Chaussons de danse et robe à traîne, le fantôme de la Dame Blanche ne manquait jamais d'apparaître, dit-on, lorsqu'un Habsbourg mourait. Ainsi traversa-t-elle les siècles et les frontières car les Habsbourg régnèrent par toute l'Europe et la mort s'acharna sur eux."Une famille d'assassinés"... Mais avant l'arrivée de la Dame Blanche revivent ici sous la plume de Paul Morand : L'Aiglon, l'enfant tant espéré, l'adolescent désespéré qui mourut à vingt ans, aux mains des Autrichiens; Rodolphe et Marie Vetsera dont l'amour interdit s'acheva dans le pavillon tragique de Mayerling; L'archiduc François-Ferdinand assassiné en 1914 à Sarajevo et dont la mort provoqua la Première Guerre mondiale... Et puis encore l'inoubliable Sissi...
Paul Morand was a French diplomat, novelist, playwright and poet, considered an early Modernist.
He was a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (better known as Sciences Po). During the pre-war period, he wrote many short books which are noted for their elegance of style, erudition, narrative concision, and for the author's observation of the countries he visited combined with his middle-class views.
Morand's reputation has been marred by his stance during the Second World War, when he collaborated with the Vichy regime and was a vocal anti-Semite. When the Second World War ended, Morand served as an ambassador in Bern, but his position was revoked and he lived in exile in Switzerland.
Post-war, he was a patron of the Hussards literary movement, which opposed Existentialism. Morand went on to become a member of the Académie française; his candidature was initially rejected by Charles de Gaulle, the only instance of a President ever exercising his right to veto electees to the academy. Morand was finally elected ten years later, though he still had to forgo the official investiture).
Paul Morand was a friend of Marcel Proust and has left valuable observations about him.
Doamna Alba, fantoma care isi face aparitia in ajunul mortii cuiva din familia imperiala habsburgica, e doar un pretext pentru ca Paul Morand sa realizeze portretul unor personaje istorice foarte cunoscute din Casa de Habsburg. O face cu pasiune, lipsit de echidistanta unui istoric, ii simti simpatiile si antipatiile, iar caracterizarile lui sunt de multe ori necrutatoare, ceea ce nu mi-a displacut, ba chiar am aflat o multime de subtilitati pe care doream sa le cunosc. De exemplu, mi-e mai clar acum ca Sissi nu a fost doar o dragalasa pro-maghiara, ci si o sociopata rasfatata, iar Rudolf i-a mostenit tarele. La final l-am cautat pe Morand pe Wikipedia- a fost antisemit si sustinator al guvernului de la Vichy. Un caz clasic in care ar trebui facuta distinctie intre scriitor si viata lui privata, doar ca mie nu imi reuseste asta prea bine. Aproape ca as vrea sa mai citesc ceva scris de el, dar probabil ca nu o voi face.
J'ai arrêté de lire à "attachée au sexe comme une chèvre à son piquet", expression qui est supposée décrire la personnalité de Marie-Louise, la seconde épouse de Napoléon.