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Le monde réel #1
أجراس بال
•
372 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1934
About the author
Louis Aragon
269 books340 followersFrench writer Louis Aragon founded literary surrealism.
Louis Aragon, a major figure in the avant-garde movements, shaped visual culture in the 20th century. His long career as a poet, novelist, Communist polemicist and bona fide war hero secured his place in the pantheon of greats.
With André Breton and Phillipe Soupault, Aragon launched the movement and through Paysan de Paris (Paris Peasant), his novel of 1926, produced the considered defining text of the movement.
Aragon parted company with the movement in the early 1930s, devoted his energies to the Communist party, and went to produce a vast body that combined elements of the social avant-garde.
Aragon, a leading influence on the shaping of the novel in the early to mid-20th century, gave voice and images to the art. He, also a critic, edited as a member of the Académie Goncourt. After 1959, people frequent nominated him for the Nobel Prize.
Louis Aragon, a major figure in the avant-garde movements, shaped visual culture in the 20th century. His long career as a poet, novelist, Communist polemicist and bona fide war hero secured his place in the pantheon of greats.
With André Breton and Phillipe Soupault, Aragon launched the movement and through Paysan de Paris (Paris Peasant), his novel of 1926, produced the considered defining text of the movement.
Aragon parted company with the movement in the early 1930s, devoted his energies to the Communist party, and went to produce a vast body that combined elements of the social avant-garde.
Aragon, a leading influence on the shaping of the novel in the early to mid-20th century, gave voice and images to the art. He, also a critic, edited as a member of the Académie Goncourt. After 1959, people frequent nominated him for the Nobel Prize.
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May 19, 2016The tl:df version:
Bought at Gibert Jeune, Place Quai St Michel, Paris, in 1977
Holds the record for the longest time spent on my tbr pile.
Aragon's first novel after he broke with the Surrealist movement and joined the Communist party was, for a long time, seen as propaganda rather than literature. I cannot agree. He does indeed depict a society in which greed is the main motor of business, love is bestowed on the highest bidder, and power is in the hands of a cabal of self-interest, but he creates in his main protagonist Catherine, the true heart of this novel, a tender-hearted trooper, a gentle termagant, a self-questioning early feminist, a woman who follows her own desires but does not really believe in her right to do so and who, finally, achieves the liberating recognition that a woman needs financial independence if relations between men and women are ever to be conducted on a basis of equality. Woman must work rather than be kept.
-----------------------------------------------
The rest:
Bells:
Vivos voco, mortuos plango, fulgura frango
I call the living, I mourn the dead, I repel lightning
(Motto of Schiller's monumental work, The Song of the Bell.
Schiller plundered Krünitz's equally monumental Oeconomische Encyclopädie for this motto, which appears on the bell of Schaffhausen's Minster. Cast in Basel.
(Krünitz also testifies that it was widely believed a ringing bell would prevent lightning strikes.)
The Bells of Basel.
Ringing in celebration or alarm?
Or both.
28th October 1912
The executive of the Second International decided to convene an extraordinary Peace Congress to protest the outbreak of the Balkan War. The choice of venue fell to Basel, which city had already hosted a congress convened by the First International. It was to take place before the end of the year, initially in December, but then the date was brought forward to November. Not much time to organize a massive convention, with 555 delegates from 23 countries. But it happened: and on 24th November 1912 some 10,000 comrades marched from the barracks to Basel Minster to listen to speeches and debate the controversial points of their manifesto. A socialist peace rally. In a church.
The final, crowning act: a women's convention, at which Clara Zetkin was cheered to the rafters.
That peace congress gives this novel its title, it is the end goal of the whole work, and yet it takes up a mere twenty pages: the epilogue entitled Clara. For she is the end point: the future. Or maybe even the present. The woman who is a man's equal.
It's obvious that Aragon himself did not attend this congress, nor was his research flawless. Some errors creep in: the Burgvogteihalle is spelt wrong, and names of orators are mis-spelt too: Blocher becomes Blocker and Wullschleger becomes Wurschleger. Small points. The deeper impression is formed by the fact that he is looking back at this moment from 22 years later, knowing how it ended, how those bonzes - why do we not have this word in English???? - those fat-cat, big-wig, big-shot mandarins would deliver the masses into war a mere eighteen months later:
And he knew. Louis Aragon, he knew the squalor of the trenches and the horror of gas attacks, he was there.
Just as he was called up to war in 1918 he learned that he was not who he thought he was. He had been brought up by Margeurite Toucas and her mother, who claimed that she had taken him in when his mother died. It turned out that Margeurite was not his sister at all, but his mother, and that he was what the French call the fils naturel (is there another kind?) of a notable statesman of the Third Republic, Louis Andrieux, a married man some thirty years older than Margeurite, who had seduced her when she was seventeen. In 1918, on the way to the Gare de L'Est to travel to the front as an auxiliary doctor, he was told his true identity. In a later, somewhat dry comment Aragon claims that Andrieux was afraid his son might pass away without ever knowing that he was a product of his virility. ( Il ne voulait pas que je pusse être tué sans savoir que j’avais été une marque de sa virilité).
No wonder Aragon had a keen awareness of bourgeois hypocrisy and double standards.
Louis Aragon in the 1930s.
Bought at Gibert Jeune, Place Quai St Michel, Paris, in 1977
Holds the record for the longest time spent on my tbr pile.
Aragon's first novel after he broke with the Surrealist movement and joined the Communist party was, for a long time, seen as propaganda rather than literature. I cannot agree. He does indeed depict a society in which greed is the main motor of business, love is bestowed on the highest bidder, and power is in the hands of a cabal of self-interest, but he creates in his main protagonist Catherine, the true heart of this novel, a tender-hearted trooper, a gentle termagant, a self-questioning early feminist, a woman who follows her own desires but does not really believe in her right to do so and who, finally, achieves the liberating recognition that a woman needs financial independence if relations between men and women are ever to be conducted on a basis of equality. Woman must work rather than be kept.
-----------------------------------------------
The rest:
Bells:
Vivos voco, mortuos plango, fulgura frango
I call the living, I mourn the dead, I repel lightning
(Motto of Schiller's monumental work, The Song of the Bell.
Schiller plundered Krünitz's equally monumental Oeconomische Encyclopädie for this motto, which appears on the bell of Schaffhausen's Minster. Cast in Basel.
(Krünitz also testifies that it was widely believed a ringing bell would prevent lightning strikes.)
The Bells of Basel.
Ringing in celebration or alarm?
Or both.
