Poika ja kimalainen

by George Sand

Rare Book

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1851

About the author

Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil, best known by her pen name George Sand, was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balzac in England in the 1830s and 1840s, Sand is recognised as one of the most notable writers of the European Romantic era. She wrote more than 50 volumes of various works to her credit, including tales, plays and political texts, alongside her 70 novels.
Like her great-grandmother, Louise Dupin, whom she admired, George Sand advocated for women's rights and passion, criticized the institution of marriage, and fought against the prejudices of a conservative society. She was considered scandalous because of her turbulent love life, her adoption of masculine clothing, and her masculine pseudonym.

Reviews

[steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

fridolin is good, decent, kind, everything the people around him are not. he wants to get their approval by behaving "less stupidly", and so tries to learn from the best and the worst. finally, he understands that his longing for understanding kindness can be a gift and mend hearts and minds beyond his own.

it is a strange little tale, outdated and very modern at the same time, as calls for consideration and moderation collide with stark, addictive, brutal consumerism. bizarrely, even fridolin is modern. though he is revolutionary in his refusal to change, he is no fighter, he is just innocently ("idiotically") mystified by the greed and kind to others, but in a very passive way; he just is.

sand's genius move is to leave it there. whether good and kind is enough, then or now, in the tale or in reality, remains to be seen and depends on us all. spirin's illustrations are marvelous and intuitively reveal sand's influence on russian authors.

[LauraKatarooma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kiva satu, just semmonen perinteinen.