it is very French and the people are 'real,' but the sense of looming disaster was too strong. I read with foreboding, worried about what was going to happen next. Manon's story was much more interesting.
Then there were the names -- too many names but usually it's not important to keep track of everyone, and I got along without ever really knowing each person's role in the village. However, if I were to read this again, I would make a 'cheat sheet' for my own reference.
Thrushes and other songbirds were a staple in the diet, so much so that it's a wonder that they all didn't go extinct years ago.
p393: A scruple, in Latin, is a little stone in a shoe that impedes walking and wounds the foot. It is a charming metaphor that has caused us to give the word its moral sense.
Jean's story was a struggle that I didn't find all that engaging. Yes, it is very French and the people are 'real,' but the sense of looming disaster was too strong. I read with foreboding, worried about what was going to happen next. Manon's story was much more interesting.
Then there were the names -- too many names but usually it's not important to keep track of everyone, and I got along without ever really knowing each person's role in the village. However, if I were to read this again, I would make a 'cheat sheet' for my own reference.
Thrushes and other songbirds were a staple in the diet, so much so that it's a wonder that they all didn't go extinct years ago.
p393: A scruple, in Latin, is a little stone in a shoe that impedes walking and wounds the foot. It is a charming metaphor that has caused us to give the word its moral sense.
June 21, 2016
Pagnol is my favorite writer. He knew when to be funny and when to be touching, created larger-than-life characters and unforgettable stories about human nature. “Jean de Florette” and “Manon des Sources” are stories I have been reading all my life, and it is very difficult for me to summarize them. The first book is about greed, and how it can rot people’s hearts. The second book is about revenge, and how sometimes life doles out the cruelest punishments without any human interference.
Some spoilers.
Ugolin Soubeyran is not very smart, but he means well. When he gets back to his humble abode near the small village of Les Bastides after his military service, all he wants is to grow carnations and make a simple living from his flowers. His rich, cunning uncle César (also known as “Le Papet”) is more ambitious: why not buy the fine farm of Les Romarins, that has a spring on its land? To make sure they can buy the farm on the cheap, they go plug the spring. But unfortunately for them, Jean Cadoret, a hunchback from “the city”, soon after moves in with his wife Aimée and young daughter Manon – he just inherited the farm from his mother’s estate. César is not worried: without water, they know that Jean won’t be able to get much out of his land, despite his grandiose plans to raise rabbits and grow squashes. Ugolin feels bad about the whole thing, but his uncle manipulates him horribly and they both watch Jean slowly exhaust himself to death trying to farm his land in the drought. They then sweep in, buy the farm from Jean’s now destitute widow and set about to unblock the spring. Little do they know that Manon, who was always suspicious of Ugolin’s servile friendship, has seen them…
A few years pass and Ugolin becomes a very successful grower of carnations. Meanwhile, Manon grows up into a beautiful young woman and lives a bit as a wildling, guarding a flock of goats in the hills. One day, she overhears two men from the villages gossip as they take a break from their hunt. She hears them confirm what she had known all along, that the Soubeyran blocked her father’s spring and caused his ruin; but they also let slip that the entire village knew about it and that no one said a thing, no one helped them - because Jean was a hunchback and because they were city folks. She then decides that she will get revenge, and that while Ugolin and the Papet will pay the harsher price, the rest of the village will go down with them for their odious complicity in her father’s death.
It’s a powerful, tragic, beautifully written story. It has the kind of universality that one usually encounters in much older books: I find it very reminiscent of Greek tragedies and Russian literature. The characterization is complex and finely detailed, the family-centricity of the tale and moral struggles make for a captivating, engrossing read. The ending is probably the most poignant conclusion to any novel I have ever read and I can never get through it without shedding a few tears.
Pagnol was a poet of nature, in love with the little corner of the world where he was born and this love flows off the page. His prose is clear, bittersweet and elegant. If you do not want to go explore Provence after reading this, read it again! He originally wrote those stories as a movie script and then novelized them, fleshing them out even more, painting an epic, lyrical story about family, the powers of the nature he adored and justice. These are remarkable and tragically underrated books (if I judge by how hard it is to get a copy of the English translation…).
The Claude Berri movie adaptation are stunning classics. Yves Montand and Emmanuelle Béart break my heart every time and Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu are magnificent. The cinematography is breathtaking and the music is haunting. I recommend watching them after reading the books: they are perfect, timeless masterpieces
Some spoilers.
