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Οι κατακτητές
Το μυθιστόρημα που καθιέρωσε τον Μαλρώ ως έναν από τους πλέον σημαντικούς συγγραφείς του 20ου αιώνα. Πέρα από χρονικό του αγώνα της επαναστατημένης Κίνας κατά των Άγγλων, Οι Κατακτητές είναι το ευαγγέλιο μιας γενιάς που αναζήτησε το όραμα ενός καλύτερου κόσμου στις τέσσερις γωνιές της γης.
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1928
19 people are currently reading
615 people want to read
About the author
André Malraux
272 books401 followersMalraux was born in Paris during 1901, the son of Fernand-Georges Malraux and Berthe Lamy (Malraux). His parents separated during 1905 and eventually divorced. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Berthe and Adrienne Lamy in the small town of Bondy. His father, a stockbroker, committed suicide in 1930. Andre had Tourette's Syndrome during his childhood, resulting in motor and vocal tics.
At the age of 21, Malraux left for Cambodia with his new wife Clara Goldschmidt. In Cambodia, he undertook an exploratory expedition into the Cambodian jungle. On his return he was arrested by French colonial authorities for removing bas-reliefs from one of the temples he discovered. Banteay Srei (The French government itself had removed large numbers of sculptures and artifacts from already discovered sites such as Angkor Wat around this time). Malraux later incorporated the episode into his second novel La Voie Royale.
Malraux became very critical of the French colonial authorities in Indochina, and during 1925 helped to organize the Young Annam League and founded a newspaper Indochina in Chains.
On his return to France, he published The Temptation of the West (1926) which had the format of an exchange of letters between a Westerner and an Asian comparing aspects of the two cultures. This was followed by his first novel The Conquerors (1928), then by The Royal Way (1930) which was influenced by his Cambodian experience, and then by Man's Fate (La Condition Humaine). For La Condition Humaine, a novel about the 1927 failed Communist rebellion in Shanghai, written with obvious sympathy for the Communists, he won the 1933 Prix Goncourt.
During the 1930s, Malraux was active in the anti-Fascist Popular Front in France. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War he joined the Republican forces in Spain, serving in, and helping to organize, their small air force. His squadron, called "España", became something of a legend after his claims of nearly annihilating part of the Nationalist army at Medellín.
According to Curtis Cate, his biographer, he was slightly wounded twice during efforts to stop the Falangists' takeover of Madrid, but the British historian Hugh Thomas denies this. He also toured the United States to raise funds for the Spanish Republicans. A novel influenced by his Spanish war experiences, Man's Hope, (L'Espoir) was published during 1938.
At the beginning of the Second World War, Malraux joined the French Army. He was captured in 1940 during the Battle of France but escaped and later joined the French Resistance. He was captured by the Gestapo during 1944 and underwent a mock execution. He later commanded the tank unit Brigade Alsace-Lorraine in defence of Strasbourg and in the attack on Stuttgart (Germany). He was awarded the Médaille de la Résistance, the Croix de Guerre. He was also awarded the British Distinguished Service Order for his work with British liaison officers in Corrèze, Dordogne and Lot, and after Dordogne had been liberated, leading a battalion of former resistance fighters to Alsace-Lorraine where they fought alongside the First Army.
During the war he worked on a long novel, The Struggle with the Angel based on the story of the Biblical Jacob. The manuscript was destroyed by the Gestapo after his capture in 1944. A surviving first part titled The Walnut Trees of Altenburg, was published after the war. He would never write another novel.
Malraux and his first wife divorced during the 1940s. His daughter from this marriage, Florence (b.1933), married the filmmaker Alain Resnais.
Malraux had two sons by his second wife Josette Clotis: Pierre-Gauthier (1940-1961) and Vincent (1943-1961). During 1944, while Malraux was fighting in Alsace, Josette died when she slipped while boarding a train. His two sons were killed during 1961 in an automobile accident.
After the war, Malraux served in a variety of government p
At the age of 21, Malraux left for Cambodia with his new wife Clara Goldschmidt. In Cambodia, he undertook an exploratory expedition into the Cambodian jungle. On his return he was arrested by French colonial authorities for removing bas-reliefs from one of the temples he discovered. Banteay Srei (The French government itself had removed large numbers of sculptures and artifacts from already discovered sites such as Angkor Wat around this time). Malraux later incorporated the episode into his second novel La Voie Royale.