28th October 1912
The executive of the Second International decided to convene an extraordinary Peace Congress to protest the outbreak of the Balkan War. The choice of venue fell to Basel, which city had already hosted a congress convened by the First International. It was to take place before the end of the year, initially in December, but then the date was brought forward to November. Not much time to organize a massive convention, with 555 delegates from 23 countries. But it happened: and on 24th November 1912 some 10,000 comrades marched from the barracks to Basel Minster to listen to speeches and debate the controversial points of their manifesto. A socialist peace rally. In a church.
The final, crowning act: a women's convention, at which Clara Zetkin was cheered to the rafters.
Who profits from this war? Only a tiny minority in each nation: The manufacturers of rifles and cannons, of armor-plate and torpedo boats, the shipyard owners and the suppliers of the armed forces' needs. In the interests of their profits, they have fanned the hatred among the people, this contributing to the outbreak of the war. The workers have nothing to gain from this war, but they stand to lose everything that is dear to them.
That peace congress gives this novel its title, it is the end goal of the whole work, and yet it takes up a mere twenty pages: the epilogue entitled Clara. For she is the end point: the future. Or maybe even the present. The woman who is a man's equal.
Elle est la femme de demain, ou mieux, osons le dire: elle est la femme d’aujourd’hui. L’égale. Celle vers qui tend tout ce livre, celle en qui le problème social de la femme est résolu et dépassé.(Aragon in his preface to this edition) The image of one in whom the social problem of women has been resolved, overcome.
It's obvious that Aragon himself did not attend this congress, nor was his research flawless. Some errors creep in: the Burgvogteihalle is spelt wrong, and names of orators are mis-spelt too: Blocher becomes Blocker and Wullschleger becomes Wurschleger. Small points. The deeper impression is formed by the fact that he is looking back at this moment from 22 years later, knowing how it ended, how those bonzes - why do we not have this word in English???? - those fat-cat, big-wig, big-shot mandarins would deliver the masses into war a mere eighteen months later:
bonzes solennels [...] qui devaient, dix-huit mois plus tard, livrer aux seigneurs de la guerre les prolétariats européens..
And he knew. Louis Aragon, he knew the squalor of the trenches and the horror of gas attacks, he was there.
Just as he was called up to war in 1918 he learned that he was not who he thought he was. He had been brought up by Margeurite Toucas and her mother, who claimed that she had taken him in when his mother died. It turned out that Margeurite was not his sister at all, but his mother, and that he was what the French call the fils naturel (is there another kind?) of a notable statesman of the Third Republic, Louis Andrieux, a married man some thirty years older than Margeurite, who had seduced her when she was seventeen. In 1918, on the way to the Gare de L'Est to travel to the front as an auxiliary doctor, he was told his true identity. In a later, somewhat dry comment Aragon claims that Andrieux was afraid his son might pass away without ever knowing that he was a product of his virility. ( Il ne voulait pas que je pusse être tué sans savoir que j’avais été une marque de sa virilité).
No wonder Aragon had a keen awareness of bourgeois hypocrisy and double standards.
Louis Aragon in the 1930s.
October 16, 2021
Je m'attendais à un roman à thèse de faible valeur esthétique, unidimensionnel et entièrement surdétérminé par l'idéologie communiste de l'auteur. En revanche, j'ai lu un roman certes très politique mais aussi très ambivalent et complexe et qui, grâce à ses indéniables qualités littéraires, m'a procuré un réel plaisir de lecture.
Les Cloches de Bâle est le premier roman de Louis Aragon après la rupture avec les surréalistes et la conversion au communisme. Écrit en 1934, il constitue le premier volume du cycle romanesque "Le Monde réel" qui, outre ce premier roman, comporte aussi Les beaux Quartiers , Les Voyageurs de l’impériale et Aurélien .
Le titre de ce premier tome renvoie à la célèbre conférence de paix organisée à Bâle en 1912 par les partis socialistes européens. Quoique la conférence figure comme toile de fond à la dernière partie du récit, l'action se déroule principalement à Paris entre 1890 et 1912. A travers trois personnages féminins, Les cloches de Bâle évoque la société de la Troisième République de la fin du dix-neuvième siècle jusqu'à la veille de la première guerre mondiale. Il s'agit respectivement de Diane de Nettencourt, une aristocrate désargentée qui se laisse entretenir par des hommes riches, de Cathérine Simonidzé, jeune grégorienne attrayante qui développe une fascination pour le milieu ouvrier dont elle se sent néanmoins exclue par sa propre situation sociale et, Clara Zetkin, journaliste allemande et championne du féminisme socialiste pendant l'entre-deux-guerres. Outre ces trois protagonistes, (dont la troisième s'inspire d'une figure historique réelle), le roman abonde en personnages secondaires qui relient chacune des différentes parties, donnant ainsi au roman sa cohérence interne.
L'intrigue est complexe, vivante et violente, mêlant anecdotes amoureuses et conspirations politiques, histoire et fiction. Nous apprenons tout sur les innombrables aventures amoureuses de Diane, sur la jeunesse de Cathérine et ses rapports ambivalents avec sa soeur et sa mère, mais aussi sur la tragédie de Cluses en Haute Savoie en 1904 qui coûta la vie à trois ouvriers horlogers, sur les braquages en auto de la bande de Bonnot entre 1911 et 1912 et sur la grève des taxis lors de la même période. Parmi les nombreux personnages historiques qui font une ou plusieurs apparitions dans le roman, j'ai retenu Jules Bonnet, leader de la bande de bandits anarchistes qui lui doit son nom, Clara Zetkin (évidemment), mais aussi Jean Jaurès, Henri Poincaré, Lénine et Paul Doumer, homme d'état et future Président de la République.
La narration est rapide, entièrement focalisée sur l'action. On ne trouve guère de descriptions élaborées dans Les cloches de Bâle; juste ce qu'il faut pour esquisser le décor et l'ambiance du milieu dans lesquels fourmillent les innombrables personnages. Liaisons, ruptures, mariages, suicides, attentats, bagarres, les péripéties se succèdent à une vitesse vertigineuse qui trahit le plaisir de narrer de l'auteur et contribue grandement au plaisir de lecture.
Quant au style et à la voix narrative, Aragon les fait varier selon les parties du roman. Dans la première, focalisant sur le monde bourgeois des grands industriels et de la haute finance, le ton ironique domine et le narrateur prend souvent ses distances vis-à-vis de ses personnages pour dénoncer leur immoralité ou se moquer d'eux. Dans la seconde et troisième partie, par contre, le narrateur se montre nettement plus emphatique vis-à-vis de Cathérine, véritable heroïne du roman. Il suit de près son développement intellectuel et moral, nous racontant ses hésitations, ses doutes, ses fureurs sans aucune pointe d'ironie.
