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Mémoires d'outre-tombe #2
Mémoires d'outre-tombe, Tome 2: Livres XIII à XXIV
Librarian note: An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.
Le temps du Consulat et de l’Empire qui couvre cette deuxième partie des Mémoires, Chateaubriand le définissait comme celui de sa carrière d’écrivain. Et ce sont en effet de belles années de fécondité littéraire, puisque alors s’écrivent Atala, le Génie du christianisme et Les Martyrs. Mais comme toujours s’entrecroisent l’histoire privée et l’histoire publique que les deuils ici réunissent : en 1803, la mort de Pauline de Beaumont à Rome dans les bras de l’écrivain-diplomate, et en 1804, l’assassinat du duc d’Enghien qui entraîne la rupture avec Napoléon. Un empereur détesté, et pourtant assez admiré pour que la seconde partie de ce volume en retrace longuement la vie et que sa disparition contresigne la fin d’un monde : «Quand on a rencontré comme moi Washington et Bonaparte, que reste-t-il à regarder derrière la charrue du Cincinnatus américain et la tombe de Sainte-Hélène ? Pourquoi ai-je survécu au siècle et aux hommes à qui j’appartenais par la date de ma vie ? Pourquoi ne suis-je pas tombé avec mes contemporains, les derniers d’une race épuisée ? Pourquoi suis-je demeuré seul à chercher leurs os dans les ténèbres et la poussière d’une catacombe remplie ? Je me décourage de durer.»
Edition de Jean-Claude Berchet, comprenant également les pièces retranchées des Mémoires d’outre-tombe.
Le temps du Consulat et de l’Empire qui couvre cette deuxième partie des Mémoires, Chateaubriand le définissait comme celui de sa carrière d’écrivain. Et ce sont en effet de belles années de fécondité littéraire, puisque alors s’écrivent Atala, le Génie du christianisme et Les Martyrs. Mais comme toujours s’entrecroisent l’histoire privée et l’histoire publique que les deuils ici réunissent : en 1803, la mort de Pauline de Beaumont à Rome dans les bras de l’écrivain-diplomate, et en 1804, l’assassinat du duc d’Enghien qui entraîne la rupture avec Napoléon. Un empereur détesté, et pourtant assez admiré pour que la seconde partie de ce volume en retrace longuement la vie et que sa disparition contresigne la fin d’un monde : «Quand on a rencontré comme moi Washington et Bonaparte, que reste-t-il à regarder derrière la charrue du Cincinnatus américain et la tombe de Sainte-Hélène ? Pourquoi ai-je survécu au siècle et aux hommes à qui j’appartenais par la date de ma vie ? Pourquoi ne suis-je pas tombé avec mes contemporains, les derniers d’une race épuisée ? Pourquoi suis-je demeuré seul à chercher leurs os dans les ténèbres et la poussière d’une catacombe remplie ? Je me décourage de durer.»
Edition de Jean-Claude Berchet, comprenant également les pièces retranchées des Mémoires d’outre-tombe.
798 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1841
11 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
François-René de Chateaubriand
2,486 books271 followersFrançois-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician and diplomat. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.
He has also been mistakenly given the forename François-Auguste in an 1811 edition, but signed all his worked as just Chateaubriand or M. le vicomte de Chateaubriand.
He has also been mistakenly given the forename François-Auguste in an 1811 edition, but signed all his worked as just Chateaubriand or M. le vicomte de Chateaubriand.
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September 30, 2018
Memoirs d’Outre Tombe
By Francois-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848)
Chateaubriand started his memoirs in 1803 at 35 years of age and wrote the last lines in 1841.
He meant to remember his ideas and convictions rather than his personal life.
He did well; his life was exceptionally rich in historical events and his personal engagements important and outstanding.
A writer, a politician and a diplomat. A loyal aristocrat, at the French revolution of 1789.
To save his head from the guillotine he had to flee to London.
His elder brother did not take this precaution and was executed together with his wife.
In this first book of two, of this edition, his ‘Memoirs’ cover his life at a young age.
From his birthplace Saint-Malo and then with his parents at Chateau Combourg.
As the second in line of birth, he had the traditional choice of going into religion or become a soldier. After a wrong start, he preferred becoming a soldier.
During the early years of the French Revolution, in 1791 he undertook a short voyage to America with a letter of recommendation and a meeting with George Washington.
