الأرستقراطيون

by Michel de Saint Pierre, ميشيل دي سان بيير, سعدية صبري (Translator)

وانطلقت جان من جديد صوب المتنزه وهي تجري. كانت في عينيها صورة الدار العتيقة النهمة، تحرسها أبراج موغلة في القدم وأولاد بغير شفقة أو رحمة. وكانت أشجار الغابات تفتح آبارًا من الظلال تجري فيها أشعة الشمس كالينبوع، وساد الجو رائحة الزرع والعفن والأوراق الحالمة والحيوانات الناعسة، وألقت جان بنفسها على الأرض، وفمها ويداها في العشب الدافئ، وانفجرت أخيرًا باكية بشدة لدرجة أن أولاد البستاني الذين كانوا يلعبون في نهاية أحد الممرات وقفوا برهة يتسمعون.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Anna Dowdall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1954, this book examines the lives of a family of post-WW2 French aristocrats trying to come to terms with the modern world, which from their perspective seems to be any time after the French Revolution. It's very well told, gripping in its way. But its author was a conservative French aristocrat, which leaves me second guessing myself on how much of this is critique. If you liked Nancy Mitford's The Blessing, also about the French aristocracy and which I'm also unsure how to read, this book will be your natural next step.

[Liam Ostermann]

Below are descriptions of this novel and the film made from it which I want to read.

From the books google listing:

"M. de Maubrun liked Paris: a royal and majestic city which, nevertheless, the Republic had used wisely. Surely the first city of the world! The marquis knew that he was chauvinistic. There was nothing he could do about it. The more the twentieth century pushed France into the row of little nations, the prouder he was to be a Frenchman. He went calmly to revisit the Louvre, Versailles, Notre-Dame, Saint-Denis -- and then he felt better. Paris in July -- bright, spacious, brilliant with leaves and blue days -- was reassuring to him. The new merchandise he saw in the large store windows seemed worthy of these old stones. In the streets he contemplated women of a beauty not to be found in any other corner of the world."

A description of the 1955 French film based on the novel:

"(From) A novel by Michel De Saint Pierre was the source for Les Aristocrates. Pierre Fresnay stars an aging (sic) Marquis, who tries his best to uphold the traditions of nobility in an ever-changing world. The Marquis’ children prefer the trappings of modern society and pop culture and regard their father as a relic. This cultural clash nearly results in tragedy when two of the Marquis’ offspring substitute recklessness for common sense."

[Grégoire Préchac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rien de plus exécrable qu'un auteur qui fait traîner un roman sur la longueur en cherchant quoi en dire. Visiblement il n'a pas trouvé. Un style digne de George Simenon.