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October Nights
90 Classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books
In October Nights, Gerard de Nerval takes us on a gentle meander through nighttime Paris – a dreamlike journey towards getting lost. Also included in this volume is Sylvie, his haunting novella of love and memory, the ‘masterpiece’ that inspired Proust to write In Search of Lost Time. Together, these works by the French poet, visionary and pioneering modernist are a testament to the power of jewelled thinking, and an inspiration for flaneurs and romantics everywhere.
In October Nights, Gerard de Nerval takes us on a gentle meander through nighttime Paris – a dreamlike journey towards getting lost. Also included in this volume is Sylvie, his haunting novella of love and memory, the ‘masterpiece’ that inspired Proust to write In Search of Lost Time. Together, these works by the French poet, visionary and pioneering modernist are a testament to the power of jewelled thinking, and an inspiration for flaneurs and romantics everywhere.
144 pages, Paperback
Published April 17, 2025
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160 people want to read
About the author
Gérard de Nerval
645 books240 followersGérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.
Gérard de Nerval, nom de plume de Gérard Labrunie, écrivain et poète français. Figure majeure du romantisme français, il est essentiellement connu pour ses poèmes et ses nouvelles.
Gérard de Nerval, nom de plume de Gérard Labrunie, écrivain et poète français. Figure majeure du romantisme français, il est essentiellement connu pour ses poèmes et ses nouvelles.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
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September 27, 2025I hesitated to rate this book because my interest was primarily driven by Umberto Eco’s high praise for "Sylvie,"(I read "October Nights" too but have nothing to say about it) which he regarded as one of his favorite literary works. Eco’s analysis framed much of my reading experience, influencing how I approached the novella.
The most striking aspect of "Sylvie" is perhaps its treatment of time - ambiguous and elusive. Throughout the novella, it is often unclear whether the narrator recounts past memories or narrates present events. This creates a dreamlike atmosphere, much like a haze or fog enveloping reality, blurring the boundaries between memory and the real. In a word, reading it felt like reading a classical piece of literature, rich in descriptions and agony of love.
The most striking aspect of "Sylvie" is perhaps its treatment of time - ambiguous and elusive. Throughout the novella, it is often unclear whether the narrator recounts past memories or narrates present events. This creates a dreamlike atmosphere, much like a haze or fog enveloping reality, blurring the boundaries between memory and the real. In a word, reading it felt like reading a classical piece of literature, rich in descriptions and agony of love.
June 24, 2025
An animated account of Parisian nights, lifestyle and culture from the perspective of the author. Some funny anecdotes, witty remarks and observations. For those with the vision of Paris, the short account brought the city to life inducing a sense of nostalgia. The book read very easily and lightly.
October 8, 2025
Ler este livro foi bastante interessante. Primeiro porque os dois contos que estão no livro são tão difererentes um do outro, como o sol e a lua.
October nights - 3.5 estrelas
Mas falando de cada um separadamente. "October Nights", que dá título ao livro, é escrito do ponto de vista do autor, que deambula por Paris durante o final do dia, e durante toda a noite antes de partir num comboio para uma cidade perto de Paris. Pessoalmente gostei bastante da escrita e da forma como o autor transmite os seus sentimentos e as emoções que as diferentes experiências e sítios que visita em Paris durante a noite o fazem transmitir. Mas este livro não se chama Paris Nights por uma razão, e na minha perspetiva, é porque a segunda parte deste conto passa-se noutras 2 cidades francesas, e o autor transporta-nos, novamente, pelos seus passeios noturnos por estas duas cidades. Todo o conto faz-me querer ir para Paris e experienciar as ruas, os cafés, os restaurantes, e os bares que o autor tanto fala e nos faz experienciar pelas suas palavras e a nossa imaginação.
Sylvie - 4 estrelas
Já no conto "Sylvie" o autor escreve também na primeira pessoa, mas questiono se é sobre si que fala, como em October nights, ou se trata-se um narrador fictício. De qualquer forma, Sylvie é um conto que fala sobre 3 amores, um amor de infância e como o autor se agarra ao sentimento de nostalgia que advém desse amor jovem e inocente - e que o autor considera que estará sempre disponível para si, e quando se apercebe que não está, porque o amor não é uma coisa que podemos abusar e esperar que esteja sempre para nós ali, quando se trata de uma pessoa. E o segundo amor retratado neste conto é parasocial, é uma ilusão. É o tipo de amor que nós criamos através de admiração e que deixamos o nosso coração e cérebro criar a ilusão de que a pessoa é muito mais do que na realidade é, criamos uma extenção do que queremos que seja a realidade, mas não é. E o narrador percebe que não é verdadeiro amor quando confrontado com a realidade, quando confrontado com o que é amar verdadeiramente alguém pelo que ela é e não pelo que ele imagina ser.
E por fim, o terceiro amor, que na minha opinião não se trata de uma terceira pessoa, mas sim o amor (ou a falta dele) que o narrador tem por si mesmo. A meu ver, este conto retrata um narrador que procura insestentemente por um amor em qualquer lugar, num amor de infância que recordamos com nostalgia e saudade, ou numa admiração por alguém que não nos é próximo mas que criamos toda uma reputação na nossa cabeça àcerca dessa pessoa - mas no final do dia, quando o véu cai e a realidade aparece à frente do narrador, tanto no primeiro amor, o narrador foge para Paris, porque percebe que não é ele quem Sylvie ama, e o amor inocente e infantil já não existe; tal como com Aurélia que tem de ser esta a dizer-lhe que ele não a ama, mas ama a ilusão que criou dela.
Concluindo, Sylvie foi o conto que mais gostei dos dois, e que acho que deveria dar título ao livro, uma vez que foi das peças literárias mais importantes e das mais conhecidas por Gérard de Nerval. Gostei que, me fez lembrar de certo modo de White Nights, onde o narrador tem também um amor não correspondido, no entanto em Sylvie, considero que o narrador não se apaixona da mesma forma real como o narrador de White Nights - digo isto uma vez que em Sylvie o narrador muda de amor 3 vezes, num espaço de pouquissimas páginas, transmitindo que não é real e paciente consigo e com as mulheres que escolhe amar.
No final, gostei dos dois contos, por diferentes razões, mas acho que vale a pena ler
(3.5 estrelas arredondado)
October nights - 3.5 estrelas
Mas falando de cada um separadamente. "October Nights", que dá título ao livro, é escrito do ponto de vista do autor, que deambula por Paris durante o final do dia, e durante toda a noite antes de partir num comboio para uma cidade perto de Paris. Pessoalmente gostei bastante da escrita e da forma como o autor transmite os seus sentimentos e as emoções que as diferentes experiências e sítios que visita em Paris durante a noite o fazem transmitir. Mas este livro não se chama Paris Nights por uma razão, e na minha perspetiva, é porque a segunda parte deste conto passa-se noutras 2 cidades francesas, e o autor transporta-nos, novamente, pelos seus passeios noturnos por estas duas cidades. Todo o conto faz-me querer ir para Paris e experienciar as ruas, os cafés, os restaurantes, e os bares que o autor tanto fala e nos faz experienciar pelas suas palavras e a nossa imaginação.
Sylvie - 4 estrelas
Já no conto "Sylvie" o autor escreve também na primeira pessoa, mas questiono se é sobre si que fala, como em October nights, ou se trata-se um narrador fictício. De qualquer forma, Sylvie é um conto que fala sobre 3 amores, um amor de infância e como o autor se agarra ao sentimento de nostalgia que advém desse amor jovem e inocente - e que o autor considera que estará sempre disponível para si, e quando se apercebe que não está, porque o amor não é uma coisa que podemos abusar e esperar que esteja sempre para nós ali, quando se trata de uma pessoa. E o segundo amor retratado neste conto é parasocial, é uma ilusão. É o tipo de amor que nós criamos através de admiração e que deixamos o nosso coração e cérebro criar a ilusão de que a pessoa é muito mais do que na realidade é, criamos uma extenção do que queremos que seja a realidade, mas não é. E o narrador percebe que não é verdadeiro amor quando confrontado com a realidade, quando confrontado com o que é amar verdadeiramente alguém pelo que ela é e não pelo que ele imagina ser.
E por fim, o terceiro amor, que na minha opinião não se trata de uma terceira pessoa, mas sim o amor (ou a falta dele) que o narrador tem por si mesmo. A meu ver, este conto retrata um narrador que procura insestentemente por um amor em qualquer lugar, num amor de infância que recordamos com nostalgia e saudade, ou numa admiração por alguém que não nos é próximo mas que criamos toda uma reputação na nossa cabeça àcerca dessa pessoa - mas no final do dia, quando o véu cai e a realidade aparece à frente do narrador, tanto no primeiro amor, o narrador foge para Paris, porque percebe que não é ele quem Sylvie ama, e o amor inocente e infantil já não existe; tal como com Aurélia que tem de ser esta a dizer-lhe que ele não a ama, mas ama a ilusão que criou dela.
Concluindo, Sylvie foi o conto que mais gostei dos dois, e que acho que deveria dar título ao livro, uma vez que foi das peças literárias mais importantes e das mais conhecidas por Gérard de Nerval. Gostei que, me fez lembrar de certo modo de White Nights, onde o narrador tem também um amor não correspondido, no entanto em Sylvie, considero que o narrador não se apaixona da mesma forma real como o narrador de White Nights - digo isto uma vez que em Sylvie o narrador muda de amor 3 vezes, num espaço de pouquissimas páginas, transmitindo que não é real e paciente consigo e com as mulheres que escolhe amar.