L'épilogue du roman, consacré à Clara Zetkin, pèche par un excès de lyrisme. Le narrateur qui, soudainement, se désigne comme "l'auteur de ce livre" - s'identifiant par là à Aragon lui-même - y chante les louanges de celle qu'il considère comme l'incarnation parfaite de l'esprit révolutionnaire. Ce qui frappe, pourtant, dans cette dernière partie - qui ne comporte qu'une vingtaine de pages sur un roman de plus de 400 - est que l'auteur n'arrive pas vraiment à illustrer en quoi consiste le caractère exemplaire de Clara. La narration s'arrête assez brusquement et débouche sur une confession bizarre de la part du narrateur comme quoi son livre est "mal construit" tout comme le monde lui-même et qu'il devrait "refaire l'un et l'autre, avec pour héroïne une Clara, et non point Diane, et non point Cathérine." A la toute fin du livre, tout se passe donc comme si l'auteur soudainement se rend compte que la perfection ne se prête pas au roman et qu'il se résigne dès lors à publier l'histoire de Diane et de Cathérine, femmes imparfaites, mais, pour cette raison même, éminnement romanesques.
Pour ma part, je suis entièrement d'accord avec ce choix: l'histoire de Clara, révolutionnaire parfaite, m'aurait nettement moins intéressé que celle de Diane et Cathérine que j'ai trouvé, somme toute, fascinante au point où je me réjouis déjà de lire la suite du cycle.
Les Cloches de Bâle est le premier roman de Louis Aragon après la rupture avec les surréalistes et la conversion au communisme. Écrit en 1934, il constitue le premier volume du cycle romanesque "Le Monde réel" qui, outre ce premier roman, comporte aussi Les beaux Quartiers , Les Voyageurs de l’impériale et Aurélien .
Le titre de ce premier tome renvoie à la célèbre conférence de paix organisée à Bâle en 1912 par les partis socialistes européens. Quoique la conférence figure comme toile de fond à la dernière partie du récit, l'action se déroule principalement à Paris entre 1890 et 1912. A travers trois personnages féminins, Les cloches de Bâle évoque la société de la Troisième République de la fin du dix-neuvième siècle jusqu'à la veille de la première guerre mondiale. Il s'agit respectivement de Diane de Nettencourt, une aristocrate désargentée qui se laisse entretenir par des hommes riches, de Cathérine Simonidzé, jeune grégorienne attrayante qui développe une fascination pour le milieu ouvrier dont elle se sent néanmoins exclue par sa propre situation sociale et, Clara Zetkin, journaliste allemande et championne du féminisme socialiste pendant l'entre-deux-guerres. Outre ces trois protagonistes, (dont la troisième s'inspire d'une figure historique réelle), le roman abonde en personnages secondaires qui relient chacune des différentes parties, donnant ainsi au roman sa cohérence interne.
L'intrigue est complexe, vivante et violente, mêlant anecdotes amoureuses et conspirations politiques, histoire et fiction. Nous apprenons tout sur les innombrables aventures amoureuses de Diane, sur la jeunesse de Cathérine et ses rapports ambivalents avec sa soeur et sa mère, mais aussi sur la tragédie de Cluses en Haute Savoie en 1904 qui coûta la vie à trois ouvriers horlogers, sur les braquages en auto de la bande de Bonnot entre 1911 et 1912 et sur la grève des taxis lors de la même période. Parmi les nombreux personnages historiques qui font une ou plusieurs apparitions dans le roman, j'ai retenu Jules Bonnet, leader de la bande de bandits anarchistes qui lui doit son nom, Clara Zetkin (évidemment), mais aussi Jean Jaurès, Henri Poincaré, Lénine et Paul Doumer, homme d'état et future Président de la République.
La narration est rapide, entièrement focalisée sur l'action. On ne trouve guère de descriptions élaborées dans Les cloches de Bâle; juste ce qu'il faut pour esquisser le décor et l'ambiance du milieu dans lesquels fourmillent les innombrables personnages. Liaisons, ruptures, mariages, suicides, attentats, bagarres, les péripéties se succèdent à une vitesse vertigineuse qui trahit le plaisir de narrer de l'auteur et contribue grandement au plaisir de lecture.
Quant au style et à la voix narrative, Aragon les fait varier selon les parties du roman. Dans la première, focalisant sur le monde bourgeois des grands industriels et de la haute finance, le ton ironique domine et le narrateur prend souvent ses distances vis-à-vis de ses personnages pour dénoncer leur immoralité ou se moquer d'eux. Dans la seconde et troisième partie, par contre, le narrateur se montre nettement plus emphatique vis-à-vis de Cathérine, véritable heroïne du roman. Il suit de près son développement intellectuel et moral, nous racontant ses hésitations, ses doutes, ses fureurs sans aucune pointe d'ironie.
L'épilogue du roman, consacré à Clara Zetkin, pèche par un excès de lyrisme. Le narrateur qui, soudainement, se désigne comme "l'auteur de ce livre" - s'identifiant par là à Aragon lui-même - y chante les louanges de celle qu'il considère comme l'incarnation parfaite de l'esprit révolutionnaire. Ce qui frappe, pourtant, dans cette dernière partie - qui ne comporte qu'une vingtaine de pages sur un roman de plus de 400 - est que l'auteur n'arrive pas vraiment à illustrer en quoi consiste le caractère exemplaire de Clara. La narration s'arrête assez brusquement et débouche sur une confession bizarre de la part du narrateur comme quoi son livre est "mal construit" tout comme le monde lui-même et qu'il devrait "refaire l'un et l'autre, avec pour héroïne une Clara, et non point Diane, et non point Cathérine." A la toute fin du livre, tout se passe donc comme si l'auteur soudainement se rend compte que la perfection ne se prête pas au roman et qu'il se résigne dès lors à publier l'histoire de Diane et de Cathérine, femmes imparfaites, mais, pour cette raison même, éminnement romanesques.
Pour ma part, je suis entièrement d'accord avec ce choix: l'histoire de Clara, révolutionnaire parfaite, m'aurait nettement moins intéressé que celle de Diane et Cathérine que j'ai trouvé, somme toute, fascinante au point où je me réjouis déjà de lire la suite du cycle.
