Manon des sources

L'Eau des Collines #2

by Marcel Pagnol

Après la mort du Bossu, et la vente des Romarins, Manon et sa mère s'installent dans la grotte de Baptistine. Quelques années plus tard, Manon trouve l'occasion de se venger...

Pagnol s'est souvent adapté lui-même, passant aisé- ment du théâtre an cinéma. Ici, il fait le chemin inverse, et adapte un film en roman : Manon des sources (1963), deuxième partie de L'Eau des collines, est la "mise en roman" du film éponyme. tourné dix ans plus tôt. On en retrouve tous les personnages, et on est émerveillé de voir que les dialogues, qui sont souvent, mot à mot., les mêmes, « s'entendent » aussi bien sur la page que sur l'écran. Manon des sources sera une sorte de testament : Pagnol ne réalisera jamais Jean de Florette, et n'écrira plus de fiction.

«Le murmure était plus fort ; c'était une chanson tintante et cristalline... Elle s'arrêta, éleva la petite flamme au-dessus de sa tête, et vit sur le sol danser une étoile : comme elle se penchait, un visage monta vers elle, et c 'était le sien. »

Genres: France, Fiction, Classics, French Literature, Literature, Roman, Novels

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Marcel Pagnol was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. In 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie Française.

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This second part (sequel to Jean de Florette) was a bit disappointing. (spoiler alert) Manon grows up as a lively shepherdess. She finds out who is responsible for the death of her father and revenges this on the entire village. Eventually she ends up wedded and wealthy.
The story contains the same strong elements as part one: a beautiful description of the paradisiacal nature and the ordinary village life in the French Provence. Also the tragedy of greed and the lack of responsibility are nicely stressed. But this part is much less homogeneous and less strong as the previous one, especially because of the many improbable twists and turns, especially in the end. A pity. Rating 2.5 stars.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite surprisingly, I loved this sequel just as much as I loved Jean de Florette.

And I still feel miserable about the suffering characters, but now it is Papet I can't get over.

Nothing prepared me for the deep pain I would feel on behalf of that grumpy, greedy old man. But oh my, I have not stopped thinking about him since I read the last lines. Somehow, the poetical justice that Manon experiences at the end of the second book still leaves the reader (me, at least) in melancholy. It certainly proves Pagnol's superb storytelling skills and profound understanding of different layers in human hearts.

Great read!

[Dame Silent]

Mais qu'est ce que c'était bien ! Immense plaisir de lecture, c'est drôle, rythmé, tragique, beau. Vraiment Pagnol est beaucoup trop sous-côté !

[Algernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manon loses her father at the end of the first volume, a victim not so much of Fate as of the machinations of his neighbours in the Provencal hamlet of Les Bastides Blanche.
Jean Cadoret, known according to local custom as Jean de Florette, after his mother’s name, was an accountant who dreamt of becoming a farmer, living in communion with nature. He dies of backbreaking work, carrying water for his plants on his hunchbacked shoulders during the summer droughts, not knowing that his close neighbours, le Papet and Ugolin Soubeyran, have blocked and hidden the only source of water on his farm before he arrived.

Water is more precious than gold in these sun-dried limestone hills above Marseille. The whole village of Les Bastides Blanche owes its survival to the captured spring that was directed to its picturesque main square. The whole two novel sequence is in fact called L’Eau des collines for this is its fulcrum, and I strongly recommend reading the first book before learning about the beautiful shepherdess named Manon. They are not really two separate stories, but one movie script by Marcel Pagnol that he did in 1952 and that he later decided to turn into a two-part novelization. Many editions include both stories in one volume, and this is how I read mine.

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On its merits, this is a very dark tale of deadly resentments, mistrust of outsiders and cruel, self-serving obsession with the land, at least on the part of the two Soubeyrans and of most of their Bastidian neighbours. Everybody knew everybody else’s business in the tiny village, yet nobody raised a hand to help the newcomer Jean Cadoret, or his beautiful wife Aimee, a former opera singer, or his ten year old daughter Manon.
Yet, what I cannot help but notice in both books is the incredible passion of the author for this harsh landscape, and equally for its inhabitants, whom he criticizes so much more harshly because he cares about their lives. Pagnol writes lyrically about the white hills, about the flowers, the aromatic herbs, the wildlife and the hard-earned crops – the bounty of the earth when it is blessed by the touch of rain or by the water of the springs.
Manon, whom we meet at the start of this second book at age fifteen, several years after the death of her father, is a true child of the wilderness: living in a cave with her mother and Baptistine, a young widow, Manon goes daily up in the hills, all alone with her flock of goats and a dog, laying traps for birds and for other wild animals, gathering herbs to sell in the market, singing hymns to the sun and to freedom.
My favourite scene is one of Manon going to the downstream market town, contrasting it with the freedom of her days in the sun:

From afar the shepherdess of lavender, resins, and junipers could smell the salted food, the cheeses, the sulfurous fumes of coal, the stinking breezes from the gutters flowing along the pavements, and especially the lewd and lugubrious odor of the townspeople, bustling like ants and brushing against her on the narrow thresholds of the shops.