No final, gostei dos dois contos, por diferentes razões, mas acho que vale a pena ler
(3.5 estrelas arredondado)
December 9, 2025
The case of a classic book not clicking with me and just feeling boring.
There’s quite a bit of flânerie here, thousands of places to eat oysters in 19th-century Paris, and stylistic experiments, some more successful (the dreamlike timeline in Sylvie), some less so (the newspaper-style listing of restaurants in October Nights).
Still, the writing style felt strangely outdated even for its time I think. Though the stories were written in the 1850s, they read like early Romanticism: full of pathos, detached from reality and real psychological depth.
It was interesting to touch these texts and see their influence, but I didn’t find them particularly engaging.
There’s quite a bit of flânerie here, thousands of places to eat oysters in 19th-century Paris, and stylistic experiments, some more successful (the dreamlike timeline in Sylvie), some less so (the newspaper-style listing of restaurants in October Nights).
Still, the writing style felt strangely outdated even for its time I think. Though the stories were written in the 1850s, they read like early Romanticism: full of pathos, detached from reality and real psychological depth.
It was interesting to touch these texts and see their influence, but I didn’t find them particularly engaging.
November 14, 2025
2.5. Just so middle of the road. I was duped by a pocket size book with a nice cover once more.
September 11, 2025
'I felt myself alive in her, and she lived for me
alone. Her every smile filled me with infinite bliss: each quaver of her voice, so gentle and yet so profoundly resonant, sent shivers of joy and love
through me. For me, she was utter perfection, an
answer to my every rapture, my every whim. When
she was lit from below by the footlights, she was
as lovely as the day; and when the lights dimmed,
showing her off more naturally beneath the rays
of the chandelier overhead, she was as pale as the night, her sole beauty shining forth from the dark... '
(Sylvie, page 76)
These two stories, bundled in the same booklet are as different as night and day. In October Nights, the reader is taken along the Parisian nightlife and its debauched places to meet the creatures of the night, a story told in absurdistic realism. The idyllic Sylvie, on the other hand, is a story mainly told in soft daylight, the reader floats through woods, meadows and memories and meets the prktagonist's three great loves, wandering through the real and the ideal.
'I think it's time to for me to proceed to the train station, carrying the hollow phantom of this night along with me in my mind.'
(October Nights, 44)
alone. Her every smile filled me with infinite bliss: each quaver of her voice, so gentle and yet so profoundly resonant, sent shivers of joy and love
through me. For me, she was utter perfection, an
answer to my every rapture, my every whim. When
she was lit from below by the footlights, she was
as lovely as the day; and when the lights dimmed,
showing her off more naturally beneath the rays
of the chandelier overhead, she was as pale as the night, her sole beauty shining forth from the dark... '
(Sylvie, page 76)
These two stories, bundled in the same booklet are as different as night and day. In October Nights, the reader is taken along the Parisian nightlife and its debauched places to meet the creatures of the night, a story told in absurdistic realism. The idyllic Sylvie, on the other hand, is a story mainly told in soft daylight, the reader floats through woods, meadows and memories and meets the prktagonist's three great loves, wandering through the real and the ideal.
'I think it's time to for me to proceed to the train station, carrying the hollow phantom of this night along with me in my mind.'
(October Nights, 44)
June 17, 2025
Two stories from Gérard de Nerval in this new issue from the Penguin Archive series: October Nights and Sylvie.
October Nights - 3.2/5
Essentially an exercise in style, starts with Nerval recounting reading a translation of a piece from Dickens called ‘The Key of the Street’ (haven’t been able to find it tho). And says how lucky the British are for they can ‘write and read entire chapters of first-hand observation unencumbered by the slightest contrivance of fiction… Our neighbours have a talent for realism that delights in absolute truth’.
Thereon the account of a meander through nighttime Paris follows in that style. And it was a dreadful read.
Just naming streets and giving a documentary like account, made me almost start to regret buying this book, but towards the end Nerval cures himself of this style, himself realising how damn awful that style is.
The last line goes: “This is the fateful history of the three October nights that cured me of my exaggerated notions of absolute realism — at least I have every reason to believe I have recovered”.
The change came too late but was a relief, but it didn’t leave me with much expectations for the next story.
Sylvie - 5/5
Described on the back cover as “the ‘masterpiece’ that inspired Proust to write In Search of Lost Time”, Sylvie is nothing short of a revelation. Without a doubt one of the best pieces of literature I’ve ever read, it’s a shame that it’s hidden behind the title story.
Memory, love, and pain of the most sublime sort fill the 60 or so pages of this story. I don’t have any more words for it.