Ugolin Soubeyran is not very smart, but he means well. When he gets back to his humble abode near the small village of Les Bastides after his military service, all he wants is to grow carnations and make a simple living from his flowers. His rich, cunning uncle César (also known as “Le Papet”) is more ambitious: why not buy the fine farm of Les Romarins, that has a spring on its land? To make sure they can buy the farm on the cheap, they go plug the spring. But unfortunately for them, Jean Cadoret, a hunchback from “the city”, soon after moves in with his wife Aimée and young daughter Manon – he just inherited the farm from his mother’s estate. César is not worried: without water, they know that Jean won’t be able to get much out of his land, despite his grandiose plans to raise rabbits and grow squashes. Ugolin feels bad about the whole thing, but his uncle manipulates him horribly and they both watch Jean slowly exhaust himself to death trying to farm his land in the drought. They then sweep in, buy the farm from Jean’s now destitute widow and set about to unblock the spring. Little do they know that Manon, who was always suspicious of Ugolin’s servile friendship, has seen them…
A few years pass and Ugolin becomes a very successful grower of carnations. Meanwhile, Manon grows up into a beautiful young woman and lives a bit as a wildling, guarding a flock of goats in the hills. One day, she overhears two men from the villages gossip as they take a break from their hunt. She hears them confirm what she had known all along, that the Soubeyran blocked her father’s spring and caused his ruin; but they also let slip that the entire village knew about it and that no one said a thing, no one helped them - because Jean was a hunchback and because they were city folks. She then decides that she will get revenge, and that while Ugolin and the Papet will pay the harsher price, the rest of the village will go down with them for their odious complicity in her father’s death.
It’s a powerful, tragic, beautifully written story. It has the kind of universality that one usually encounters in much older books: I find it very reminiscent of Greek tragedies and Russian literature. The characterization is complex and finely detailed, the family-centricity of the tale and moral struggles make for a captivating, engrossing read. The ending is probably the most poignant conclusion to any novel I have ever read and I can never get through it without shedding a few tears.
Pagnol was a poet of nature, in love with the little corner of the world where he was born and this love flows off the page. His prose is clear, bittersweet and elegant. If you do not want to go explore Provence after reading this, read it again! He originally wrote those stories as a movie script and then novelized them, fleshing them out even more, painting an epic, lyrical story about family, the powers of the nature he adored and justice. These are remarkable and tragically underrated books (if I judge by how hard it is to get a copy of the English translation…).
The Claude Berri movie adaptation are stunning classics. Yves Montand and Emmanuelle Béart break my heart every time and Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu are magnificent. The cinematography is breathtaking and the music is haunting. I recommend watching them after reading the books: they are perfect, timeless masterpieces
October 13, 2007
I saw this movie when I was seven or eight and my only memory was of Ugolin sewing the ribbon to his chest. What can I say, it's the kind of thing that stays with you. In any case, while the first book may be a tragedy and the second a story of revenge, the overwhelming theme seems to be the responsibility each man has for his neighbor; that standing by is not enough but we all need to be active in our kindness. A much better take-away than masochistic stitching, I think.
August 1, 2015
Jean de Florette is our August bookclub pick, and it is beautifully written but incomplete without Manon of the Springs.
bookclub august 2015
bookclub august 2015
August 12, 2020
Such a lovely book. Lost count of the times I have read it. You are escorted through wonderful scenery and characters, all the while begging for the satisfaction of revenge. Wonderful.
March 14, 2019
These were two of the most powerful movies I've ever seen, and it turns out they're based on books that are every bit as good.
August 30, 2019
I have a list of books I keep called "Books I can recommend to Any reader"...or something like that. These books, because they are two books in one volume, goes directly onto that list. I love it when I can add books to that list because its a rarity really to be able to do so, to find a book that can appeal to the masses. These books are translated from the French, and were also made into films (with sub-titles). This is my favorite kind of reading, when a book deals with serious themes, but the dark humor is evident in the underlying currents of the story. You can't help but snigger at the shenanigans of the deceiving village locals, but when you stop and think about what you are finding humorous, you realize that what is happening is life threatening and ultimately destructive. That said, isn't it true when we say, "If I don't laugh, I will cry?" Read the books and watch the films, you'll laugh, cry, feel sick inside, and learn some moral lessons. There are also some unexpected twists, can't be disappointed about that, right?
August 16, 2022
A truly masterful story so very well told. It perfectly captures the geography and culture of rural Provence where it is set. One feels transported. At times it parodies the ways and beliefs of its inhabitants to the point of being laugh out loud but underneath it all, it is a story of petty jealousies, greed and vengeance. The main characters - Papet, Ugolin, Jean and, of course Manon, the young shepherdess are beautifully developed.
Thinking about why it struck such a chord, it occurred to me that it terms of feelings, it very much reminded me of Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis DeBernier, one of my favourite of all books.
Although sometimes sold as two books - Jean de Florrette and Manon of the Springs, they should be considered one book in two parts. It would be a mistake to read either part alone.
If you enjoy reading a great story brilliantly told, you won’t do better.
Thinking about why it struck such a chord, it occurred to me that it terms of feelings, it very much reminded me of Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis DeBernier, one of my favourite of all books.
Although sometimes sold as two books - Jean de Florrette and Manon of the Springs, they should be considered one book in two parts. It would be a mistake to read either part alone.
If you enjoy reading a great story brilliantly told, you won’t do better.
October 16, 2025
The beginning of this book, and the ending of this book, were pretty good. The middle was very boring. So… kinda a decent book pretty niche though I wouldn’t recommend it really.
