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Lui, Roman Contemporain
Titre : Lui : roman contemporain ([Reprod. en fac-sim.]) / Louise Colet
Auteur : Colet, Louise (1810-1876)
Éditeur : Slatkine (Genève)
Date d'édition : 1864
Type : monographie imprimée
Langue : Français
Format : XV-409 p. ; 19 cm
Format : application/pdf
Droits : conditions spécifiques d'utilisation - Microformes et reprints
Identifiant : ark:/12148/bpt6k8693g
Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France
Relation : http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb...
Provenance : bnf.fr
Date de mise en ligne : 22/09/2014
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6...
Auteur : Colet, Louise (1810-1876)
Éditeur : Slatkine (Genève)
Date d'édition : 1864
Type : monographie imprimée
Langue : Français
Format : XV-409 p. ; 19 cm
Format : application/pdf
Droits : conditions spécifiques d'utilisation - Microformes et reprints
Identifiant : ark:/12148/bpt6k8693g
Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France
Relation : http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb...
Provenance : bnf.fr
Date de mise en ligne : 22/09/2014
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6...
428 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1859
80 people want to read
About the author
Louise Colet
149 books4 followersLouise Colet (August 15, 1810 – March 9, 1876), born Louise Revoil, was a poet born in Aix-en-Provence in France.
In her twenties she married Hippolyte Colet, an academic musician, partly in order to escape provincial life and live in Paris.
Upon arrival in Paris, Colet began to submit her work for approval and publication and soon won a two-thousand-franc prize from the Académie française, the first of four prizes won from the Académie. Today critics claim she won the prizes, not by merit, but through the influence of friends. At her salon she associated with many of her contemporaries in the Parisian literary community, such as Victor Hugo.
In 1840 she gave birth to her daughter Henriette, but neither her husband nor her lover, Victor Cousin, would acknowledge paternity. Later she became the paramour of Gustave Flaubert, Alfred de Musset, and Abel Villemain. After her husband died, Colet supported herself and her daughter with her writing.
Her brother was the painter Pierre Révoil. Louise Colet died in Paris.
Though married to Hippolyte Colet, Louise had a steamy eight-year affair, in two stages, with Gustave Flaubert. The relationship turned sour, however, and they broke up. Louise was allegedly so angered by her breakup with Flaubert, she wrote a novel, Lui, in an effort to target Flaubert. However, Colet's book has failed to have the lasting significance of Madame Bovary. Flaubert's dozens of long letters to her, in 1846–1847, then especially between 1851 and 1855, are one of the many joys of his correspondence. Many of them are a precious source of information on the progress of the writing of Madame Bovary. In many others, Flaubert gives lengthy appreciations and critical comments on the poems that Louise Colet sent to him for his judgment before offering them for publication. The most interesting of these comments show the vast differences between her and him on the matter of style and literary expression, she being a gushing Romanticist, he deeply convinced that the writer must abstain from gush and self-indulgence.
In her twenties she married Hippolyte Colet, an academic musician, partly in order to escape provincial life and live in Paris.
Upon arrival in Paris, Colet began to submit her work for approval and publication and soon won a two-thousand-franc prize from the Académie française, the first of four prizes won from the Académie. Today critics claim she won the prizes, not by merit, but through the influence of friends. At her salon she associated with many of her contemporaries in the Parisian literary community, such as Victor Hugo.
In 1840 she gave birth to her daughter Henriette, but neither her husband nor her lover, Victor Cousin, would acknowledge paternity. Later she became the paramour of Gustave Flaubert, Alfred de Musset, and Abel Villemain. After her husband died, Colet supported herself and her daughter with her writing.
Her brother was the painter Pierre Révoil. Louise Colet died in Paris.
Though married to Hippolyte Colet, Louise had a steamy eight-year affair, in two stages, with Gustave Flaubert. The relationship turned sour, however, and they broke up. Louise was allegedly so angered by her breakup with Flaubert, she wrote a novel, Lui, in an effort to target Flaubert. However, Colet's book has failed to have the lasting significance of Madame Bovary. Flaubert's dozens of long letters to her, in 1846–1847, then especially between 1851 and 1855, are one of the many joys of his correspondence. Many of them are a precious source of information on the progress of the writing of Madame Bovary. In many others, Flaubert gives lengthy appreciations and critical comments on the poems that Louise Colet sent to him for his judgment before offering them for publication. The most interesting of these comments show the vast differences between her and him on the matter of style and literary expression, she being a gushing Romanticist, he deeply convinced that the writer must abstain from gush and self-indulgence.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 25, 2015
Lui est un roman plutôt autobiographique écrit par Louise Colet(1810-1879), un écrivain parisien. Il s'agit de décrire sa relation avec Alfred de Musset, qui la poursuivit de ses assiduités, tout pendant qu'elle conservait une relation distante et épistolaire avec Gustave Flaubert. C'est l'occasion aussi de revenir sur les amours tourmentées de Sand et de Musset, en particulier les épisodes à Fontainebleau et en Italie, déjà largement évoqués dans trois autres romans, La Confession d'un enfant du siècle de Musset, Elle et Lui de Sand, et Lui et elle de Paul de Musset, le frère de l'écrivain.