January 17, 2022
Dünya Klasikleri Okuma Kulübünün Ocak ayı kitabı Basel’in Çanları’nı okudum. Aragon’la tanışma kitabım oldu. Başlamadan önce ne beklemem gerektiğine dair herhangi bir fikre sahip değildim ancak çevirmeninin Attila İlhan olduğunu görünce şiirsel bir yolculuk olabileceğini düşündüm. Hiçbir şekilde sevemediğim ve bu yüzden çok üzüldüğüm bir kitap oldu. Oldukça spesifik bir okur kitlesi için kaleme alınmış. Siyaset odaklı ilerleyerek Fransa’nın 20. yüzyıl başlarında nasıl olduğunu farklı kesimlerden insanları ele alarak anlatmış. Aynı zamanda yazarın Gerçek Dünya isimli serisinin ilk kitabı ancak sanıyorum ki devamı çevrilmedi. Kitap hakkında tek beğendiğim kadın karakterlerin döneme göre alışılmışın dışında yazılmasıydı. Gözüme daha güçlü ve daha özgür geldiler. Aragon kadın özgürleşmesine, işçi haklarına belli ki oldukça önem vermiş. Bu düşüncelerini de öylesine değil gerçekten önemsediği için kitabına yerleştirmiş. Özenle yazıldığı belli olan bir kitap ancak okurken çok sıkıldım ve yorulduğumu hissettiğim. Dediğim gibi belli bir tarzdaki okurlara hitap ediyor. O yüzden benim gibi kitabı sevmeyenler kadar çok sevenler de olacaktır.
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January 23, 2025Incroyable texte d'Aragon, entre le roman et la chronique historique. Ces portraits de femmes sont complexes et justes, enracinés dans un début du XXe siècle trouble. La lecture du monde et les engagements de l'auteur sont clairs. Il n'y a pas de place pour la complaisance ici. La fin est magnifique. Vraiment, il faut le lire !
August 19, 2012
Premier tome du "Monde réel". 1912. La guerre se rapproche. Comme son titre ne l'indique pas l'action se situe à Paris. Mais la fin (superbe) sur quelques pages à Bâle. Ah le style d'Aragon ! Communiste certes ! Stalinien de surcroit ! Mais quel style !
September 21, 2017
Κυκλοφόρησε στα Ελληνικά, ως "Οι καμπάνες της Βασιλείας", εκδόσεις Οδυσσέας.
March 2, 2025
Résumons::: Diane est super bonne, Clara est l’avenir et Catherine est moi
January 16, 2026
“Clopotele din Basel” sunt simbolul romanului lui Louis Aragon. Prin ele se subliniază congresul socialist de la Basel (1912) pentru pace, subliniind eșecul pacifismului si sfârșitul romanului, ce duce la începutul inevitabil a Primului Război Mondial.
Povestea romanului se află pe marginea subțire dintre cele 2 ideologii: democrație si socialism.
Problemele subliniate de Aragon sunt atât sociale cât si de principii si valori. Una dintre ele este cea a crimei in cadrul societății, asemănătoare cu cea din romanul “Crimă si Pedeapsă” de Dostoievski. Cu toate că in clopotele din basel persoana in cauză, locotenentul de Sabran ajunge sa se sinucidă din cauza datoriilor. Iar Brunel care a împrumutat este văzut ca un cămătar notoriu, fără scrupule si trebuie respins din toate cercurile bune ale Parisului. Chiar dacă multe sume împrumutate erau la rândul lor finanțate de la un afacerist influent, Wisner.
Astfel, afaceriștii, sunt cei ce adunau bani pentru a suprima Marocul si alte tari din Africa pentru resurse, erau văzuți cu adevarat eroi naționali, fiind acceptată orice acțiune in numele Patriei.
Sublinierea e clară si profund îngrijorătoare, nevoia de a dobândi mai multe resurse si de a distruge viețile altor oameni pentru asta, ascunși in spatele unui steag, fiind vazut un lucru de onoare. In timp ce, o crimă in cadrul societății, indiferent in ce circumstanțe este realizată trebuie pedepsită. Oare de ce in primul caz este diferită sau doar uneori sunt văzute ca crime de război si nu este văzut războiul de orice tip o crima in masă mereu?
Bătălia nu se da doar politic, ci si intre clasa muncitoare si burghezie, insa cele 2 sunt strans legate.
Clasa muncitoare lupta pentru dreptul la o viața mai buna in timp ce burgezia luptă prin politic la adunarea mai multor averi si sa pună monopol subjugând clasa muncitoare.
Problema femeilor pe care o introduce in roman prin Catherine, ea simbolizând femeia burgheză ce trăiește din banii trimiși lunar de tatăl ei bogat din Baku, fără activitate, ea pur si simplu se plictisește, neavând un scop precis. Ajunge chiar sa incerce sa se sinucidă fiind salvată de Victor, un muncitor ce este in mișcarea grevei muncitorilor. Ea caută sa se alature acestei mișcări. Femeia fiind o forță necesară schimbarii, devenind responsabila pentru demersul lucrurilor in societate."Forța ta e si ea necesară pentru a transforma lumea".
Cum se spune explicit în epilog, adresat direct cititorului.
Sinuciderea se regăsește de mai multe ori in roman, prima fiind din cauza banilor, a doua din cauza iubirii si a treia, încercarea lui Catherine de a se sinucide din lipsa unui scop.
Victor nu reprezintă doar muncitorii slab plătiți, extenuați de munca asiduă. Este vocea rațiunii, ce te împinge sa lupți pentru viață, nu sa renunți la ea, fiind responsabilitatea ta colectivă in a schimba ceva in bine. O lupta pentru combaterea trândăviei si pentru a fi omul privit ca atare, nu doar ca o bucată de carne necesară in sistemul de producție a banilor.
In concluzie Aragon privește lucrurile realist si in același timp privește lumea suprarealist. Este conștient de gravitatea divergentelor politice. Încercând sa transmită necesitatea echilibrului prin acțiunea radicală a tuturor, atât bărbați cat si femei, in speranță unei utopii. Acesta lume utopica in viziunea lui Aragon, o lumea lipsită de probleme sociale, unde oamenii trăiesc cu toții in liniște si bunăstare, ar putea fi atinsă prin socialism.
In contextul scrierii romanului, Aragon trage semnalul de alarmă, lumea fiind intr-un impas economic, transformari sociale ce duc inevitabil la război. Romanul fiind scris in 1934, tensiunile politice si sociale din acea perioadă semănau cu cele dinainte de Primul Război Mondial. Iar aceste probleme economice si instabilitate politica inevitabil duc la cel de al Doilea Război Mondial.
Multe tensiuni de atunci rimează cu situatia actuala din zilele noastre si “Clopotele din Basel” ar trebui sa fie si pentru noi un semnal de alarmă, de trezirea conștiinței colective si de conștientizarea unui razboi ce pare a fi iminent.
Povestea romanului se află pe marginea subțire dintre cele 2 ideologii: democrație si socialism.
Problemele subliniate de Aragon sunt atât sociale cât si de principii si valori. Una dintre ele este cea a crimei in cadrul societății, asemănătoare cu cea din romanul “Crimă si Pedeapsă” de Dostoievski. Cu toate că in clopotele din basel persoana in cauză, locotenentul de Sabran ajunge sa se sinucidă din cauza datoriilor. Iar Brunel care a împrumutat este văzut ca un cămătar notoriu, fără scrupule si trebuie respins din toate cercurile bune ale Parisului. Chiar dacă multe sume împrumutate erau la rândul lor finanțate de la un afacerist influent, Wisner.
Astfel, afaceriștii, sunt cei ce adunau bani pentru a suprima Marocul si alte tari din Africa pentru resurse, erau văzuți cu adevarat eroi naționali, fiind acceptată orice acțiune in numele Patriei.
Sublinierea e clară si profund îngrijorătoare, nevoia de a dobândi mai multe resurse si de a distruge viețile altor oameni pentru asta, ascunși in spatele unui steag, fiind vazut un lucru de onoare. In timp ce, o crimă in cadrul societății, indiferent in ce circumstanțe este realizată trebuie pedepsită. Oare de ce in primul caz este diferită sau doar uneori sunt văzute ca crime de război si nu este văzut războiul de orice tip o crima in masă mereu?
Bătălia nu se da doar politic, ci si intre clasa muncitoare si burghezie, insa cele 2 sunt strans legate.
Clasa muncitoare lupta pentru dreptul la o viața mai buna in timp ce burgezia luptă prin politic la adunarea mai multor averi si sa pună monopol subjugând clasa muncitoare.
Problema femeilor pe care o introduce in roman prin Catherine, ea simbolizând femeia burgheză ce trăiește din banii trimiși lunar de tatăl ei bogat din Baku, fără activitate, ea pur si simplu se plictisește, neavând un scop precis. Ajunge chiar sa incerce sa se sinucidă fiind salvată de Victor, un muncitor ce este in mișcarea grevei muncitorilor. Ea caută sa se alature acestei mișcări. Femeia fiind o forță necesară schimbarii, devenind responsabila pentru demersul lucrurilor in societate."Forța ta e si ea necesară pentru a transforma lumea".
Cum se spune explicit în epilog, adresat direct cititorului.
Sinuciderea se regăsește de mai multe ori in roman, prima fiind din cauza banilor, a doua din cauza iubirii si a treia, încercarea lui Catherine de a se sinucide din lipsa unui scop.
Victor nu reprezintă doar muncitorii slab plătiți, extenuați de munca asiduă. Este vocea rațiunii, ce te împinge sa lupți pentru viață, nu sa renunți la ea, fiind responsabilitatea ta colectivă in a schimba ceva in bine. O lupta pentru combaterea trândăviei si pentru a fi omul privit ca atare, nu doar ca o bucată de carne necesară in sistemul de producție a banilor.
In concluzie Aragon privește lucrurile realist si in același timp privește lumea suprarealist. Este conștient de gravitatea divergentelor politice. Încercând sa transmită necesitatea echilibrului prin acțiunea radicală a tuturor, atât bărbați cat si femei, in speranță unei utopii. Acesta lume utopica in viziunea lui Aragon, o lumea lipsită de probleme sociale, unde oamenii trăiesc cu toții in liniște si bunăstare, ar putea fi atinsă prin socialism.
In contextul scrierii romanului, Aragon trage semnalul de alarmă, lumea fiind intr-un impas economic, transformari sociale ce duc inevitabil la război. Romanul fiind scris in 1934, tensiunile politice si sociale din acea perioadă semănau cu cele dinainte de Primul Război Mondial. Iar aceste probleme economice si instabilitate politica inevitabil duc la cel de al Doilea Război Mondial.
Multe tensiuni de atunci rimează cu situatia actuala din zilele noastre si “Clopotele din Basel” ar trebui sa fie si pentru noi un semnal de alarmă, de trezirea conștiinței colective si de conștientizarea unui razboi ce pare a fi iminent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2025
Really powerful book. Despite being dated in a few ways and presupposing quite a bit of knowledge on the readers' part, there's plenty here to still enjoy, roughly 90 years after its initial publication.
I actually didn't know a single thing about this novel or its author before reading. I saw it on a "Greatest of All Time" list and just dug in. The first section (there are four, named after the main character each one follows) seemed to be a light satire of the wealthy class of Europe. That changed when I got to the second section - titled "Catherine" - which follows a young Georgian woman whose life takes her to different places and towards a certain understanding of socialism and the plight of the working person, along with how that aligns with the plight of women in general.
From here, the novel gets deeper and deeper into becoming a work that lays bare the insidious connections between runaway capitalism and warfare. It's no accident that the events in this novel cover the years leading into World War I, and it inadvertently portends World War II (which would begin just a few years after this novel was published in 1936). Without knowing all the political figures referenced in this book, many sections can get confusing or frustrating, but Aragon does bring it back to a handful of sympathetic characters enough to ground it all in something that leaves an impression.
I actually didn't know a single thing about this novel or its author before reading. I saw it on a "Greatest of All Time" list and just dug in. The first section (there are four, named after the main character each one follows) seemed to be a light satire of the wealthy class of Europe. That changed when I got to the second section - titled "Catherine" - which follows a young Georgian woman whose life takes her to different places and towards a certain understanding of socialism and the plight of the working person, along with how that aligns with the plight of women in general.
From here, the novel gets deeper and deeper into becoming a work that lays bare the insidious connections between runaway capitalism and warfare. It's no accident that the events in this novel cover the years leading into World War I, and it inadvertently portends World War II (which would begin just a few years after this novel was published in 1936). Without knowing all the political figures referenced in this book, many sections can get confusing or frustrating, but Aragon does bring it back to a handful of sympathetic characters enough to ground it all in something that leaves an impression.
March 30, 2023
"Les Cloches de Bâle" est un roman de Louis Aragon, publié en 1934. Il est une section à part entière d'une série de quatre romans, élaborée par l'auteur: "le monde réel". Ce qui m'a particulièrement touché, dans ce roman, c'est son ancrage réaliste et ainsi sa portée historique. En effet, on suit les aventures de trois femmes (Clara, Diane et Catherine) durant la "Belle époque". Ces femmes mènent des vies bien différentes, et pourtant elles sont victimes d'un même contexte socio-politique, celui d'une France en crise, à l'aube de la première guerre mondiale. Si je connaissais bien l'oeuvre poétique d'Aragon, avec ce roman j'ai pu approfondir la découverte de son oeuvre. Ce roman m'a permis d'abandonner l'Aragon poète quelque temps pour découvrir l'Aragon prosateur. Ce roman « réaliste socialiste » permet, et d’autant plus de nos jours, d’ouvrir les yeux sur les réalités de la société de la « Belle époque », et de se rendre compte que cette expression met de côté la corruption, les injustices sociales, la domination du patriarcat... J’ai également apprécié le fin mélange entre fiction et réalité, entre personnages purement imaginés et personnages historiques. Pour finir, j’ai trouvé ce roman d’autant plus intéressant qu’il trouve une résonance particulière à notre époque. Bien qu’il ait été écrit il y a près d’un siècle, il présente la femme comme une figure en puissance, qui possède toutes les clés de l’intrigue en main.
