Simone.

by Lion Feuchtwanger

In diesem im Jahre 1940 in Frankreich spielenden Werk versuchte Lion Feuchtwanger, eine Brücke zwischen Jeanne d' Arc, der "Jungfrau von Orleans" und Retterin Frankreichs, und einer Fünfzehnjährigen in dem von Deutschen besetzten Land zu schlagen.

Madame, schwarz und massig, betrachtet Simone eine kleine Zeit durch ihr Lorgnon. Ihr Gesicht verriet, was ihr Mund gleich sprechen würde: "Hochmütig, aufsässig, vorwitzig." Simone hatte sich eingemischt in die Geschäfte ihrer Verwandten. Es war passiert, nachdem sie Schriften über das Leben Jeanne d'Arcs gelesen hatte. Das tat sie oft, abends, vor dem Einschlafen. Diesmal aber war merkwürdiges geschehen.Im Traum hatte ihr toter Vater ihr einen Auftrag erteilt. Sie sollte dem Herrscher Frankreichs zeigen, wer die wirklichen Feinde des Landes sind: die Zweihundert Familien, die bereit waren, mit den Deutschen zu kollaborieren.
Noch zweimal wird Simone in die Geschicke ihres Heimatlandes eingreifen. Jedesmal trägt sie dabei ihre dunkelgrünen Hosen; ein Indiz ihrer Aufsässigkeit, jedenfalls in den Augen Madames, der Stiefgroßmutter. Auch Jeanne d'Arc hatte man vorgeworfen,, sie verstoße durch ihre Männerkleider gegen die Gebote der Schrift. Als Onkel Prosper zögert, die Anweisung des Präfekten auszuführen und seinen Fuhrpark zu zerstören, damit er deutschen Truppen nicht in die Hände falle, handelt Simone. Sie zündet das Benzinlager an. Ein privater Racheakt, behaupten Madame und Onkel Prosper wider besseres Wissen, um die Gunst der Einflußreichen nicht zu verlieren und die Firma zu erhalten. - Eine patriotische Tat, wissen die Einwohner von Saint-Martin. Ihre Sympathie wird Simone helfen, die ihr "administrativ" auferlegte Strafe mit Würde zu tragen.

Genres: France, Historical Fiction

271 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Lion Feuchtwanger was a German Jewish emigre. A renowned novelist and playwright who fled Europe during World War II and lived in Los Angeles from 1941 until his death.

A fierce critic of the Nazi regime years before it assumed power precipitated his departure, after a brief internment in France, from Europe. He and his wife Marta obtained asylum in the United States in 1941 and remained there in exile until they died.

Reviews

[Magda Prz · Rating 5 out of 5]

[...] ganz Frankreich war ein Haufen kläglicher, vor Elendd halb verrückter Flüchtlinge. Man wurde krank vor Mitleid und Unruhe. Es bedrückte einen, dass man dieses ganze Kriegsjahr über so dumm und gemächlich vor sich hingelebt hatte. Es zerrieb einen, dass man so gar nicht begriff, wie das alles zusammenhing. Man müsste darüber reden, musste andere, Gescheitere befragen".

historia się powtarza?

[Lynette Lark · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's 1940. Germany has invaded France.

Fifteen-year-old Simone is infatuated with Joan of Arc so much so that she believes she has been called to blow-up her uncle's gas station so the Germans can't have it.

All of the townspeople believe that she did it and secretly applaud her for it. However, her step-grandmother (the old, fat, festering bitch) turns her in and Simone is sent away to an insane asylum.

This book was way too top-heavy with dream sequences about Joan of Arc, and that made the book overly tedious. This book was not as good as I'd hoped it would be.

I was actually hoping that Simone would commission drivers to take the refugees to safety by using her uncle's trucks and gasoline! But, apparently, the Joan of Arc angels weren't interested in doing that.

So, for a relatively short book, it took me a long time to finish it because I was really so bored with it.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best way to learn history is to read the books written during that period of time. Simone was a wonderful read.

[Tom Leland · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10. There were some special things about this book and its story -- and a great premise: a parallel between Joan of Arc and a French teenager during the German occupation. But lots of dead stretches, and I couldn't keep track or grasp the pecking order of French officials and prelates...

[Joza 00 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely historic novel. Wasn't boring but also anything extraordinary. Loved the mentioning of Jeanne d'Arc, the plot was great and easy to understand. In the beginning it was a bit difficult for me to 'dive in' but in the end I enjoyed it. I would've went with four ⭐, nonetheless, just due to the fact that it wasn't that much of a thrill, Im giving it three⭐. However, don't take me Wrong! I liked this book, and though the plot was more or less dramatic and serious, for me it was a book to relax with:)

[Simona · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premiss of this book seemed temping: a teenage girl's life seeking refugee during World War II. She imagines herself as being and saving France from the German as Jeanne d'Arc did with the English. This book is so weak that it took me almost 3 weeks to finish it. A rather vague development of characters, weak progress....

[Бекарыс Нуржан · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the brightest of Feuchrwanger's stories