Ugolin, who bought her father’s farm after he ruined him, has now grown rich from the carnations he feeds with water from the stolen spring, claiming that it was all just a matter of bad luck for Jean and good fortune for him. After catching a glimpse of the beautiful Manon one day as he goes hunting, Ugolin becomes infatuated with the young girl, and starts stalking her all over the hills, obsessively.
Meanwhile, in the village, le Papet and the elders spend whole days playing boules, drinking pastis, playing cards [manille?] and discussing politics and local gossip. There’s a new teacher and a new priest in the village, both of whom know little of the dark undercurrents that flow beneath this peaceful landscape. The teacher, Bernard, is interested in geology and goes in his turn on long rambles in the hills, coming to the attention of beautiful Manon.
This has all the necessary ingredients for a summer romance, but before the two young people can be free to start their own lives, they must solve the legacy of the past.
I don’t want to start explaining the nuts and bolts of the plot to those who are unfamiliar yet with the story or the movie. I believe it is enough to say that Manon discovers the betrayal of Ugolin and of the elder Soubeyran, and later she finds herself in a position to do something about it, hijacking the water source of the whole village in retaliation for what they did to Jean de Florette.
The young priest, when informed of the secrets that everybody seemed to know about, except him, the teacher and Manon, thinks this is a suitable retribution for their crimes.

“While you, what was the reason you kept your mouths shut? I can’t see anything but a natural brutality – you don’t need a cure, you need a missionary!
... and I regret to tell you that it is perhaps this lack of generosity, this lack of fraternity, this lack of charity, that is costing you so dear today.”

The story ends with even darker revelations about the relations between le Papet, Ugolin, Jean and Manon but, once again, I believe it is better to let Pagnol tell you about them.
For myself, this was an incredibly beautiful, sometimes funny, more often heartbreaking journey to the core of Provencal life, making me yearn for a return visit to this almost magical place, to walk for myself on its perfumed hills.

Until then, I still have a few movies by Pagnol that I haven’t seen yet, in particular the two sequels to ‘Marius’ that form his Marseillaise trilogy, and his memoirs, that are apparently the only other available option of his books in English translation. I really dig his style.

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Manon des sources" or "Manon of the Springs"--a must read for those who had finished Marcel Pagnol's "Jean de Florette."

If you hate anyone here who had done you ill, you can inflict most pain to him by giving him a copy of Jean de Florette, wait for him to read it, then TELL him what happened here at "Manon of the Springs" before he has the chance to read it. I can't imagine any vengeance more complete than this.

[M. 1001 livres à lire · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai envie de lire toute la bibliographie de Marcel Pagnol.

[Leslivresdudesir · Rating 5 out of 5]

mon coup de cœur de l'année j'ai même eu le droit aux chant des cigales

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sort of surreal reading this book with the massive drought currently going on at home in California. Fantastic, earthy prose. M. Pagnol is one of life's best literary discoveries.

[Nati Korn · Rating 5 out of 5]

קראתי כמה ביקורות, כאן בגודרידס, שטענו כי הספר הזה, השני בצמד ספרי "מי הגבעות", הוא פחות טוב מאשר הספר הראשון "ז'אן דה פלורט". אז ראשית החששות שהתעוררו בקרבי למקרא הביקורות הנ"ל, התבדו ושככו תוך כדי קריאה. כל מה שנמצא בספר הראשון נמצא גם כאן, על ההומור והאכזריות שבו, על הכתיבה המיושנת והיפה ועל העלילה הקצת נאיבית הנוטה לסוף "טוב", דאוס-אקס-מכינה. הוסיפו על כך את חדוות הנקמה שהיא מענגת בדרך-כלל, את השליש הפותח של הספר שהתיאורים בו פיוטיים ממש ונפלאים, אפיון קצת יותר מורכב של מספר דמויות וכן כמה קטעים הומוריסטיים להפליא (נאומו של מהנדס המים) ואולי תגיעו למסקנה שהספר השני אפילו עולה על הראשון.

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonne histoire, pas incroyable, mais bien écrite. Seulement, il y a beaucoup de personnages et c'est compliqué au début d'arriver à comprendre et à retrouver qui est qui. Puis l'histoire, en soit, est pas incroyable, ça tourne autour du même axe tout le long.
Mais plein de thèmes sont abordés : le suicide, le deuil, la place des hommes et des femmes avant, la vie dans la nature, la place de la religion avant, l'amour, la vengeance etc.
C'est un bon roman, où la nature est très présente. En plus, le fait que l'histoire se déroule dans un même "village" est bien. Mais les personnages auraient pu être plus attachants.
En bref : un bon roman à lire une fois.

[Tricia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, read it in French, it took weeks, loved it.

[Clarabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai encore pris beaucoup de plaisir à écouter Vincent Fernandel dans ce deuxième volet de L'eau des collines !
J'avais adoré Jean de Florette. L'ambiance provençale. Le drame familial. Le prêche du curé. La culpabilité d'un village. La soif de revanche d'une sauvageonne.
Dans Manon des Sources, il est aussi question d'amour et de désespoir. De désir fou. De chagrin. Et de regrets amers. C'est cruel, mais c'est parfait.
Et ça sent bon le soleil, le chant des cigales, le goût du pastis, le pain chaud et le fromage de chèvre.
🍃☼.〰🌞⋆ᡣ𐭩ᡣ🍃𖤓

[Julien Casals · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un chef d’œuvre intemporel, que l’on croit trop bien connaître, et qu’il n’est jamais trop tard pour (re)lire. De trop courtes heures de bonheur de lecture en perspective !

[Manon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retournement de situation dans les dernières trente pages, je ne m'y attendais pas du tout!!!
Un très bon moment passé en compagnie de Manon. Toutefois j'ai préféré Jean de Florette

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

People are stupid.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manon des Sources est un roman publie en 1962 base sur la deuxieme moitie du film du meme nom tourne en 1952 par l'auteur.

La lecture de Manon des Sources est une joie pure. Le roman contient des personnages fascinantes et une intrigue merveilleusement bien ficelee. La conclusion est de la plus juste. Les mechants recoivent la visite de
Némésis et les justes recoivent leure recompenses bien merites. Le tout est dans style qui demontre que le cineaste Pagnol a tres bien merite son siege a l'Academie francaise.

Gardez la lecture de ce bijou pour un moment ou vous aurez besoin d'un divertissement ravivant.

[Anya Mérimèche · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai beaucoup, beaucoup, aimé le style de Marcel Pagnol. Il dépeint la vie provençale avec poésie et d'une façon intimiste et si honnête, qu'on a l'impression de voir le récit au lieu de le lire. J'ai passé un moment très agréable grâce à ce bouquin, chargé d'émotion et de légèreté.
Je le conseille vivement !

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta história é tão bonita... Marcel Pagnol tem o dom de retratar o que há de pior nos seres humanos com perdão e empatia. Através dos olhos deste escritor lemos sobre tragédia, maldade e sofrimento, e ainda assim continuamos a acreditar que há algo de lindíssimo nas pessoas e na vida.

[Cathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une histoire parfaitement réalisée. Pagnol c'est un écrivain superbe.

[Rodrigo Oliveira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente. Aqueles romances clássicos, simples mas com uma narrativa inesquecível. Os personagens permanecerão por muito tempo na mente dos leitores.

[Coeurnoble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Même si j’ai une grande préférence pour le premier tome, celui-ci est une belle conclusion à cette histoire.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this during summertime in the South of France was a huge experience. The plot is very easy to understand but so great.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic trip into the past lives of people living in small villages in the South of France in the early 20th century. Very evocative descriptions of the beautiful countryside and great insights into the minds of people living a narrow minded and isolated life. Need to read Jean de Florette first.

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh le drama le délice non mais j'adore

[jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

que c’est beau.

[Hjaltalín Thornberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

meget tragisk slutning:(

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This very well told story is the sequel to ‘Jean de Florette’ and should be read after reading ‘Jean de Florette’. Jean de Florette’s daughter grows up to be a beautiful young woman who learns about what Papet and Ugolin did to buy her father’s farm.

A memorable novel with a surprise ending. A novel that captures the spirit of the countryside, its people and its legends.

This book is just as good as ‘Jean de Florette’. Highly recommended.

This book was first published in 1963.

[Coralie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I enjoyed it...but something was missing.

[cecilefrgs · Rating 4 out of 5]

étonnement j'ai bien aimé lire les deux tomes de cette série