Malraux became very critical of the French colonial authorities in Indochina, and during 1925 helped to organize the Young Annam League and founded a newspaper Indochina in Chains.
On his return to France, he published The Temptation of the West (1926) which had the format of an exchange of letters between a Westerner and an Asian comparing aspects of the two cultures. This was followed by his first novel The Conquerors (1928), then by The Royal Way (1930) which was influenced by his Cambodian experience, and then by Man's Fate (La Condition Humaine). For La Condition Humaine, a novel about the 1927 failed Communist rebellion in Shanghai, written with obvious sympathy for the Communists, he won the 1933 Prix Goncourt.
During the 1930s, Malraux was active in the anti-Fascist Popular Front in France. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War he joined the Republican forces in Spain, serving in, and helping to organize, their small air force. His squadron, called "España", became something of a legend after his claims of nearly annihilating part of the Nationalist army at Medellín.
According to Curtis Cate, his biographer, he was slightly wounded twice during efforts to stop the Falangists' takeover of Madrid, but the British historian Hugh Thomas denies this. He also toured the United States to raise funds for the Spanish Republicans. A novel influenced by his Spanish war experiences, Man's Hope, (L'Espoir) was published during 1938.
At the beginning of the Second World War, Malraux joined the French Army. He was captured in 1940 during the Battle of France but escaped and later joined the French Resistance. He was captured by the Gestapo during 1944 and underwent a mock execution. He later commanded the tank unit Brigade Alsace-Lorraine in defence of Strasbourg and in the attack on Stuttgart (Germany). He was awarded the Médaille de la Résistance, the Croix de Guerre. He was also awarded the British Distinguished Service Order for his work with British liaison officers in Corrèze, Dordogne and Lot, and after Dordogne had been liberated, leading a battalion of former resistance fighters to Alsace-Lorraine where they fought alongside the First Army.
During the war he worked on a long novel, The Struggle with the Angel based on the story of the Biblical Jacob. The manuscript was destroyed by the Gestapo after his capture in 1944. A surviving first part titled The Walnut Trees of Altenburg, was published after the war. He would never write another novel.
Malraux and his first wife divorced during the 1940s. His daughter from this marriage, Florence (b.1933), married the filmmaker Alain Resnais.
Malraux had two sons by his second wife Josette Clotis: Pierre-Gauthier (1940-1961) and Vincent (1943-1961). During 1944, while Malraux was fighting in Alsace, Josette died when she slipped while boarding a train. His two sons were killed during 1961 in an automobile accident.
After the war, Malraux served in a variety of government p
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 6, 2022
Mnogo smo evrocentrični. Za drugi svetski rat otprilike znam šta se dešavalo u Kini: japanska invazija, građanski rat između komunista i Kuomintanta, Čang Kaj Šek i Mao, pa udružena borba, Dugi marš... Ali šta se dešavalo pre toga? Magla.
Nije mi mnogo jasnije ni posle ovog - borba je očigledno trajala i ranije, istovremeno su izbacivali Engleze, a Čang Kaj Šek je izgleda jedno vreme bio deo nekakvog levog pokreta. Ova knjižica je o razdoblju kad su svetski socijalisti sanjali globalnu revoluciju (1920-e). Malro je tada bio u Kini i pokušao da pomogne na svoj način, tako da je ovaj romančić i možda poluautobiografski.
Knjiga je... ok. Navodno su za Malroa, kad kao komunista nije hteo da se pridruži borbi protiv okupatora u okupiranoj Francuskoj, rekli "nema veze - za većinu ljudi je bitno šta urade u životu, ali za neke je važnije šta kažu ili napišu; Malro je u ovoj drugoj grupi". Zato imam i dalje velika očekivanja od Nade, koja bi trebalo da je slična Osvajačima, ali o španskom građanskom ratu.
Nije mi mnogo jasnije ni posle ovog - borba je očigledno trajala i ranije, istovremeno su izbacivali Engleze, a Čang Kaj Šek je izgleda jedno vreme bio deo nekakvog levog pokreta. Ova knjižica je o razdoblju kad su svetski socijalisti sanjali globalnu revoluciju (1920-e). Malro je tada bio u Kini i pokušao da pomogne na svoj način, tako da je ovaj romančić i možda poluautobiografski.