He had the dream and illusion to be the first to discover the North-West passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. George Washington did not seem to have encouraged him.
Young Chateaubriand had underestimated the distances, the terribly cold weather and the cost of hiring a ship and its crew.
Instead, he went ‘native,’ he had a romantic adventure with two indigenous girls who had taken a liking to him and followed around wherever he travelled.
When the rightful family came to take the girls back, he did not fight. He was never a great fighter with the sword.
His arms were ink and feather an he became an extremely brave and respected soldier in this art of warfare.
After only five or six months in America, he embarked on a vessel to take him back to France.
He had not gained much knowledge of George Washington, nor of America.
On his return to France, for financial reasons it seems, Chateaubriand was encouraged by his family to get married.
In 1792 he was wed to Celeste Buisson de la Vigne.
Only on very rare occasions throughout his memories does Chateaubriand mention his wife.
The reader can only guess of her whereabouts during her husband's extensive travels as well as an exile to London, his life as a soldier and travels to the Orient, etc.
He seemed to have great respect if not love for her, and he praised her never failing loyalty.
On the other hand, Chateaubriand mentioned a good number of his lady-friends with whom it is unclear to which extent these relations were intellectual and platonic only.
In July 1792 he enrolled into a Royalist army and battles at Thionville, get wounded and discharged.
Remarkable for me is the fact that aristocrats when fighting for the king, had to bring their own armament and provide for their daily substance. A fact which can explain the pillages and robberies of the population.
For Chateaubriand, a poor aristocrat, it was a miserable experience.
Follows his exile to an uncle in Jersey and then to London. Lodging in an attic belonging to a cousin. Aristocrats had not learned how to make a living other than intellectually.
Young Chateaubriand was soon starving and had troubles surviving a few months.
Then he started works of translations and published an “Essai on Revolutions.”
1794 he learned of the death by guillotine of his brother and family.
1800 With a fake passport Chateaubriand returned to France and succeeded in publishing the first chapters of “Le Genie du Christianisme.”
It is by this work composed at a time when the revolution is persecuting religion that he became known and admired.
The years of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Empire.
1803 Chateaubriand after a meeting with Bonaparte is appointed Secretary to the French delegation in Rome.
Later that year he is promoted by the First Consul to Chargé d’Affairs in The Valais.
1804 When he learns of the execution of the Duc d’Enghien, Chateaubriand resigns from his function of a minister. He expects to be arrested any time, but Bonaparte who has a surprising sympathy for Chateaubriand decides to ignore him.
Chateaubriand as a first-hand eyewitness includes an interesting biography of Bonaparte from his successful years of European Wars to the disastrous Russian invasion to the lost battle of Waterloo to his second and final downfall and exile to St. Helena.
Throughout his memories, Chateaubriand keeps a fair balance of admiration and contempt for Napoleon Bonaparte. According to him, Napoleon was the right man at the right time for France.
France, following the revolution of 1789 had fallen into an endless reign of bloodshed, terror and anarchy.
Napoleon established order, discipline and a legal frame, called ‘Code Napoleon’.
It was easy for him to enrol numberless and workless Frenchmen into an enormous army and with thousands of canons, he soon overrun all the European Kingdoms on victorious battles. All in a short few years, until he committed the error of attacking Russia over the great distances and terrible winter which was fatal to his glory and reign.
Chateaubriand’s admiration for Napoleon ended when he had crowned himself Emporer
and started ruling as a despot, murdering or exiling every opponent, and censuring freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Throughout the book, it became clear that Chateaubriand had become the champion of the
freedom of the Press.
1806 Departure for his Voyage d’Orient and Jerusalem. These events, mentioned only in an abbreviated form in the memories, were published as a book under “L’Itineraire.”
This first book ends with two extremely important events in the History of France, the end of Bonaparte's Era of the Empire and the beginning of the Restoration of the Monarchy.
March 1814 at the final downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Chateaubriand publishes a brochure:
“De Bonaparte et des Bourbons.”
Mai 1814 The Restoration of King Louis XVIII.
Chateaubriand is at the start of higher political status.
He is named minister to Sweden then decorated with “Croix de St. Louis.”
Then he is promoted to “Colonel de Cavalerie.”
But then he had a bad idea to publish “The Chart.”
They were to be the laws of the aristocratic ruling as from this time.
It brought him many admirers but also many enemies among his peers.
