Archipel

by Pierre Louÿs

Ce livre est une oeuvre du domaine public éditée au format numérique par Ebooks libres et gratuits. L’achat de l’édition Kindle inclut le téléchargement via un réseau sans fil sur votre liseuse et vos applications de lecture Kindle.

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2011

About the author

Pierre Louÿs was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection". He was made first a Chevalier and then an Officer of the Légion d'honneur for his contributions to French literature.

Born in Belgium, in 1870, but moved to France where he would spend the rest of his life. He was a friend of authors André Gide and Oscar Wilde, and of composer Claude Debussy.

Reviews

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This public domain ebook in French, originally published in 1906, is a collection of short stories, journalistic articles, and opinion pieces. It’s delightfully written with lots of classical erudition, many of the pieces being concerned with myth and archeology. However, with many pieces concerned with what was then current affairs, it is not easy to follow all the stylistic expressions and allusions which require knowledge of the matters at hand. Hence this is not an easy read. The author has opinions on a wide range of matters, from literature to politics, but all feel rather modern, other than his position on the age of consent for marriage purposes, which is startlingly young. But then again, at that time France was often at war and needed lots of little soldiers and hence mothers, however young. That aside, the author complains repeatedly about obtuse irrationality entrenched in laws, which is very applicable today. Plus ça change ...