Knjiga je... ok. Navodno su za Malroa, kad kao komunista nije hteo da se pridruži borbi protiv okupatora u okupiranoj Francuskoj, rekli "nema veze - za većinu ljudi je bitno šta urade u životu, ali za neke je važnije šta kažu ili napišu; Malro je u ovoj drugoj grupi". Zato imam i dalje velika očekivanja od Nade, koja bi trebalo da je slična Osvajačima, ali o španskom građanskom ratu.
June 26, 2020
Free access about the evolution of man through the revolution. It reveals a poignant side of these transitional periods.
June 22, 2017
Con evidente parecido a su otra obra "La condición humana", la acción transcurre en el sur de China. Cantón y Hong Kong son los principales escenario en los primeros años del siglo XX. Tras la muerte de Sun Yat-sen, diversas fuerzas intentan hacerse con el poder en el sur de China; todas tienen aparentemente un objetivo común: expulsar a los británicos de Hong Kong, tarea nada fácil.
El gobierno británico ayuda económicamente (es decir, soborna) a los caudillos locales que se enfrentan entre sí por el poder en China del Sur. El Kuomintang (Partido Nacionalista Chino) recibe el apoyo de asesores soviéticos para reunificar China, pero las fuerzas populares comunistas no vemn con buenos ojos a los nacionalistas.
Preludio de lo que luego sería la conquista de China por el Ejército Popular de Liberación de Mao. La novela está escrita desde la óptica de los asesores europeos del Kuomintern (Internacional Comunista). Hay en ella gran parte de la experiencia personal del autor, que también se ve reflejada en su otra obra citada, aunque esta me parece inferior.
Están presentes (aunque no siempre explícitamente condenados, según convenga) los horrores de la guerra: torturas, traiciones, oportunismos, falta de escrúpulos. El heroísmo queda en manos de las pobres clases combatientes: los ciudadanos más míseros.
El gobierno británico ayuda económicamente (es decir, soborna) a los caudillos locales que se enfrentan entre sí por el poder en China del Sur. El Kuomintang (Partido Nacionalista Chino) recibe el apoyo de asesores soviéticos para reunificar China, pero las fuerzas populares comunistas no vemn con buenos ojos a los nacionalistas.
Preludio de lo que luego sería la conquista de China por el Ejército Popular de Liberación de Mao. La novela está escrita desde la óptica de los asesores europeos del Kuomintern (Internacional Comunista). Hay en ella gran parte de la experiencia personal del autor, que también se ve reflejada en su otra obra citada, aunque esta me parece inferior.
Están presentes (aunque no siempre explícitamente condenados, según convenga) los horrores de la guerra: torturas, traiciones, oportunismos, falta de escrúpulos. El heroísmo queda en manos de las pobres clases combatientes: los ciudadanos más míseros.
November 18, 2024
"This book hardly belongs to History...it showed a kind of hero where aptitude for action, culture and lucidity are conjugated." This is an amazing, somehow autobiographical story in the far East, in Sun Yat-Sen's time. A live portrait of revolutionary times.
It includes a thoughtful critique on Europe in the POSTFACIO, with interesting projections into the future: "Within 20 years will we have another revolutionary army expelling "fascist" Mao?". History would answer "no". Unfortunately so.
It includes a thoughtful critique on Europe in the POSTFACIO, with interesting projections into the future: "Within 20 years will we have another revolutionary army expelling "fascist" Mao?". History would answer "no". Unfortunately so.
October 20, 2021
Qualche spunto a parte il romanzo è abbastanza piatto. Colpisce più per l'interesse storico che per profondità dei personaggi o per narrazione. Il protagonista, Garin, interessante nella sua caratterizzazione, è lasciato troppo in ombra per la gran parte del testo, se non nelle ultime venti pagine dove, prossimo alla morte, si accende nella sua particolarità di eroe fallito. Alquanto deludente.