October Nights - 3.2/5
Essentially an exercise in style, starts with Nerval recounting reading a translation of a piece from Dickens called ‘The Key of the Street’ (haven’t been able to find it tho). And says how lucky the British are for they can ‘write and read entire chapters of first-hand observation unencumbered by the slightest contrivance of fiction… Our neighbours have a talent for realism that delights in absolute truth’.
Thereon the account of a meander through nighttime Paris follows in that style. And it was a dreadful read.
Just naming streets and giving a documentary like account, made me almost start to regret buying this book, but towards the end Nerval cures himself of this style, himself realising how damn awful that style is.
The last line goes: “This is the fateful history of the three October nights that cured me of my exaggerated notions of absolute realism — at least I have every reason to believe I have recovered”.
The change came too late but was a relief, but it didn’t leave me with much expectations for the next story.
Sylvie - 5/5
Described on the back cover as “the ‘masterpiece’ that inspired Proust to write In Search of Lost Time”, Sylvie is nothing short of a revelation. Without a doubt one of the best pieces of literature I’ve ever read, it’s a shame that it’s hidden behind the title story.
Memory, love, and pain of the most sublime sort fill the 60 or so pages of this story. I don’t have any more words for it.
September 9, 2025
I felt myself alive in her, and she lived for me alone. Her every smile filled me with infinite bliss: each quaver of her voice, so gentle and yet so profoundly resonant, sent shivers of joy and love
through me. For me, she was utter perfection, an answer to my every rapture, my every whim. When she was lit from below by the footlights, she was
as lovely as the day; and when the lights dimmed, showing her off more naturally beneath the rays of the chandelier overhead, she was as pale as the night, her sole beauty shining forth from the dark... '
(Sylvie, 76)
These two stories, bundled in the same booklet are as different as night and day. In October Nights, the reader is taken along the Parisian nightlife and its debauched places to meet the creatures of the night, a story told in absurdistic realism. The idyllic Sylvie, on the other hand, is a story mainly told in soft daylight, the reader floats through woods, meadows and memories and meets the prktagonist's three great loves, wandering through the real and the ideal.
'I think it's time to for me to proceed to the train station, carrying the hollow phantom of this night along with me in my mind.'
(October Nights, 44)
through me. For me, she was utter perfection, an answer to my every rapture, my every whim. When she was lit from below by the footlights, she was
as lovely as the day; and when the lights dimmed, showing her off more naturally beneath the rays of the chandelier overhead, she was as pale as the night, her sole beauty shining forth from the dark... '
(Sylvie, 76)
These two stories, bundled in the same booklet are as different as night and day. In October Nights, the reader is taken along the Parisian nightlife and its debauched places to meet the creatures of the night, a story told in absurdistic realism. The idyllic Sylvie, on the other hand, is a story mainly told in soft daylight, the reader floats through woods, meadows and memories and meets the prktagonist's three great loves, wandering through the real and the ideal.
'I think it's time to for me to proceed to the train station, carrying the hollow phantom of this night along with me in my mind.'
(October Nights, 44)
August 28, 2025
the first part was a slog to get through, but the second was surely one of the most beautiful short stories i have ever read. so gorgeous and deliciously tragic. by the time the end was nearing i knew exactly how it would conclude - those final lines - but it was still a treat to get there, and it was only so predictable because it was the only real way it could have ended. masterful.
May 22, 2025
Nice short read. Good representation of Parisian energy and culture.
* Let’s enjoy ourselves, but within bounds.
* Illusions fall away one after another like the husks of fruit, and that fruit is experience.
* Let’s enjoy ourselves, but within bounds.
* Illusions fall away one after another like the husks of fruit, and that fruit is experience.
October 13, 2025
you would’ve loved the concept of vlogging or snapchat, AND خالد الخالدي
… fernando alonso what are you doing here
… fernando alonso what are you doing here
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October 17, 2025just a dreamlike tour of paris na bigla lang siya nahuli sa dulo. very short read. usually fan naman ako ng mga tour like narrative pero ewan wala ako masyado maalala dito
October 18, 2025
Very romantic and overdramatic (as to be expected ;P) but a very fascinating glimpse into real life in Monet's Paris. Solid 3.5 stars.
October 24, 2025
ADORED the atmosphere
November 10, 2025
In Nerval was de romantiek nog even puur en vermakelijk.
August 19, 2025
Checking my left and right virtue signals before backing the explorer into this isle. When even Zola sounds crazed by modern political correctness standards it's treacherous to pick up a book from the 1800s. Heart thumping as you creek past the Edgar Allan Poe books. Peering breathlessly under the ETA Hoffman books...But it wasn't bad at all! I've read my Deleuze and Proust. Time to embark on those Nerval shelves. The influencer who'll eat your heart out.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews