Солнечный цирк

by Gustave Kahn, Гюстав Кан

Роман Гюстава Кана «Солнечный цирк» (1899) — потерянная жемчужина французского символизма. Златовласая Лорелея из стихотворения Генриха Гейне устала сидеть на скале, о которую разбиваются лодки очарованных ею моряков, и отправилась покорять города в образе звезды бродячего цирка. Она странствует по городам Европы в сопровождении свиты из рыцарей в доспехах, сарацинов на арабских скакунах, прекрасных итальянок и резвых андалусок, львов и тигров. А зовут ее теперь солнечная принцесса! В небольшом городе она встречает меланхоличного богемского графа, которого семейный совет хочет лишить наследства в пользу младшего брата, бойкого офицера драгунского полка. Солнечная принцесса пробуждает Франца от многолетнего сна, он покидает родной замок и отправляется странствовать с бродячим цирком.

В романе тесно переплетаются мотивы средневековых легенд и поэзии символизма, а образы прекрасной дамы и декадентской femme fatale сливаются воедино в любовной песне живущего в уединении трувера. Сумбур разыгрывающегося на страницах книги циркового представления предвосхищает литературу абсурда.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1898

Reviews

[Fergus Nm]

Splendid poetic novel, almost like Against Nature in reverse, where Franz, a foppish melancholic count, is drawn to the wonders of the outside world by the Star Attraction of a travelling circus. Gustave Kahn is known today as one of the originators of the free-verse form, and the occasionally labyrinthine sentences that make up The Solar Circus are alive with poetic energy and dreamy ecstasy.

A wonderful addition to the growing collection of Symbolist novels in English translation, presented with a beautiful cover by Kevin Barry (check out his Brainfazer from the same publisher), and printed with a gorgeous thick covers and tactile, strong pages - small presses with an interest in presentation, take note! High praise for Sam Kunkel's excellent translation, as well as his insightful preface and postscript, and Michael P. Daley's sharp essay at the end exploring the themes of automatism and free-will. Pair it with Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus for the perfect enchanted circus double-feature, or follow it up with Adolphe Retté's Misty Thule for maximum symbolist aesthetic overload.

[Sarah Pariser]

Reads like a heady, perfume - overly flowery and dated — with a heap of manic pixie dream girl

[Randy Wilson]

I was in Oakland for a month and happened upon Spectator Books in Piedmont that carries a range of obscure titles. This one caught my eye because of its psychedelic cover. Sometimes I trust that urge to try something just for the hell of it. This was one of those occasions.

It turns out that Gustave Kahn was a French symbolist poet of the late 19th early 20th century. He was one of the first free verse poets and a less frequent novelist. He was also a noted art critic and editor of an experimental literary journal.

This novel is mostly interesting as a proto-stream of consciousness work. It prefigures Ulysses and other experimental avant garde fiction in its mixing prose and poetry and presenting a subjective point of view.

Despite the title, the circus of the novel didn’t come across as anything more than a device, a way to take the fictional count Franz out of his castle and to give him an adventure with a circus performer. Jack the Ripper makes an odd cameo. I enjoyed making the discovery of this writer and this book but I doubt most people would bother reading it for its own sake.

[rob]

mid! oxford commas out the ass. the descriptions are great sure but this is still venus in furs romance drama for incels. easy to counter the claim that this goes against the naturalist/determinist tropes of the day- just read it, or actually don't. read the circus chapter and move on to wilde, huysmans, anyone else.

[Kelly-Ann]

It pains me to give this 3 stars, as the writing style is so sumptuous and I was floored by the skill required to create such beautiful visuals. But honestly, I also didn't finish the book because I just didn't care about the key characters enough, personally.

[Nick Yetka]

More like 3.5

[Sophia Nelson]

why did Jack the Ripper show up