August 4, 2024
Louis Aragon, I was not familiar with your game !
I was afraid of not liking this at first, since I found the story about Diane a bit lacking and not meeting my expectations (also probably because I wasn't really paying attention at the beginning 😭 having to keep track with multiple characters tend to lose me...), but everything turned around when meeting Catherine !
A woman who has never worked a day of her life, living off of her father's checks, grows interested in socialism and anarchism. Most of the book is about her, and how she goes from having a vague idea that exploitation is bad, to engaging and helping out in workers' strikes. With Catherine, we also get to see how feminism and socialism go hand in hand. Don't get me wrong, she's not really an example to follow - and I do not agree with her view of feminism which includes men a little too much for me (I mean sleep with as many men as you'd like but why is her life revolving around it so much ???)
It is actually mentioned that she's just at the dawn of understanding what true socialism and feminism are about, which brings me to the epilogue, a true chef's kiss 🤌🏼 I was extremely moved by the way Aragon wrote about Clara Zetkin, and impressed at how much these last couple of pages really bring everything together...
Please, if you're into realism or like your fiction to be accompanied with a strong historic background, read this !! 🩷
I was afraid of not liking this at first, since I found the story about Diane a bit lacking and not meeting my expectations (also probably because I wasn't really paying attention at the beginning 😭 having to keep track with multiple characters tend to lose me...), but everything turned around when meeting Catherine !
A woman who has never worked a day of her life, living off of her father's checks, grows interested in socialism and anarchism. Most of the book is about her, and how she goes from having a vague idea that exploitation is bad, to engaging and helping out in workers' strikes. With Catherine, we also get to see how feminism and socialism go hand in hand. Don't get me wrong, she's not really an example to follow - and I do not agree with her view of feminism which includes men a little too much for me (I mean sleep with as many men as you'd like but why is her life revolving around it so much ???)
It is actually mentioned that she's just at the dawn of understanding what true socialism and feminism are about, which brings me to the epilogue, a true chef's kiss 🤌🏼 I was extremely moved by the way Aragon wrote about Clara Zetkin, and impressed at how much these last couple of pages really bring everything together...
Please, if you're into realism or like your fiction to be accompanied with a strong historic background, read this !! 🩷
March 12, 2026
Çoğunlukla şair kimliğiyle bilinen Aragon’un romanda da kalemini arşa çıkardığının ispatı oldu Basel’in Çanları benim için. Zaten kitabın başındaki nefis önsözde Aragon şöyle diyor: “…çünkü roman, gerçekliği tüm karmaşıklığıyla kavramak için insan tarafından icat edilmiş bir makinedir.” Aynı dilden konuşmak sadece ağızdan çıkan sözcüklerin aynı lisana ait olması değil diye düşündürüyor insana adeta🫠
Kitap dört bölümden oluşuyor. Diane, Catherine, Victor ve Clara. Bu arada devrim bayrağını kadınlara taşıtmasını ayrıca sevdiğimi söylemeden geçemem. Çok karakter, çok detay, ince işçilik. Bölümler arasında geçerken bunca karakteri niye okuduk, onlar orada kaldı diye düşünürken son düzlükte öyle güzel birleştiriyor ki hepsini. Bu arada hikayeye minicik de girse onca karakterin hepsinin ayrı sesi, görüntüsü olması da sevdiğim detaylardandı.
Fransa’nın birçok zamanını okuduk, başka yerlerde başka çan sesleri duyduk, çok isim tanıdık, çok karakterle sevdik öfkelendik ama Aragon çıtayı başka bir yere taşıdı. Gerçek Dünya adını verdiği dizinin ilk halkasıymış Basel’in Çanları. Ben severek okudum. Sadece sondaki o müthiş tirat için bile iyi ki okudum diyebilirim.
“Bazı kitaplar vardır, bir dünyayı kapsar, içinde tutar; okursun, bitirdin mi bırakır gidersin. Ama nereye, neresi olursa, daha uzağa! Oysa bazı kitaplar kendi ülkemizin kapılardır sanki.”
Kitap dört bölümden oluşuyor. Diane, Catherine, Victor ve Clara. Bu arada devrim bayrağını kadınlara taşıtmasını ayrıca sevdiğimi söylemeden geçemem. Çok karakter, çok detay, ince işçilik. Bölümler arasında geçerken bunca karakteri niye okuduk, onlar orada kaldı diye düşünürken son düzlükte öyle güzel birleştiriyor ki hepsini. Bu arada hikayeye minicik de girse onca karakterin hepsinin ayrı sesi, görüntüsü olması da sevdiğim detaylardandı.
Fransa’nın birçok zamanını okuduk, başka yerlerde başka çan sesleri duyduk, çok isim tanıdık, çok karakterle sevdik öfkelendik ama Aragon çıtayı başka bir yere taşıdı. Gerçek Dünya adını verdiği dizinin ilk halkasıymış Basel’in Çanları. Ben severek okudum. Sadece sondaki o müthiş tirat için bile iyi ki okudum diyebilirim.
“Bazı kitaplar vardır, bir dünyayı kapsar, içinde tutar; okursun, bitirdin mi bırakır gidersin. Ama nereye, neresi olursa, daha uzağa! Oysa bazı kitaplar kendi ülkemizin kapılardır sanki.”
December 16, 2022
*** 1/2
I guess this is not a read for everyone. For starters, while there are some narrative threads woven around some main characters (especially female), there is no discernible obvious main thread. But below the surface, you come to realise that there is a feminist and socialist evolution from the character of Diane, who is resolutely nothing than a mondaine object in an upper-class world; through Catherine, the émigrée from Georgia (I don't think this was by accident; Stalin was also Georgian), who tries hard to find meaning in this world, flirting with anarchism and socialism while receiving monetary allowances from her estranged father who made a killing in the oil fields near Baku; to Clara Zetkin, one of several historical characters featuring in this novel, early beacon of the German and world socialist movements, anti-war proponent, one of the instigators of the International Women's Day. The novel culminates with Zetkin when she attended the congress of the Second International in Basel, at a time where the virtues of socialism were still being sung and espoused as a solution to exploitation and war. Even though various writing styles have been used throughout the novel, it is still nevertheless a novel with propagandistic flavour and a touch of naivety. Much later in the 20th century, Kundera will make light of this naivety with a few barbs in his novels aimed at Aragon but more often at Paul Éluard.