Unsure what to write about, it’s the most simple book / story you could read. The death of the father, suicide of Ugolin, and discovery of the family lineage all felt like big moments that sort of just happened. Which I’m not sure if it added or took away from the story…
Idk. I guess my takeaways are, don’t grow up all senile, love is wack, and don’t screw people over for financial gain
Unsure what to write about, it’s the most simple book / story you could read. The death of the father, suicide of Ugolin, and discovery of the family lineage all felt like big moments that sort of just happened. Which I’m not sure if it added or took away from the story…
Idk. I guess my takeaways are, don’t grow up all senile, love is wack, and don’t screw people over for financial gain
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2022
I loved reading this gentle story while in Provence; it captures the appropriate atmosphere and is beautifully written.
April 30, 2024
I watched the movie in my French class, so I had to read the book. It was so good! It’s was super heartwarming
July 21, 2025
Beautiful book. Evocative and wonderful descriptions
June 12, 2017
Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources have long been two of my favorite movies since I saw them in the late 1980's. I owned them on VHS and have watched them too many times to count. I'm so glad I finally read the books. The story of greed, struggle, heartbreak, revenge, forgiveness, and regret pulls you in. Manon is a fantastic character. She's strong, independent, clever, and kind.
October 16, 2021
I preferred 2nd book to 3rd book. Might only give 3 out of 5 for 1st book.
September 30, 2014
Enjoyable saga of Provencal peasant life, as tax collector Jean inherits a cottage and plans an idyllic self-sufficient rural retreat with his wife and daughter. His plans are thwarted by Ugolin and Papet, the local greedy landowners, who block the spring that rises on his land and force him to cart water miles to irrigate his crops. The first book sets out Jean's story, the second details Manon's revenge. So far, so good - a pleasing relaxing saga set among the characters of village life. And I enjoyed it as such. I cannot help feeling that something was not quite adding up though. The revelation in the finale was painfully obvious, and the characters veer between caricature and jarring oddity. Dramatically there was no benefit to the story by Ugolin being ugly, it was superfluous. And actually, given that it did not impede his life at all, why was Jean portrayed as a hunchback? Curious footnotes to an otherwise entertaining read.
May 1, 2010
Provence is a magical place where the light is orange on everything it touches, lavender and sun flowers fill the fields, and the people walk gruffly through your heart. I was lucky enough to live in Montpellier, France for a month when I was in college. Right outside the town are purple fields and golden roads and the sun, sun, sun is everywhere. Marcel Pagnol was a native of this region and his books capture the heat and the heartaches that this country is steeped in. Both of these books were made into brilliant films. And this was one of those times a teacher showed us something beautiful and I never got a chance to tell her just how deeply the films affected me. Ms. Diane Jeter, wherever you are, I read these books in French in honor of you. Merci mille fois.
June 5, 2012
Really admired and enjoyed this one.
My review from when I read it in 2006:
Technically two novels, but the second is a direct sequel to the first and would be a mystery without it, so they're packaged together and might as well be read as one. (Total is only 440 pages anyway.) When two scoundrels plug up a spring near their farm in rural Provence, hoping to claim it for their own private use later, they start a snowball of events that turn into a life or death matter for pretty much everyone in the village. A beautiful and relaxing portrait of a slow-paced but hard-working lifestyle--let's walk ten miles daily to get water, but through hills of lavender; with a picnic of bread, sausage, and white wine--and also a great moral story of crime, punishment, love, family, and community.
My review from when I read it in 2006:
Technically two novels, but the second is a direct sequel to the first and would be a mystery without it, so they're packaged together and might as well be read as one. (Total is only 440 pages anyway.) When two scoundrels plug up a spring near their farm in rural Provence, hoping to claim it for their own private use later, they start a snowball of events that turn into a life or death matter for pretty much everyone in the village. A beautiful and relaxing portrait of a slow-paced but hard-working lifestyle--let's walk ten miles daily to get water, but through hills of lavender; with a picnic of bread, sausage, and white wine--and also a great moral story of crime, punishment, love, family, and community.
April 10, 2020
Jean de Florette, his wife Aimee and daughter Manon are the perfectly happy family, leaving the town life behind and getting back to nature. They have no experience for this endeavor but Jean relies on his books to predict the rainfall, for growing crops and for raising rabbits, etc. The entire family willingly worked themselves to the bone. I was joyful of their every success and mournful of every setback.
Ugolin is an odious farmer/would-be-entrepreneur who covets Jean's land. Yet sometimes I felt a little warmth for him, since he seemed to be discovering a conscience. BUT his self-important god-father, the Papet is just an evil manipulator, plotting ruin.
The townsfolk and Mother Nature played their own very frustrating roles.
An excellent read.
Ugolin is an odious farmer/would-be-entrepreneur who covets Jean's land. Yet sometimes I felt a little warmth for him, since he seemed to be discovering a conscience. BUT his self-important god-father, the Papet is just an evil manipulator, plotting ruin.
The townsfolk and Mother Nature played their own very frustrating roles.
An excellent read.
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