August 30, 2024
La novela está makanuten, un rollo parecido a wu ming, además le permite a uno enterarse sobre la época en la que el Kuomintang y la Internacional colaboraban. La "nota final" es una basura, al parecer Malraux se volvió gaullista y le pareció que el mejor epílogo para su libro sería un discurso "en nombre de sus compañeros gaullistas" delirando sobre Europa, Stalin, la cultura y el espíritu de Francia.
January 18, 2024
I doubt this book will appeal to anyone who is not interested in the history of revolution (here, in Cantonese China), or anyone who is not already familiar with Bolshevik hijinks. If not, the nitty gritty of strikers vs. communist ideologues vs. anarchist terrorists vs. nationalist armies vs. imperialists might put you in the weeds very quickly. Malraux's approach to fictionalizing these events is very Insider Baseball.
The prose might help. It has a surprising electric and supple quality. Moving very quickly in order to keep up with the manic and chaotic pace of events. But taking a breath every few pages to stare at the sky and smell the air. To its credit, the Conquerors is as much a travelogue as it is an unintentional critique of revolutions fomented in countries foreign to the chief revolutionaries.
Basically, if you can get past the communist gobbledygook, you'll find that Malraux was an exceptional writer whose talents were almost undoubtedly wasted on political themes.
The prose might help. It has a surprising electric and supple quality. Moving very quickly in order to keep up with the manic and chaotic pace of events. But taking a breath every few pages to stare at the sky and smell the air. To its credit, the Conquerors is as much a travelogue as it is an unintentional critique of revolutions fomented in countries foreign to the chief revolutionaries.
Basically, if you can get past the communist gobbledygook, you'll find that Malraux was an exceptional writer whose talents were almost undoubtedly wasted on political themes.
July 28, 2019
I knew nothing about The Conquerors--other than a passing familiarity with the author's name--when I saw it at some library sale or another. I tend to pick up a lot of material at those sales; the cost is almost insignificant, and if I think that someday I might be interested in the book, I pop it in the stack. Someday hadn't really come yet--in order to thin out material I don't feel is worth keeping, I sometimes pull down random selections, and this time it was Malraux's early novel.
The Conquerors is a difficult book--difficult for me, at any rate. The book deals with a very specific time in history--the chaos of pre-civil war China, just after the death of Sun Yat-sen, and just after the Shameen Incident of June 23, 1925, during the Canton-Hong Kong strike. If all of that is familiar to you, then most, if not all, of the difficulty involved in reading this book will disappear--I had to spend much of the early going looking up articles on Wikipedia and other sources in order to make sense of the action and location.
In addition to Chinese history, there are other aspects of the book which might give some readers trouble; the unnamed narrator of the book has been invited by an old acquaintance to come to Canton to assist Comintern agents attempting to break the British hold on Hong Kong with a general strike. The acquaintance, Pierre Garine, is head of the propaganda department, and the narrator--raised in French Indo-China and fluent in Mandarin--is to be his interpreter and translator. Thus, aside from the general history of the time, it's is also helpful to have a feel for what the Comintern's purpose was and what its members believed and fought for in the mid-twenties.
The Conquerors was published in 1928--not too long after the events described. The general thrust of the book seemed two-fold to me; one, to describe events as Malraux experienced them (the book is based on his involvement), and to outline in the figure of Garine, an intellectual hero of his. Despite the difficulties I had in getting the background information straight, I enjoyed The Conquerors quite a bit--it's not a great novel, by any means, but it's earnest and straightforward and sometimes naïve but in the service of strongly held beliefs. It's a bit of propaganda in its own right--I certainly learned a great deal from it, both first-hand and through the secondary sources I turned to. I forget, sometimes, that the period immediately following WWI was still full of turmoil, as U.S. history in that time seems more placid--frivolous even.
What relevance a book like The Conquerors might have to today is hard to say, other than, perhaps, as a link in the chain of history that influenced later events. We can hope to God that we never see another Marxist ideological drive to utopia like we saw in the 20th century, but there's no question that many people were beguiled by it, and books like this are valuable as an example of the mindset of the time--as a reflection of what motivated the action behind the movements. Many of the men of Garine's type became disillusioned or were executed in the following years as Stalin consolidated his power, and the history of China prior to Mao seems very far away indeed, but as someone interested in history, Malraux's book--in a small way--gave me more context for understanding the period and the people in it.
