Кренкбий

by Anatole France, Ангелина Терзиева (Translator)

Cette édition classique a été convertie par eBooksLib.com.

A Alexandre Steinlein

Genres: France, 20th Century, Nobel Prize, Fiction

184 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

French critic Anatole France, pen name of Jacques Anatole François Thibault wrote sophisticated, often satirical short stories and novels, including Penguin Island (1908), and won the Nobel Prize of 1921 for literature.

Anatole France began his career as a poet and a journalist. From 1867, he as a journalist composed articles and notices.

In 1869, Le Parnasse Contemporain published La Part de Madeleine of his poems. In 1875, he sat on the committee in charge of the third such compilation. He moved Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé aside.

Skeptical old scholar Sylvester Bonnard, protagonist of famous Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard (1881), embodied own personality of the author. The academy praised its elegant prose.

Anatole France in La Rotisserie de la Reine Pedauque (1893) ridiculed belief in the occult and in Les Opinions de Jerome Coignard (1893) captured the atmosphere of the fin de siècle.

People elected him to the Académie française in 1896.
People falsely convicted Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer, of espionage. Anatole France took an important part in the affair, signed manifesto of Émile Zola to support Dreyfus, and authored Monsieur Bergeret in 1901.

After the nearsighted Abbot Mael baptized the animals in error, France in later work depicts the transformation into human nature in 1908.

People considered most profound La Revolte des Anges (1914). It tells of Arcade, the guardian angel of Maurice d'Esparvieu. Arcade falls in love, joins the revolutionary movement of angels, and towards the end recognizes the meaningless overthrow of God unless "in ourselves and in ourselves alone we attack and destroy Ialdabaoth."

People awarded him "in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic temperament" in 1921.

In 1922, the Catholic Church put entire works of France on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books).

He died, and people buried his body in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery near Paris.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of social satire was developed as a consequence of the Dreyfus incident, where the underlying anti-Semitism of France was brought into public view. Originally written in 1903 as a comedy in three acts, the main character of Crainquebille (old Bill of Paris) is a poor street vendor of vegetables out of a cart. He is falsely accused of insulting a policeman and even though a physician passerby comes to his defense, telling the officer and the judge that Bill is innocent, he is put in jail.
While there he discovers that he gets regular meals and has decent shelter, something he is unaccustomed to. When he is released, he is shunned as a criminal by his former customers and his life spirals downward to even greater destitution. It is a sad tale of a poor man that discovers that his society really has no use or care for him.
This is a story where the reader should be aware of the historical context before reading it. A tragi-comedy in the classic sense, it exposes aspects of society that have not changed, although there has been some improvement in the century since it was written.

[Old Man JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short little book, not much more than a short story. This is about Crainquebille, an impoverished vegetable seller, who pushes his cart through the city streets peddling cabbages, carrots, turnips and leeks. One day he is confronted by a police officer and told to move on but fails to do so and is arrested. The story then goes on to tell the consequences of this incident. It is a morality story of the injustice that those in power have over the weak as only Anatole France can do.

[Faran · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Imitation lies at the root of most human actions. A respectable person is one who conforms to custom. People are called good when they do as others do."

A wise and timely meditation on social justice, stereotype threat, sophistry, and the consistently mistaken belief that we have moved beyond religious (with or without god/s) dogma. And the real motivations underlying the exercise of power, as displayed by the twist ending. A good story to reference when confronted with someone who is always looking for a reason to cross one more unfortunate person off their list of people who deserve empathy and compassion.

A perfect story which I am surprised is not far more famous.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW, just a little story written over 100 years ago. the writing was perfect and lessons it teaches about social justice are just as true today. But much of the world still does not understand. This should be required reading for evert person on earth. Those in criminal justice first.