I guess this is not a read for everyone. For starters, while there are some narrative threads woven around some main characters (especially female), there is no discernible obvious main thread. But below the surface, you come to realise that there is a feminist and socialist evolution from the character of Diane, who is resolutely nothing than a mondaine object in an upper-class world; through Catherine, the émigrée from Georgia (I don't think this was by accident; Stalin was also Georgian), who tries hard to find meaning in this world, flirting with anarchism and socialism while receiving monetary allowances from her estranged father who made a killing in the oil fields near Baku; to Clara Zetkin, one of several historical characters featuring in this novel, early beacon of the German and world socialist movements, anti-war proponent, one of the instigators of the International Women's Day. The novel culminates with Zetkin when she attended the congress of the Second International in Basel, at a time where the virtues of socialism were still being sung and espoused as a solution to exploitation and war. Even though various writing styles have been used throughout the novel, it is still nevertheless a novel with propagandistic flavour and a touch of naivety. Much later in the 20th century, Kundera will make light of this naivety with a few barbs in his novels aimed at Aragon but more often at Paul Éluard.
April 9, 2021
Książka dobra, lecz nie bez wad - część pierwsza opowiadająca o sytuacji we Francji w opisywanym okresie i słabnącej roli arystokracji w społeczeństwie, której przedstawicielką była Diana była dla mnie bardzo dobra, potem czar pryska. Urzeka ona jako bohaterka - manipulatorka, której najważniejszym celem jest utrzymanie nieskazitelnej opinii wśród "towarzystwa". Niestety jej małżeństwo stawia jej reputację pod znakiem zapytania. To co mnie jednak najbardziej zainteresowało w pierwszej części to dość nietypowy, lekko chaotyczny, wciąż trącący surrealizmem styl narracji, który w części drugiej i kolejnych stopniowo ulatuje zastąpiony przez chłodny realizm. W mojej opinii szkoda, że w ten sposób posłuchał żony, która mu ten zabieg podpowiedziała. Warto przeczytać chociażby po to, by poznać te czasy i zobaczyć w jaki sposób autor zmienia sposób pisania w obrębie książki.
May 22, 2021
Dönemi bu kadar güzel yakalayan Le Monde Reel serisinin sadece iki cildinin Türkçeye çevrilmesine doğrusu çok şaşırdım. Basel'in Çanları, serinin ilk cildi olarak Atilla İlhan tarafından çevrilmiş. Gözden geçirilmesi ve günümüz Türkçesine çevrilmeye ihtiyaç duysa da bu hali bile iş görüyor. İkinci cilt ise Kibar Semtler adı altında Can Yayınları'ndan çıksa da baskısı tükenmiş ve bir daha da yayınlanmamış. Nadirkitap'taki fiyatı da kitabı almaktan men ediyor insanı. Bu durumda kalan üç cildin Yordam Kitap'ın programı dahilinde olduğunu ummakla yetineceğim.
December 17, 2021
Si j'avais su que j'aimerais autant ce livre...
J'ai pris énormément de plaisir à le lire, à découvrir ses personnages et à admirer la fresque complexe qu'Aragon y dépeint. J'ai été surprise de m'attacher autant aux protagonistes, en particulier à Catherine sur qui j'aurais pu lire au moins 300 pages de plus. C'est un livre que je n'arrivais pas à poser, j'avais le besoin de le lire même en marchant.
La préface de l'auteur est extrêmement intéressante et m'a tout autant passionnée bien que je n'ai pas l'habitude de m'attarder sur ce genre de paratexte .
4+/5
J'ai pris énormément de plaisir à le lire, à découvrir ses personnages et à admirer la fresque complexe qu'Aragon y dépeint. J'ai été surprise de m'attacher autant aux protagonistes, en particulier à Catherine sur qui j'aurais pu lire au moins 300 pages de plus. C'est un livre que je n'arrivais pas à poser, j'avais le besoin de le lire même en marchant.
La préface de l'auteur est extrêmement intéressante et m'a tout autant passionnée bien que je n'ai pas l'habitude de m'attarder sur ce genre de paratexte .
4+/5
March 16, 2024
Très bon roman qui depeint avec précision le début du XXeme siècle. L'écriture est complexe, certains passages sont difficiles à suivre mais l'ensemble est prenant. Catherine incarne un personnage féminin moderne dont on prend plaisir à suivre l'évolution. La description faite de la lutte continue entre les actionnaires bourgeois et les travailleurs rappelle avec inquiétude qu'en un siècle les choses n'ont pas beaucoup évoluer...
July 12, 2019
Premier volume du cycle le Monde Réel, dont j'ai déjà lu Aurélien il y a de cela deux ans.
Nous y retrouvons déjà et la langue brute et subtile d'Aragon, et certains des personnages qui parcourent cette saga, qui, ici, emprunte autant aux rêveries romantico-rousseauistes qu'aux acides et rudes dépictions réalistes socialistes du monde tel qu'il est.
Nous y retrouvons déjà et la langue brute et subtile d'Aragon, et certains des personnages qui parcourent cette saga, qui, ici, emprunte autant aux rêveries romantico-rousseauistes qu'aux acides et rudes dépictions réalistes socialistes du monde tel qu'il est.
January 27, 2021
Donem kitabi, Paris’de gecen Basel’de biten sosyalizm, isci partisi hareketleri ve burjuva bakis acisi olarak ozetlenebilir. Kitabin alakasiz baslama nedeni burjuva kismindan hikayeye giris yapilmasi, okudukca asil hikaye basliyor. Kurguyu, ayni donem yasamis birbirinden degisik kadin profillerini ben oldukca begendim
October 30, 2026
اتعلمت من أجراس بال إن الفرق بين الحقيقة والرواية مش دايماً واضح. Louis Aragon بيتتبع حدثة واحدة من سبع أفواه مختلفة، وكل واحد بيحكيها بطريقة تخدمه. من غير ما يقولك مين كداب، بتبدأ تشك في ذاكرتك أنت. ممتعة ومقلقة. للي بيحب الألغاز الأخلاقية، وللي عايز نهاية تحسم الأمور هيتعصب.
June 18, 2018
Il a bien valu le coup d'y aller jusqu'au bout de ce roman. C'est pas du tout une lecture facile, mais connaître Clara au épilogue à été une belle surprise.
February 27, 2021
"Lumea e o mașină sângeroasă care sfâșie oamenii cum ar smulge niște degete."
Did Not Finish
September 17, 2025DNF. This felt like way too much work to get through this book. Maybe I’ll try it again in a few years, but for right now I simply don’t have the ability to get through it.