The Conquerors is a difficult book--difficult for me, at any rate. The book deals with a very specific time in history--the chaos of pre-civil war China, just after the death of Sun Yat-sen, and just after the Shameen Incident of June 23, 1925, during the Canton-Hong Kong strike. If all of that is familiar to you, then most, if not all, of the difficulty involved in reading this book will disappear--I had to spend much of the early going looking up articles on Wikipedia and other sources in order to make sense of the action and location.
In addition to Chinese history, there are other aspects of the book which might give some readers trouble; the unnamed narrator of the book has been invited by an old acquaintance to come to Canton to assist Comintern agents attempting to break the British hold on Hong Kong with a general strike. The acquaintance, Pierre Garine, is head of the propaganda department, and the narrator--raised in French Indo-China and fluent in Mandarin--is to be his interpreter and translator. Thus, aside from the general history of the time, it's is also helpful to have a feel for what the Comintern's purpose was and what its members believed and fought for in the mid-twenties.
The Conquerors was published in 1928--not too long after the events described. The general thrust of the book seemed two-fold to me; one, to describe events as Malraux experienced them (the book is based on his involvement), and to outline in the figure of Garine, an intellectual hero of his. Despite the difficulties I had in getting the background information straight, I enjoyed The Conquerors quite a bit--it's not a great novel, by any means, but it's earnest and straightforward and sometimes naïve but in the service of strongly held beliefs. It's a bit of propaganda in its own right--I certainly learned a great deal from it, both first-hand and through the secondary sources I turned to. I forget, sometimes, that the period immediately following WWI was still full of turmoil, as U.S. history in that time seems more placid--frivolous even.
What relevance a book like The Conquerors might have to today is hard to say, other than, perhaps, as a link in the chain of history that influenced later events. We can hope to God that we never see another Marxist ideological drive to utopia like we saw in the 20th century, but there's no question that many people were beguiled by it, and books like this are valuable as an example of the mindset of the time--as a reflection of what motivated the action behind the movements. Many of the men of Garine's type became disillusioned or were executed in the following years as Stalin consolidated his power, and the history of China prior to Mao seems very far away indeed, but as someone interested in history, Malraux's book--in a small way--gave me more context for understanding the period and the people in it.
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March 11, 2019"il ne s'agit pas de contraindre à l'art les masses qui lui sont indifférentes, il s'agit d'ouvrir le domaine de la culture à tous ceux qui veulent l'atteindre."
"Autrement dit, le droit à la culture, c'est purement et simplement la volonté d'y accéder." (1928, version définitive postface 1949)
APPEL du 5 mars 1948, salle Pleyel, suscité par l'affaiblissement de la conscience européenne, internationalisation de la culture.
"Il y a en moi, cette nuit, de l'ivrogne qui poursuit son rêve..."
"En cet instant même, combien d'hommes sont en train de rêver à des victoires dont, il y a deux ans, ils ne soupçonnaient pas même la possibilité !"
"Mais je crois, je crois fermement, je dirai même : j'ai la conviction, que le mouvement du parti ne sera digne de ce que nous attendons de lui qu'à condition de rester fondé sur la justice."
"Il fournit du travail ou de l'argent à ceux que le gouvernement ou la police s'efforçait d'affamer, permit aux expulsés de rentrer en Chine avec leur famille en donnant les sommes nécessaires."
"J'ai, avec violence, l'impression que la seule force de ces gens est un sentiment trouble, que les maux qu'ils ont subis sont la seule chose dont ils aient vraiment conscience."
"Ce n'est pas tant l'âme qui fait le chef que la conquête" m'avait-il dit un jour.
et "c'est la conquête qui maintient l'âme du chef." ou autre chose (?)
"la conscience individuelle, vois-tu, c'est la maladie des chefs."
"deux français se joignent : "Enfin, Monsieur, on se demande vraiment quand les Gouvernements vont se décider à prendre l'attitude énergique qui..." et se dirigent vers le bar, perdant la fin de leur phrase dans les saccades assourdies des machines."
"le miaulement du violon monocorde, prend possession de la pièce avec des bouffées d'air chaud que s'efforcent de chasser les ventilateurs."
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"Autrement dit, le droit à la culture, c'est purement et simplement la volonté d'y accéder." (1928, version définitive postface 1949)
APPEL du 5 mars 1948, salle Pleyel, suscité par l'affaiblissement de la conscience européenne, internationalisation de la culture.
"Il y a en moi, cette nuit, de l'ivrogne qui poursuit son rêve..."
"En cet instant même, combien d'hommes sont en train de rêver à des victoires dont, il y a deux ans, ils ne soupçonnaient pas même la possibilité !"
"Mais je crois, je crois fermement, je dirai même : j'ai la conviction, que le mouvement du parti ne sera digne de ce que nous attendons de lui qu'à condition de rester fondé sur la justice."
"Il fournit du travail ou de l'argent à ceux que le gouvernement ou la police s'efforçait d'affamer, permit aux expulsés de rentrer en Chine avec leur famille en donnant les sommes nécessaires."
"J'ai, avec violence, l'impression que la seule force de ces gens est un sentiment trouble, que les maux qu'ils ont subis sont la seule chose dont ils aient vraiment conscience."
"Ce n'est pas tant l'âme qui fait le chef que la conquête" m'avait-il dit un jour.
et "c'est la conquête qui maintient l'âme du chef." ou autre chose (?)
"la conscience individuelle, vois-tu, c'est la maladie des chefs."
"deux français se joignent : "Enfin, Monsieur, on se demande vraiment quand les Gouvernements vont se décider à prendre l'attitude énergique qui..." et se dirigent vers le bar, perdant la fin de leur phrase dans les saccades assourdies des machines."
"le miaulement du violon monocorde, prend possession de la pièce avec des bouffées d'air chaud que s'efforcent de chasser les ventilateurs."
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December 13, 2015
Malraux's first novel, and it got him notoriety as a voice for the left wing. But its appeal is fundamentally political, and now that its ideological context isn't relevant anymore, it's not actually a terribly good novel.
April 14, 2007
avalin ketabi bood ke az malraux khoondam.sale akahre dabirestan,1367.mikhkoob shodam.hanoozam yadam nemire.kheili ghashang bood
January 28, 2024
Malraux s’attaque à un sujet fondamentalement proche à l’histoire française : la révolution. Néanmoins, loin de s’adonner à la réécriture de l’histoire de France, il utilise comme base de sa réflexion le cas de figure de la Chine et de sa lutte face à l’impérialisme britannique. Nous voilà ainsi emporté dans un tourbillon de scènettes décriant les états d’âmes, manigances et atrocités que vivent ces révolutionnaires de métiers. Chaque scène est ponctuée, tel un aparté entre le narrateur et le lecteur, par la lecture des plus récents faits d’actualités et d’événement concrets rythmant la révolution en cours.
La voix du narrateur est particulièrement pesante. Son regard (critique? impartial?) sur ses compagnons de fortune et sa réalité laisse parfois de marbre tellement il semble dénué de sentiments, ou peut-être de convictions révolutionnaires (?). A travers le narrateur Malraux dresse un portrait cynique des acteurs de la révolution. Nous, lecteurs, nous enfonçons dans leurs torts, leur nature la plus répugnante, et flirtons avec le désespoir tout en gardant espoir pour cette incroyable entreprise.
Le discours ajoute à la fin du livre nous sert de complètement et résonne avec une puissance sans pareille encore aujourd’hui.
La voix du narrateur est particulièrement pesante. Son regard (critique? impartial?) sur ses compagnons de fortune et sa réalité laisse parfois de marbre tellement il semble dénué de sentiments, ou peut-être de convictions révolutionnaires (?). A travers le narrateur Malraux dresse un portrait cynique des acteurs de la révolution. Nous, lecteurs, nous enfonçons dans leurs torts, leur nature la plus répugnante, et flirtons avec le désespoir tout en gardant espoir pour cette incroyable entreprise.
Le discours ajoute à la fin du livre nous sert de complètement et résonne avec une puissance sans pareille encore aujourd’hui.