[Lauri Laanisto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lõpuks ometi sain ühe Anatole France´i läbi. Päris mitu korda olen nüüdseks juba aastakümnete jooksul erinevate romaanidega proovinud (peamiselt "Pingviinide saarega", mida on mitu inimest mulle hirmsasti üles kiitnud), kuid see suursugune retoorika ja eepiline satiir, mille abil ta juttu veeretab - see lihtsalt ei istu mulle. Seal on liialt palju õhku, kõiksugu tarbetuna tunduvaid pisidetaile, mis ajavad mind oma näilise funktsioonitusega segadusse (võibolla on need kõik asjakohased, ja ma pole kunagi lihtsalt piisavalt kaugele jõudnud). Niisiis proovisin seekord hoopis lühijuttudega. Kusjuures järelsõnast ilmneb, et vähemalt pooled siinsetest väga lühikestest lugudest ongi France hiljem romaanideks pikendanud. See teadmine meidis juba enne lugude endi lugemist senssi (ma üldjuhul ikka alustan raamatuid järelsõnadest), ja pärast lugemist seda enam. Igas loos oli point olemas, teravmeelne ja ühiskonnakriitiline ja mis kõike muud veel. Eriti nimiloos. Kuid nüüdseks, kui nende tekstide kirjutamisest on möödas juba oma 150 aastat - need lood on juba ammuilma paljudes eri versioonides kuuldud ja loetud. Ja seepärast olid kõik need kulminatsioonid kaugele ette aimatavad ja pakkunud teab mis naudingut. Ja ikkagi see stiil ka. Hoolimata asjaolust, et mõni lugu selles raamatus oli vähem kui kümme lehekülge pikk, tundus sinna sisse puhutud suurejooneline sõnademull minu jaoks vastumeelne ja tarbetu. No ei ole France´i tekstid minu jaoks, ei ole minu maitse.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have the American version of this book--written by Anatole France (as: L'Affaire Crainquebille), translated and with an introduction by Jacque LeClercq, and illustrated by Bernard Lamotte.
The Heritage Press, New York
Copyrighted 1949
Limited Edition Club for the George Macy Companies, Inc.
75 total pages (includes the introduction)

A short story written in 1901, of social injustice, centering on Crainquebille -- a vegetable pushcart merchant operating in the busy and very crowded streets of a particular section of Montmartre in Paris.

Crainquebill is falsely accused by a police officer of insulting him, is subsequently arrested and carted off to jail. Even though a witness, a distinguished gentleman Doctor, advises the police officer that he has made a mistake, and that Crainquebille did not, in fact, utter the insult that the officer accuses him of -- and even though this same Doctor appears in court to give his testimony of the same, the judge takes the Officer's side and fines Crainquebille as well as sentences him to 14 days.

Cainquebille notices he has better accommodations in jail--food, warmth, a bed, etc, which is better than he has in his outside life. Once his sentence is served, he goes back to selling vegetables, however, he is now perceived as a bad, disreputable man, as a criminal and as no good. His sales suffer, his friendships suffer, customers stop buying from him, he starts drinking. He tries to get arrested again, to go back to jail where he will have a better life than he now has outside, only to fail at his attempt.

A sad story that clearly resonates across the globe, and across the ages.

[Tomás García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breve pero contundente relato.
Un policía acusa a Crainquebille de haberle insultado cuando va a ponerle una multa. El juez da más valor al testimonio del policía que al de otro testigo que asegura que eso es falso. Normal, ya que iría en contra del orden social hacer lo contrario. “Los jueces solo son obedecidos mientras la fuerza reside en ellos”, dar más valor al testimonio de un civil es quitar poder a la fuerzas de seguridad. No importa cual sea la verdad, el juez debe mantener el orden establecido. Por eso, “la idea de una justicia justa sólo ha podido nacer en la cabeza de un anarquista”.

Recomiendo escuchar después “La Justicia” de La Polla Records.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pas vraiment un roman, mais une triste petite histoire, un commentaire sur un système judiciaire qui n'est pas vraiment juste, et une société dont le jugement est encore plus sévère que la loi. Écrit il y a plus d'un siècle, elle reste vraie aujourd'hui. "Plus ça change..."
Not really a novel, but a sad little story, a commentary on a justice system that is not really fair, and a society whose judgment is even harsher than the law. Written over a century ago, it remains true today. "The more things change ..."

[Laurabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor writing and far too preachy.

[Panagiotis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Σύντομο, περιεκτικό, ευκολοδιάβαστο, αριστουργηματικό μέσα στην απλότητα του. Στα ελληνικά κυκλοφορεί με τον τίτλο, «Το μεγαλείο της Δικαιοσύνης».

[Apollonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful. Every time again.

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un caso emblematico per narrare come si amministra la giustizia nell'aula dei tribunali, un racconto brioso condito di un piacevole humor e una sana ironia che rendono la pagine scorrevoli e amabili.