Tout n'est pas parfait, en particulier la partie centrale du roman où Louise s'efface et relate les escapades de Musset à Venise: il y a des longueurs, des aventures orientalistes extravagantes dont on ne sait pas si c'est du lard ou du cochon, un parti pris évident contre Sand qui se fait déchirer à belles dents, et surtout un fort contraste avec l’authenticité et le plaisir qui se dégage des parties où elle raconte sa propre vie et ses propres sentiments.
Le portrait de Musset est à la fois dur, parce qu'elle ne passe pas sous silence les folles extravagances de son caractère, et à la fois tendre, car elle fait sentir avec bien plus d'art et de sentiment que Sand la délicatesse dont il était capable. Il s'avère finalement infiniment plus sympathique que le froid et raisonnable Flaubert, que rien n'arrive à émouvoir et qui est tout entier dédié à ses recherches esthétiques.
La réputation de l'ouvrage semble avoir souffert des critiques négatives des Flauberolâtres intéressés à défendre leur idole et répéter ses opinions. Elles ne sont sans doute pas totalement infondées, mais à mon avis, ce roman mérite néanmoins d'être lu, car il recèle des passages de grande qualité. J'ai apprécié le ton naturel, l'attention portée aux détails de la vie quotidienne, et la délicatesse des sentiments qui ne verse ni dans un regard froid, ni dans une exaltation extrême. Une très bonne surprise!
March 16, 2021
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
August 30, 2023
De roman “Hij” van Louise Colet lijkt zwaar te leunen op de werkelijkheid van haar eigen leven, in ieder geval voor zover schrijver Gustave Flaubert en dichter Albert de Musset daarvan deel hebben uitgemaakt (indirect blaast trouwens ook schijfster George Sand een behoorlijk partijtje mee). Men zou er de biografie van Francine du Plessix Gray op kunnen nalezen, maar ook het eveneens voortreffelijke nawoord van Joke J. Hermsen en het notenapparaat in “Hij” laten hier eigenlijk geen misverstand over bestaan.
Waar het gaat om de stijl van de zogenaamde roman van Colet respectievelijk de biografische non-fictie van Du Plessix Gray en, in het verlengde daarvan, het leesplezier dat ik aan de beide boeken ontleen, moet ik concluderen dat mijn voorkeur sterk uitgaat naar het laatste. Bij Louise Colet zelf druipt de pathetiek er meestal wel heel erg vanaf. En helaas blijkt zelfs een uitstekend vertaler als Edu Borger zich schuldig te maken aan die vreselijke ‘verharing’ van de Nederlandse taal…
Waar het gaat om de stijl van de zogenaamde roman van Colet respectievelijk de biografische non-fictie van Du Plessix Gray en, in het verlengde daarvan, het leesplezier dat ik aan de beide boeken ontleen, moet ik concluderen dat mijn voorkeur sterk uitgaat naar het laatste. Bij Louise Colet zelf druipt de pathetiek er meestal wel heel erg vanaf. En helaas blijkt zelfs een uitstekend vertaler als Edu Borger zich schuldig te maken aan die vreselijke ‘verharing’ van de Nederlandse taal…
October 21, 2025
Wow. I did not realise that situationships existed in 1800s France and that they were just as much, if not more, MESSY!
Very interesting but I found Albert so toxic and Stephanie (Louise irl) enables him so much. Her choice in men was overall -5/10.
I found the roman a cle very interesting and that much more juicy knowing that this had an element of real life to it. The context is insane.
Some parts were really engaging and others parts dragged on a bit.
Very interesting but I found Albert so toxic and Stephanie (Louise irl) enables him so much. Her choice in men was overall -5/10.
I found the roman a cle very interesting and that much more juicy knowing that this had an element of real life to it. The context is insane.
Some parts were really engaging and others parts dragged on a bit.
December 12, 2022
must've been a primary source for the movie Impromptu.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews