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Adio, nobili! sau noblesse oblige
O farsă ravisantă despre barierele dintre cástele secolului XXI şi cum pot fi ele încălcate: povestea aventuroasă a unei iubiri imposibile, dintre o aristocrată şi un artist, ale căror fundaluri familiale şi culturale nu ar putea fi mai diferite.
„...De fapt, la început, nu avea nici cea mai mică intenţie să se căsătorească, pentru că o aristocrată catolică ar trebui, firesc, să contracteze un mariaj, pe cât posibil, cu un nobil de aceeaşi confesiune, aşa cum cere tradiţia şi impune eternul Almanah Gotha.“
CHRISTINE GRÄFIN VON BRÜHL
„...De fapt, la început, nu avea nici cea mai mică intenţie să se căsătorească, pentru că o aristocrată catolică ar trebui, firesc, să contracteze un mariaj, pe cât posibil, cu un nobil de aceeaşi confesiune, aşa cum cere tradiţia şi impune eternul Almanah Gotha.“
CHRISTINE GRÄFIN VON BRÜHL
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2009
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 27, 2017
O carte vaporoasa, placuta pentru lectura. Povesteste legatura intre o aristocrata si un artist, trecuta, evident, prin barierile castei. Dar ce m-a prins, ca e povestita intr-un mod usor autoironic, de Contesa Christine Gräfin von Brühl (observati ca protagonista e insasi autoarea) si nu e clar daca e integral autobiografica sau nu. Dar asta e si farmecul. Contesa face haz de propriile origini aristocratice, snobism, dar cu o oarecare caldura fata de nobilime. Ea isi ignora originele aristocratice, dar nu cu totul, prinsa parca intre doua lumi paralele (cum sugereaza si titlul de fapt).
Interesant sa citesti azi, cind lumea generatiei in blugi rupti se indragosteste pe facebook, istorii cu Almanahul Ghota, dupa care nobilii isi cauta meticulos consortii :). Parca e un microcosmos.
Interesant sa citesti azi, cind lumea generatiei in blugi rupti se indragosteste pe facebook, istorii cu Almanahul Ghota, dupa care nobilii isi cauta meticulos consortii :). Parca e un microcosmos.
July 11, 2019
It was a light summer read. Perfect for a long weekend by the pool.
May 3, 2020
4.5/5 stars, extremely underrated
What starts out as a memoir of one of Europe's last countesses turns into a vivid documentary into the lives of aristocrats with many puns and ironies towards the traditions surrounding them, but with a positive note as to why they are highly relevant and important in our current society.
Christine Grafin von Bruhl doesn't miss any chance to highlight the true features of real aristocracy; wealth, opulence and modernism are not in the handbook of this class. And here lies the major difference between aristocracy and bourgeois: indeed, money makes both worlds go round, but aristocrats don't believe in fast wealth and live modestly with just a few hints of their wealth around. Such as a castle. The aristocrats are not billionaires, the aristocrats don't boast their wealth, the aristocrats rarely have tens of servants in the house, most aristocrats do their own gardening and you will rarely see them in supermarkets because they (not the servants) grow their own food. Most of them have white and blue collar jobs, they are thoroughly adamant to giving back to society and most likely you'll never see an aristocrat as the owner of a business.
But what lies at the center of it all is family. And I don't mean it as kids, parents and grandparents. As part of the aristocracy, family expands to a vast network of aunts, cousins and godparents. Anywhere you might go in the world, there is certainly a family member whom you must visit. This is what Christine loves about her class and this is what she's afraid she'll lose once marrying outside the web. And most importantly, the family values will be the ones she'll be most keen to forward to her kids.
I loved this book. It was so well written, wittedly explained and fun to follow. I realized that many of the principles of aristocratic life are the ones that I, personally, consider common sense: modesty, love of family, respect for tradition, discretion and independence. Unfortunately, as we dwell into modernism more and more of these principles lack and tackiness, mockery and uncouth modernism take their place. Family is replaced by opportunistic, frivolous friendships, modesty by gold-digging parvenues and independence is defined through influencing. So just as the upper class, common sense is also slowly, but surely disappearing.
What starts out as a memoir of one of Europe's last countesses turns into a vivid documentary into the lives of aristocrats with many puns and ironies towards the traditions surrounding them, but with a positive note as to why they are highly relevant and important in our current society.
Christine Grafin von Bruhl doesn't miss any chance to highlight the true features of real aristocracy; wealth, opulence and modernism are not in the handbook of this class. And here lies the major difference between aristocracy and bourgeois: indeed, money makes both worlds go round, but aristocrats don't believe in fast wealth and live modestly with just a few hints of their wealth around. Such as a castle. The aristocrats are not billionaires, the aristocrats don't boast their wealth, the aristocrats rarely have tens of servants in the house, most aristocrats do their own gardening and you will rarely see them in supermarkets because they (not the servants) grow their own food. Most of them have white and blue collar jobs, they are thoroughly adamant to giving back to society and most likely you'll never see an aristocrat as the owner of a business.
But what lies at the center of it all is family. And I don't mean it as kids, parents and grandparents. As part of the aristocracy, family expands to a vast network of aunts, cousins and godparents. Anywhere you might go in the world, there is certainly a family member whom you must visit. This is what Christine loves about her class and this is what she's afraid she'll lose once marrying outside the web. And most importantly, the family values will be the ones she'll be most keen to forward to her kids.
I loved this book. It was so well written, wittedly explained and fun to follow. I realized that many of the principles of aristocratic life are the ones that I, personally, consider common sense: modesty, love of family, respect for tradition, discretion and independence. Unfortunately, as we dwell into modernism more and more of these principles lack and tackiness, mockery and uncouth modernism take their place. Family is replaced by opportunistic, frivolous friendships, modesty by gold-digging parvenues and independence is defined through influencing. So just as the upper class, common sense is also slowly, but surely disappearing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews