Conscience, Complete

by Hector Malot

When Crozat, the Bohemian, escaped from poverty, by a good marriage that made him a citizen of the Rue de Vaugirard, he did not break with his old comrades; instead of shunning them, or keeping them at a distance, he took pleasure in gathering them about him, glad to open his house to them, the comforts of which were very different from the attic of the Rue Ganneron, that he had occupied for so long a time.

154 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1905

About the author

Hector Malot was a French writer born in La Bouille, Seine-Maritime. He studied law in Rouen and Paris, but eventually literature became his passion. He worked as a dramatic critic for Lloyd Francais and as a literary critic for L'Opinion Nationale.
His first book, published in 1859, was Les Amants. In total Malot wrote over 70 books. By far his most famous book is Sans Famille (Nobody's Boy, 1878), which deals with the travels of the young orphan Remi, who is sold to the streetmusician Vitalis at age 10. Sans Famille gained fame as a children's book, though it was not originally intended as such.
He announced his retirement as an author of fiction in 1895, but in 1896 he returned with the novel L'amour Dominateur as well as the account of his literary life Le Roman de mes Romans (The Novel of my Novels).

Reviews

[Deodand · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Why is this story so obscure? I've certainly read less well-plotted "classics". It is true that the ending favours Victorian morals, but what the heck. You always have to read books with your eye on the era.

I found Saniel's efforts to close all the loopholes around his acts quite interesting. It's just too bad that he gets eaten away inside by what he's done, from a reader's standpoint. And that whole morphine business was not really necessary.