“The King reigns, but does not govern”!
Imagine the stun and awe at this statement at a time of a new Monarchy.
In consequence of this farsighted but untimely project, Chateaubriand was evicted as a minister, disgraced by King Louis XVIII and deprived of any income.
Chateaubriand’s political position was between a Constitutional Monarchy and the Republican Party.
As a loyal Aristocrat, forever faithful to the King, he could not be a leader of the Republicans.
And as a convinced Democrat in favour of a Constitutional Monarchy, he was suspicious and perceived as a danger to the King and therefore was in and out of favour according to whatever convictions he expressed.
By consequence, the Chateaubriands were poor and rich over the years according to his political success of the time.
1821 Chateaubriand returns to favour. He is appointed Minister and is attaché to Berlin.
Then he is appointed Member of the Private Council and Minister of State.
He is decorated with the “Legion d’Honneur.”
1822 Chateaubriand is appointed Ambassador to London and is a celebrity among the Royalty and members of the Government.
In September that year, he attends the Conges of Verone and has an important meeting with Czar Alexander and writes a separate book on this event.
In December Chateaubriand is appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.
1824 June Chateaubriand is again evicted from his position as Minister.
In September that year, King Louis XVIII dies, and his King Charles X is crowned King.
1825 Chateaubriand attends the crowning ceremony.
1828 Chateaubriand is appointed Ambassador to Rome.
In Mai that year he returns to Paris where he meets Mme. Recamier. He will continue meeting this lady throughout the rest of his life. It remains secret whether their relationship was purely intellectual.
1929 August. He resigned from his position of ambassador in Rome.
Revolution of 1830
King Charles X is forced to the abdication in favour of Louis Philipe, now Roy des Francais.
Chateaubriand considered Louis Philipe as an imposter.
He remained loyal to the Bourbon family, The Duchess of Berry and her son Luis V, a child, whom Chateaubriand considers the legitimate King.
The Duchess of Berry was arrested and accused of preparing a coup d’etat and
In this connection, Chateaubriand was also arrested but discharged innocent after two weeks.
Then in the following year on missions for The Duchess of Berry, Chateaubriand makes two long voyages to Prag (by coach, imagine!) where young Luis V in custody of Charles X, was brought up and educated.
Unfortunately, as the future did show, young Louis V was never to become the last Bourbon King.
Ultimately, our author’s implications in politics came to an end, and he returned to Paris
to his final destination.
He died on 4th of July 1848.
To a French reader, the preeminent quality of Chateaubriand's work is the unique style of the early nineteenth romantic way of writing.
Even today it is a reference for scholars and repeatedly referred to as the best French ever written.
Reading this book in depth is a work of slow progress. Chateaubriand did not follow a chronological order of progression. He went back and forth over the years of his travels, his successes of editions of literature and over his political careers.
Some unique aspects of this book are the detailed accounts of personal historical experiences, the assault of the Bastille by an infuriated crowd, his conversations with Bonaparte and King Luis XVIII as well as many other dignitaries at court and government assemblies. His memoirs take into account many original documents made available to him by Generals, Ministers, and many aristocratic families his close relations at the time.
Only an extremely gifted author of literary works as well as a politician and philosopher could provide the analytical insight that Chateaubriand was able to contribute.
It goes without saying that I recommend this unique work to my reader friends interested in French and European History at the time of the French Revolution and the years after.
By Francois-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848)
Chateaubriand started his memoirs in 1803 at 35 years of age and wrote the last lines in 1841.
He meant to remember his ideas and convictions rather than his personal life.
He did well; his life was exceptionally rich in historical events and his personal engagements important and outstanding.
A writer, a politician and a diplomat. A loyal aristocrat, at the French revolution of 1789.
To save his head from the guillotine he had to flee to London.
His elder brother did not take this precaution and was executed together with his wife.
In this first book of two, of this edition, his ‘Memoirs’ cover his life at a young age.
From his birthplace Saint-Malo and then with his parents at Chateau Combourg.
As the second in line of birth, he had the traditional choice of going into religion or become a soldier. After a wrong start, he preferred becoming a soldier.
During the early years of the French Revolution, in 1791 he undertook a short voyage to America with a letter of recommendation and a meeting with George Washington.
He had the dream and illusion to be the first to discover the North-West passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. George Washington did not seem to have encouraged him.
Young Chateaubriand had underestimated the distances, the terribly cold weather and the cost of hiring a ship and its crew.
Instead, he went ‘native,’ he had a romantic adventure with two indigenous girls who had taken a liking to him and followed around wherever he travelled.
When the rightful family came to take the girls back, he did not fight. He was never a great fighter with the sword.
His arms were ink and feather an he became an extremely brave and respected soldier in this art of warfare.
After only five or six months in America, he embarked on a vessel to take him back to France.
He had not gained much knowledge of George Washington, nor of America.
On his return to France, for financial reasons it seems, Chateaubriand was encouraged by his family to get married.
In 1792 he was wed to Celeste Buisson de la Vigne.
Only on very rare occasions throughout his memories does Chateaubriand mention his wife.
The reader can only guess of her whereabouts during her husband's extensive travels as well as an exile to London, his life as a soldier and travels to the Orient, etc.
He seemed to have great respect if not love for her, and he praised her never failing loyalty.
On the other hand, Chateaubriand mentioned a good number of his lady-friends with whom it is unclear to which extent these relations were intellectual and platonic only.
In July 1792 he enrolled into a Royalist army and battles at Thionville, get wounded and discharged.
Remarkable for me is the fact that aristocrats when fighting for the king, had to bring their own armament and provide for their daily substance. A fact which can explain the pillages and robberies of the population.
For Chateaubriand, a poor aristocrat, it was a miserable experience.
Follows his exile to an uncle in Jersey and then to London. Lodging in an attic belonging to a cousin. Aristocrats had not learned how to make a living other than intellectually.
Young Chateaubriand was soon starving and had troubles surviving a few months.
Then he started works of translations and published an “Essai on Revolutions.”
1794 he learned of the death by guillotine of his brother and family.
1800 With a fake passport Chateaubriand returned to France and succeeded in publishing the first chapters of “Le Genie du Christianisme.”
It is by this work composed at a time when the revolution is persecuting religion that he became known and admired.
The years of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Empire.
1803 Chateaubriand after a meeting with Bonaparte is appointed Secretary to the French delegation in Rome.
Later that year he is promoted by the First Consul to Chargé d’Affairs in The Valais.
1804 When he learns of the execution of the Duc d’Enghien, Chateaubriand resigns from his function of a minister. He expects to be arrested any time, but Bonaparte who has a surprising sympathy for Chateaubriand decides to ignore him.
Chateaubriand as a first-hand eyewitness includes an interesting biography of Bonaparte from his successful years of European Wars to the disastrous Russian invasion to the lost battle of Waterloo to his second and final downfall and exile to St. Helena.
Throughout his memories, Chateaubriand keeps a fair balance of admiration and contempt for Napoleon Bonaparte. According to him, Napoleon was the right man at the right time for France.
France, following the revolution of 1789 had fallen into an endless reign of bloodshed, terror and anarchy.
Napoleon established order, discipline and a legal frame, called ‘Code Napoleon’.
It was easy for him to enrol numberless and workless Frenchmen into an enormous army and with thousands of canons, he soon overrun all the European Kingdoms on victorious battles. All in a short few years, until he committed the error of attacking Russia over the great distances and terrible winter which was fatal to his glory and reign.
Chateaubriand’s admiration for Napoleon ended when he had crowned himself Emporer
and started ruling as a despot, murdering or exiling every opponent, and censuring freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Throughout the book, it became clear that Chateaubriand had become the champion of the
freedom of the Press.
1806 Departure for his Voyage d’Orient and Jerusalem. These events, mentioned only in an abbreviated form in the memories, were published as a book under “L’Itineraire.”
This first book ends with two extremely important events in the History of France, the end of Bonaparte's Era of the Empire and the beginning of the Restoration of the Monarchy.
March 1814 at the final downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Chateaubriand publishes a brochure:
“De Bonaparte et des Bourbons.”
Mai 1814 The Restoration of King Louis XVIII.
Chateaubriand is at the start of higher political status.
He is named minister to Sweden then decorated with “Croix de St. Louis.”
Then he is promoted to “Colonel de Cavalerie.”
But then he had a bad idea to publish “The Chart.”
They were to be the laws of the aristocratic ruling as from this time.
It brought him many admirers but also many enemies among his peers.
“The King reigns, but does not govern”!
Imagine the stun and awe at this statement at a time of a new Monarchy.
In consequence of this farsighted but untimely project, Chateaubriand was evicted as a minister, disgraced by King Louis XVIII and deprived of any income.
Chateaubriand’s political position was between a Constitutional Monarchy and the Republican Party.
As a loyal Aristocrat, forever faithful to the King, he could not be a leader of the Republicans.
And as a convinced Democrat in favour of a Constitutional Monarchy, he was suspicious and perceived as a danger to the King and therefore was in and out of favour according to whatever convictions he expressed.
By consequence, the Chateaubriands were poor and rich over the years according to his political success of the time.
1821 Chateaubriand returns to favour. He is appointed Minister and is attaché to Berlin.
Then he is appointed Member of the Private Council and Minister of State.
He is decorated with the “Legion d’Honneur.”
1822 Chateaubriand is appointed Ambassador to London and is a celebrity among the Royalty and members of the Government.
In September that year, he attends the Conges of Verone and has an important meeting with Czar Alexander and writes a separate book on this event.
In December Chateaubriand is appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.
1824 June Chateaubriand is again evicted from his position as Minister.
In September that year, King Louis XVIII dies, and his King Charles X is crowned King.
1825 Chateaubriand attends the crowning ceremony.
1828 Chateaubriand is appointed Ambassador to Rome.
In Mai that year he returns to Paris where he meets Mme. Recamier. He will continue meeting this lady throughout the rest of his life. It remains secret whether their relationship was purely intellectual.
1929 August. He resigned from his position of ambassador in Rome.
Revolution of 1830
King Charles X is forced to the abdication in favour of Louis Philipe, now Roy des Francais.
Chateaubriand considered Louis Philipe as an imposter.
He remained loyal to the Bourbon family, The Duchess of Berry and her son Luis V, a child, whom Chateaubriand considers the legitimate King.
The Duchess of Berry was arrested and accused of preparing a coup d’etat and
In this connection, Chateaubriand was also arrested but discharged innocent after two weeks.
Then in the following year on missions for The Duchess of Berry, Chateaubriand makes two long voyages to Prag (by coach, imagine!) where young Luis V in custody of Charles X, was brought up and educated.
Unfortunately, as the future did show, young Louis V was never to become the last Bourbon King.
Ultimately, our author’s implications in politics came to an end, and he returned to Paris
to his final destination.
He died on 4th of July 1848.
To a French reader, the preeminent quality of Chateaubriand's work is the unique style of the early nineteenth romantic way of writing.
Even today it is a reference for scholars and repeatedly referred to as the best French ever written.
Reading this book in depth is a work of slow progress. Chateaubriand did not follow a chronological order of progression. He went back and forth over the years of his travels, his successes of editions of literature and over his political careers.
Some unique aspects of this book are the detailed accounts of personal historical experiences, the assault of the Bastille by an infuriated crowd, his conversations with Bonaparte and King Luis XVIII as well as many other dignitaries at court and government assemblies. His memoirs take into account many original documents made available to him by Generals, Ministers, and many aristocratic families his close relations at the time.
Only an extremely gifted author of literary works as well as a politician and philosopher could provide the analytical insight that Chateaubriand was able to contribute.
It goes without saying that I recommend this unique work to my reader friends interested in French and European History at the time of the French Revolution and the years after.
December 4, 2010
J'ai trouvé la longue "digression" sur Napoléon des livres 19e à 24e très intéressante - ça m'a permis de me remettre en mémoire ce que je savais de cette période de l'Histoire et m'a permis d'approfondir ces connaissances par le regard d'un contemporain des faits, ce que je trouve toujours plus intéressant ou au moins enrichissant comme complément au récit d'historiens plus tardifs -, mais j'ai fini par m'en lasser à la moitié: son style d'écriture me semblait moins lyrique, plus "sec", je préfère de loin les passages où il parle de lui-même et réfléchit au temps qui passe, à la vanité des vies humaines si éphémères. Il parlait assez peu des femmes dans ce tome-ci, au contraire du premier tome où il le faisait davantage: j'ai trouvé cela dommage, car sa vision assez idéalisée de la femme m'intéressait beaucoup.