September 18, 2024
Not as compelling as La Condition Humaine, the novel for which he is most often remembered, but like it, set in pre-Maoist China, when the forces were several (communist, nationalist, colonialist), the loyalties fluid, the passions deadly, and the stakes varied. The tension and self-doubt prevalent amongst the European revolutionaries on whom the book focuses is well-portrayed, but readers without much background knowledge of the situation at the time in Canton and Hong Kong will doubtless find much of the dialogue confusing. The first half (roughly) of the book is set-up for the second half in which the action is much faster and brutal. The edition I read includes an afterward written by the author in 1949 in which he muses about the fate of Europe and the importance of a necessary but unforeseeable renaissance of European culture (and he includes the United States as part of that culture) to stand against the threat posed by Stalinist Russia. The names have changed and Malraux did not foresee the threat posed by radical Islam in addition to that of Russia, but the need for Europe and the United States to find and maintain common cause seems as timely as ever.
March 10, 2024
Malraux’s first novel is also the first disappointing work I’ve read from him. It reads like a trial-run for Man's Fate, with character types more than fully realized characters – the anarchist, the revolutionary, the mercenary, etc. – who speak as if they are reciting political pamphlets. While his later works retained the topical political settings and context, they had a more universal appeal. This novel is as dated as the 1970s cover on the edition I checked out from the library. I’m glad this wasn’t my first experience with Malraux.
That being said, the afterword, written in 1949, is better than the entire novel! Malraux situates Europe in the middle of the century as striving for unity forged in turmoil, while Russia, deep in the grips of Stalinsim, willfully resists and separates itself on a much different course. Meanwhile, European art must march forward on the banners of history, conquest, and truth. The entire essay is a succinct summary of the artistic and political dialectic of modernism in the post-war era, and would be worth reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century studies. If only the novel had been half as useful to the contemporary reader as the afterword!
That being said, the afterword, written in 1949, is better than the entire novel! Malraux situates Europe in the middle of the century as striving for unity forged in turmoil, while Russia, deep in the grips of Stalinsim, willfully resists and separates itself on a much different course. Meanwhile, European art must march forward on the banners of history, conquest, and truth. The entire essay is a succinct summary of the artistic and political dialectic of modernism in the post-war era, and would be worth reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century studies. If only the novel had been half as useful to the contemporary reader as the afterword!
April 7, 2018
J'ai du lire ce livre pour les cours, que je n'ai pas aimé, car l'histoire est très incompréhensible surtout au début, cependant l'écriture de Malraux est bien faite, les enchainements sont bien fait et même si au début j'avais presque rien compris, j'ai fini par comprendre mieux même si pas complètement, c'est bien écrit, donc ça se lit quand même. Au niveau de l'histoire, cela ne m'as pas vraiment plus, j'avais l'impression d'avoir eu affaire à des militants qui n'avait pas d'arguments par rapport à la révolution, on aurait dit que la raison était seulement pour certains de nourrir leur haine, ou juste parce "c'est ce qu'ils doivent faire" ou alors c'est que je n'ai vraiment rien compris à l'histoire...
October 27, 2025
This is my first time reading Malraux — and his first novel — set during the early rise of modern China, when the USSR decided to support and train nationalist movements in Asia to push back against European imperialism. At the center are two unforgettable figures: Garine, the idealist revolutionary who believes in action above everything (perhaps inspired in Malraux himself?), and Borodin, the disciplined party bureaucrat. Both are essential to the movement, yet Malraux shows how the revolutionary machine will eventually crush those who don’t fully conform.
I have learned this is the first part of a trilogyband I’m definitely continuing.
I have learned this is the first part of a trilogyband I’m definitely continuing.
January 26, 2023
No llega al nivel de Hemingway como escritor, pero es una novela entretenida. Y además por su escenario y contexto (la Guerra civil china) se hace un documento interesante.
La Nota Final es un asqueroso panfleto gaullista, que aporta información interesante sobre la evolución ideológica del autor. Pero ya está.
La Nota Final es un asqueroso panfleto gaullista, que aporta información interesante sobre la evolución ideológica del autor. Pero ya está.
September 29, 2025
Inattendu, court, bien amené même si manque d’une profondeur que première partie laissait envisager. thème que ne connaissais pas du tt, révolution chinoise de 1924. sur l’idéal révolutionnaire et son objectif, ses figures, ses tensions. magnifiques descriptions très allusives, comme des toiles impressionnistes ou des films de gangster dans la première partie surtout.
November 22, 2025
Le roman retranscrit d'une manière pesante la relation entre l'internationale communiste et le Kuomintang dans la grève de Canton, les grévistes sont réduits a un écho lointain une masse de manœuvre pour les calculs de bureaucrate terrifiant. J'ai accroché au style du récit même si le fond lui est bien moins reluisant
September 14, 2022
"Il ne haïssait pas le bonheur des riches, mais le respect qu'ils avaient d'eux-mêmes. "Un pauvre, dit-il encore, ne peut pas s'estimer". p. 46
February 2, 2023
Geschichte des gescheiterten kommunistischen Aufstandes in Guangzhou. Spannend, auch wenn mich Malraux Stil nicht komplett abholt
February 3, 2023
Muy bueno, aunque a ratos me pareció tedioso.
April 4, 2023
Not as good as man's fate but still gripping and thought provoking.
May 17, 2023
interesting fresco of the period, however the novel has something disturbing on which I can't put my finger, but was enough to leave me somehow dissatisfied
October 31, 2024
A novel on a then-current political situation and the motivating historical beliefs.
July 17, 2025
Premier ouvrage . Des personnages à la Dostoeski
January 19, 2021
En mi primer intento de lectura no llegué más allá de algunas pocas decenas de páginas. Pienso que no estaré solo en esta experiencia y es que para entender cabalmente la narración se requiere de un estudio previo de la geopolítica china de inicios del siglo XX. Salvado este obstáculo, en el segundo intento emergió un vívido e interesante relato de intriga política.
Con asombrosa lucidez, el personaje Hong sintetiza en una frase el origen de este drama humano: "No hay más que dos razas ... los mi-se-ra-bles y los otros".
Con asombrosa lucidez, el personaje Hong sintetiza en una frase el origen de este drama humano: "No hay más que dos razas ... los mi-se-ra-bles y los otros".
May 23, 2024
به سختی بتوان این کتاب را رمان نامید. کمابیش به صورت سفرنامه و خاطرات تنظیم شده است. شخصیتها توصیف میشوند، مانند پروندههای پلیسی، اما شخصیتپردازی نمیشوند. آنها مرتب در حال اظهار نظر درباره آدمها و حوادث هستند. کتاب مانند مقاله روزنامه نگاشته شده است آن هم از نوع بیجذبه. شاید خواننده را به وقایع سالهای دهه ۱۹۲۰ میلادی چین علاقمند کند؛ اما حتی همین حوادث را هم توصیف نمیکند و به عهده خواننده است که دربارهشان تحقیق کند. در مقدمه کامل و مفصل کتاب آمده است:
«قهرمانهای رمانهای [مالرو] گاه در گیرودار اعمال و اقدامات تند و خشن هستند و گاه سرگرم گفتوگوهای فلسفی. به همین جهت روانشناسی تحلیلی در سرگذشت چندان جایی ندارد... بدون شک ناشی از همین است که شخصیتهای مالرو فاقد «ضخامت» هستند و اعمال آنها هر چند پرقدرت، و افکارشان هر قدر اصیل و بکر هم که باشد، باز امکان آن وجود دارد که آنها در خاطره ما با هم در بیامیزند.»
به نظر من آنچه در این مقدمه به عنوان خصلت رمانهای مالرو ذکر میشود، دقیقاً ایراد آنهاست.
«قهرمانهای رمانهای [مالرو] گاه در گیرودار اعمال و اقدامات تند و خشن هستند و گاه سرگرم گفتوگوهای فلسفی. به همین جهت روانشناسی تحلیلی در سرگذشت چندان جایی ندارد... بدون شک ناشی از همین است که شخصیتهای مالرو فاقد «ضخامت» هستند و اعمال آنها هر چند پرقدرت، و افکارشان هر قدر اصیل و بکر هم که باشد، باز امکان آن وجود دارد که آنها در خاطره ما با هم در بیامیزند.»
به نظر من آنچه در این مقدمه به عنوان خصلت رمانهای مالرو ذکر میشود، دقیقاً ایراد آنهاست.
August 18, 2007
این کتاب با نام "فاتحان" توسط قاسم صنعوی ترجمه شده و در 1361 چاپ و منتشر شده است.
August 10, 2012
If Americans mention Malraux at all it's only Man's Fate, but he documented some crazy shit in Shanghai and Southeast Asia in a number of other novels, this one among them.
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