January 1, 2026
oh catherine simonidzé you will always be loved
March 18, 2026
c’est vraiment tout ce que Breton déteste je l’aurais mal pris
February 5, 2022
Kitap, tarihi olaylarla dönem insanlarının sıradan yaşantısının harmanlanması ile kurgulanmış ancak başlarda kim kimdir diye bir bocalama yaşatıyor, sonrasında akış içinde bu sorun aşılıyor. Kitapla ilgili benimseyemediğim husus, anlatım tekniği. Sürekli devrik cümlelerle ilerliyor, günlük konuşma dili ile kurgulamak bir teknik olabilir kuşkusuz ama bu beni bir yerden sonra rahatsız etmeye başladı. Neredeyse hemen her cümlede 'ya' kelimesine yer verilmesi, hoşlanmadığım bir başka üslup tarzı idi. Sonuçta orijinal dilinde de böyle midir bilemiyorum ama genel olarak yazım tekniğine takılmış olmam, kitaptan uzaklaştırdı. Yine de konusu itibariyle okunur, belirttiğim şerhle birlikte.
Read
August 25, 2016« A Elsa Triolet sans qui je me serais tu »
« Mais cependant exposées que nous sommes à toutes sortes de dangers, dont le moindre n’est pas l’opinion qu’on se fait trop vite de nous, nous ne devons donner prise ni à la médisance, ni à la sévérité. »
« On nous a trompés, déclarent-ils. Les semeurs de haines et de belles paroles nous ont égarés. »
« Pour être juste, Libertad se prononçait sur la journée de huit heures, à la différence de certains de ses amis, qui voulaient qu’on demandât la journée de quatre heures, et de ceux qui voulaient la journée de douze heures pour exaspérer l’ouvrier et le pousser dans la rue. »
« Joseph Quesnel était un démocrate, et il professait que les travailleurs ne doivent pas être exclus des bénéfices d’une affaire à la prospérité de laquelle il concourent. Aussi, à chaque augmentation de capital, faisait-il toujours réserver des actions, pour permettre aux cochers de la Compagnie de placer leurs petites économies dans la maison. »
Dans la police d’ailleurs, le torchon brûlait : le 23 mars le sous-chef de la sûreté, Jouin, se rendait chez Lépine et donnait sa démission.
« L’harmonie du XIIè jouait la Marche funèbre de Chopin. »
« Il y a des livres qui ferment un monde. Ils sont un point final, on les laisse et on s’en va. (…) Il en est d’autres qui sont les portes de notre propre pays. »
« A travers tout le ciel d’Europe, et là-bas dans l’Amérique lointaine, il s’amasse des nuages obscurs, chargés de l’électricité des guerres. Les peuples les voient s‘amonceler, mais à la fois leur ombre cache leur origine.»
« Elle est simplement à un haut degré d’achèvement le nouveau type de femme qui n’a plus rien à voir avec cette poupée, dont l’asservissement, la prostitution et l’oisiveté ont fait la base des chansons et des poèmes à travers toutes les sociétés humaines, jusqu’aujourd’hui. »
« Maintenant, ici, commence la nouvelle romance. »
« Ici finit le roman de chevalerie. Ici pour la première fois dans le monde la place est faite au véritable amour. Celui qui n’est pas souillé par la hiérarchie de l’homme et de la femme, par la sordide histoire des robes et des baisers, par la domination d’argent de l’homme sur la femme ou de la femme sur l’homme. La femme des temps modernes est née, et c’est elle que je chante. Et c’est elle que je chanterai. »
1966-
« Mais cependant exposées que nous sommes à toutes sortes de dangers, dont le moindre n’est pas l’opinion qu’on se fait trop vite de nous, nous ne devons donner prise ni à la médisance, ni à la sévérité. »
« On nous a trompés, déclarent-ils. Les semeurs de haines et de belles paroles nous ont égarés. »
« Pour être juste, Libertad se prononçait sur la journée de huit heures, à la différence de certains de ses amis, qui voulaient qu’on demandât la journée de quatre heures, et de ceux qui voulaient la journée de douze heures pour exaspérer l’ouvrier et le pousser dans la rue. »
« Joseph Quesnel était un démocrate, et il professait que les travailleurs ne doivent pas être exclus des bénéfices d’une affaire à la prospérité de laquelle il concourent. Aussi, à chaque augmentation de capital, faisait-il toujours réserver des actions, pour permettre aux cochers de la Compagnie de placer leurs petites économies dans la maison. »
Dans la police d’ailleurs, le torchon brûlait : le 23 mars le sous-chef de la sûreté, Jouin, se rendait chez Lépine et donnait sa démission.
« L’harmonie du XIIè jouait la Marche funèbre de Chopin. »
« Il y a des livres qui ferment un monde. Ils sont un point final, on les laisse et on s’en va. (…) Il en est d’autres qui sont les portes de notre propre pays. »
« A travers tout le ciel d’Europe, et là-bas dans l’Amérique lointaine, il s’amasse des nuages obscurs, chargés de l’électricité des guerres. Les peuples les voient s‘amonceler, mais à la fois leur ombre cache leur origine.»
« Elle est simplement à un haut degré d’achèvement le nouveau type de femme qui n’a plus rien à voir avec cette poupée, dont l’asservissement, la prostitution et l’oisiveté ont fait la base des chansons et des poèmes à travers toutes les sociétés humaines, jusqu’aujourd’hui. »
« Maintenant, ici, commence la nouvelle romance. »
« Ici finit le roman de chevalerie. Ici pour la première fois dans le monde la place est faite au véritable amour. Celui qui n’est pas souillé par la hiérarchie de l’homme et de la femme, par la sordide histoire des robes et des baisers, par la domination d’argent de l’homme sur la femme ou de la femme sur l’homme. La femme des temps modernes est née, et c’est elle que je chante. Et c’est elle que je chanterai. »
1966-
June 22, 2017
A portrait of an era with focus on the lives of women, though admired, prove dispensable in a male world of greed fraud and corruption.
April 1, 2013
Un roman des classes de la France au début du 20e siècle. L'écriture est belle et c'est une chronique intéressante de l'époque. Cependant, je connais peu la France de l'époque et les constantes références étaient lourdes. Également la morale est surfaite et propagandiste, ce qui ne me plaît pas. Je suis content de l'avoir lu mais ne suis pas tenté d'en découvrir plus.
A classic French book about early 20th century France. Beautifully written and historically interesting, it felt to me closer to a manifesto than a well-balanced story and the historical references are obscure. An interesting read but not one that draws me to the author.
A classic French book about early 20th century France. Beautifully written and historically interesting, it felt to me closer to a manifesto than a well-balanced story and the historical references are obscure. An interesting read but not one that draws me to the author.
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