August 1, 2025
« Comment renouer avec quelque ardeur la narration d’un sujet rempli jadis pour moi de passion et de feu, quand ce ne sont plus des vivants avec qui je vais m’entretenir, quand il s’agit de réveiller des effigies glacées au fond de l’éternité, de descendre dans un caveau funèbre pour y jouer la vie. »
Si le Tome I était celui de la jeunesse et de l’exil en raison de la révolution, le Tome II est celui du voyage et de la maturité. Rentré d’Angleterre en 1800, Chateaubriand retrouve une France sous le joug du consulat dominé par le Général Bonaparte, bientôt consul à vie puis empereur. Il entame alors sa carrière d’écrivain en publiant le « Génie du christianisme » qui fait suite à la mort de sa mère. Le séisme que provoque cet ouvrage lui vaut d’être nommé comme ambassadeur à Rome auprès du Saint-Père. Au premier abord on pourrait croire que ce tome serait le plus ennuyant puisque présenté comme la partie qui traite de sa carrière littéraire. Il n’en est rien.
Cette période est bien plus que ça, elle est notamment marquée par de nombreuses pertes et surtout par l’ombre de l’Empire et ses conquêtes. Ainsi une énorme partie du tome est consacrée à la genèse, l’ascension, les conquêtes, la chute et enfin la mort de Napoléon Bonaparte. Chateaubriand, s’il reconnaît certaines qualités au petit caporal, est un fervent opposant de l’Empire et s’attire les foudres de l’Empereur qui menace même de « le faire sabrer sur les marches des Tuileries. »
Bien plus qu’un observateur, chateaubriand est un acteur de la fin de l’empire en occupant la place de ministre de l’intérieur par intérim dévoué de Louis XVIII pendant les cent jours, avec lequel il a une conversation courte à la fois brillante et éclairante sur l’état de la monarchie française post révolutionnaire.
Le style est encore une fois sublime bien qu’un peu moins présent sur la partie qui traite de Napoléon. Toutefois les passages traitant de Pauline de Beaumont, de sa sœur Lucile, et du Duc d’Enghien sont absolument sublimes.
Exilé à Saint Hélène, la France est débarrassé de l’ogre Corse qui foula l’Europe aux pieds. Louis XVIII restaure la Monarchie, en « octroyant » une charte aux français et fait entrer les ennemis héréditaires de celle-ci au gouvernement. C’est le début de la carrière politique de Chateaubriand qui s’annonce mouvementé dans une France qui n’a pas fini de connaître des changements et des révolutions.
« Pourquoi ai-je survécu au siècle et aux hommes à qui j'appartenais par la date de ma vie? Pourquoi ne suis-je pas tombé avec mes contemporains, les derniers d'une race épuisée? Pourquoi suis-je demeuré seul à chercher leurs os dans les ténèbres et la poussière d'une catacombe remplie? Je me décourage de durer. »
Si le Tome I était celui de la jeunesse et de l’exil en raison de la révolution, le Tome II est celui du voyage et de la maturité. Rentré d’Angleterre en 1800, Chateaubriand retrouve une France sous le joug du consulat dominé par le Général Bonaparte, bientôt consul à vie puis empereur. Il entame alors sa carrière d’écrivain en publiant le « Génie du christianisme » qui fait suite à la mort de sa mère. Le séisme que provoque cet ouvrage lui vaut d’être nommé comme ambassadeur à Rome auprès du Saint-Père. Au premier abord on pourrait croire que ce tome serait le plus ennuyant puisque présenté comme la partie qui traite de sa carrière littéraire. Il n’en est rien.
Cette période est bien plus que ça, elle est notamment marquée par de nombreuses pertes et surtout par l’ombre de l’Empire et ses conquêtes. Ainsi une énorme partie du tome est consacrée à la genèse, l’ascension, les conquêtes, la chute et enfin la mort de Napoléon Bonaparte. Chateaubriand, s’il reconnaît certaines qualités au petit caporal, est un fervent opposant de l’Empire et s’attire les foudres de l’Empereur qui menace même de « le faire sabrer sur les marches des Tuileries. »
Bien plus qu’un observateur, chateaubriand est un acteur de la fin de l’empire en occupant la place de ministre de l’intérieur par intérim dévoué de Louis XVIII pendant les cent jours, avec lequel il a une conversation courte à la fois brillante et éclairante sur l’état de la monarchie française post révolutionnaire.
Le style est encore une fois sublime bien qu’un peu moins présent sur la partie qui traite de Napoléon. Toutefois les passages traitant de Pauline de Beaumont, de sa sœur Lucile, et du Duc d’Enghien sont absolument sublimes.
Exilé à Saint Hélène, la France est débarrassé de l’ogre Corse qui foula l’Europe aux pieds. Louis XVIII restaure la Monarchie, en « octroyant » une charte aux français et fait entrer les ennemis héréditaires de celle-ci au gouvernement. C’est le début de la carrière politique de Chateaubriand qui s’annonce mouvementé dans une France qui n’a pas fini de connaître des changements et des révolutions.
« Pourquoi ai-je survécu au siècle et aux hommes à qui j'appartenais par la date de ma vie? Pourquoi ne suis-je pas tombé avec mes contemporains, les derniers d'une race épuisée? Pourquoi suis-je demeuré seul à chercher leurs os dans les ténèbres et la poussière d'une catacombe remplie? Je me décourage de durer. »
August 15, 2023
Suite des aventures de François-René de Chateaubriand, dont la vie, pendant cette période, croise beaucoup celle de la très admirée Juliette Récamier, et également madame de Staël... c'est l'époque de l'ambassade à Venise, et aussi de l'avènement de Louis-Philippe, auquel notre vicomte refuse de prêter serment dans un discours plein de panache. Ce tome est plus sombre que le précédent, à l'enthousiasme de la jeunesse, qui s'enflamme même au milieu de la pauvreté, succède l'angoisse du vieillissement, de la disparition des proches et de l'approche de la mort. François-René sent bien que son âme est restée aussi ardente qu'avant, mais cette pensée le torture plus qu'elle ne le console, car il ne voit plus son reflet dans l'oeil d'autrui. Chateaubriand continue de fasciner, avec ses paradoxes : fidèle à la monarchie légitime, mais pas à son épouse ; spectateur lucide de la démocratie qui vient, et grand partisan de la liberté notamment de la presse, mais restant attaché aux valeurs d'honneur qu'incarne l'aristocratie ; capable, en tant qu'ambassadeur à Venise, de recevoir somptueusement une grande-duchesse russe, ou de critiquer vivement les accords du congrès de Vienne, mais aussi de s'émouvoir d'avoir entendu le cri la géline qu'on lui sert pour son déjeûner ; parcourant le monde, mais se sentant partout seul et malheureux ; se demandant, dans chaque endroit qu'il traverse, s'il aimerait y vivre, ou s'il souhaiterait y être entouré. D'habiles notes de bas de page viennent parfois apporter de l'exactitude dans ce qui est écrit. Il n'est pas certain que toutes les ambassades de Chateaubriand aient eu le succès qu'il leur décerne. Toute cette complexité, cette intranquilité, expliquent qu'il n'ait jamais pu embrasser franchement un parti, ni devenir lui-même chef d'une chapelle : la solitude est son lot. Notre vicomte n'ait pas sans vanité, mais il le sait presque et s'en amuse, induisant l'idée que si on aime quelqu'un ce n'est pas pour son absence de défaut mais pour la lucidité et le recul avec lequel il considère des siens. Le style est inimitable, avec son usage naturel et désinvolte de termes parfois très anciens, et une vivacité toute moderne. Toute la réflexion sur la mémoire et la sensibilité font déjà penser à Proust.
June 8, 2023
Lecture longue et difficile par moment, mais ça vaut vraiment le coup. Aucun autre auteur français n'a réussi à immerger son lecteur dans un 19eme siècle aussi chaotique que celui que nous avons connu en France.
July 24, 2023
Un vrai plasiir...
September 26, 2023
Piètre contempteur de l'Empereur.
February 26, 2016
I like to read memoirs and biographies, and I absolutely love the French language. I started reading Chateaubriand's Mémoires d'Outre Tombe a few years ago on the internet, in project Gutenberg, but then they didn't have the second volume, so the reading was interrupted; I bought the second volume in Paris and it had been on my shelf for a couple of years, and now I read it. It's a very good read; Chateaubriand's conservative and religious convictions are sometimes very annoying, but he's a very keen observant and the period through which he lived is fascinating. This second volume deals mostly with the Napoleonic period, and what an incredible time it was. I guess Chateaubriand would be a kind of social democrat today, he valued freedom and morals above all. His descriptions are always vivid and he writes in the most beautiful French. I will order the other volumes of his memoirs soon.
Publicada por Chatwinesque à(s) 11:0
Publicada por Chatwinesque à(s) 11:0
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