"Strait is the Gate", first published in 1909 in France as "La Porte etroite", is a novel about the failure of love in the face of the narrowness o...
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Dec 15, 2011
Shovelmonkey1
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This book is been hailed as one of the most sensous and sublime love stories of the 19th century, as well as being one of Andre Gide's most vaunted publications. Me? I have no basis for comment or comparison at this time as this was my first tentative foray into the world of Andre Gide. I don't think it will be my last but I don't think I will be charging out the door to clasp all of his other publications lovingly to my bosom. It also seems a little ironic that a gay Frenchman produced one of t
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Aug 16, 2011
John
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As with most all of Gide’s best novels, this one concerns the anxiety and yearning at the heart of human experience. A very young Jerome Palissier regularly spends holidays at the house of his aunt and uncle’s estate in Fongueusemare in rural Normandy. One day, he happens upon his cousin Alissa, who is distraught at her aloof, hypochondriacal mother. Both desperate to rescue her and drawn by a genuine affection, Jerome takes it upon himself to sweep in and rescue her like a good, Christian kn
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Jan 03, 2009
Manny
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Gide said that he meant this book to be treated as one half of a pair, together with L'Immoraliste. I took him at his word and read them in rapid succession. By the way, I should say this was atypical - I'm a "when all else fails, read the instructions" kind of person, but I found both books together at a second-hand bookstore and it seemed silly not to do what he said.
Looking at other reviews, I seem to have a fairly different take on the book, and perhaps my reading route More...
Looking at other reviews, I seem to have a fairly different take on the book, and perhaps my reading route More...
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Nov 15, 2010
Šarlo
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 25, 2011
g
rated it: 
The worst kind of person is one who uses the love of another to hurt herself, someone (Alissa) who willfully provokes feelings in another (Jerome) then uses them in cheap furtherance of a self-glorifying martyrdom. Make no mistake: the about-face from self-indulgence to self-denial is itself an indulgence--and especially despicable when it makes casualties (Jerome, Juliette) of others. Morality is not algebraic; cessation doesn't undo; and neither human frailty nor youth nor the absence of ill i
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Apr 06, 2010
Emir
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"Some people might have made a book out of it; but the story I am going to tell is one which took all my strength to live and over which I spent all my virtue. So I shall set down my recollections quite simply, and if in places they are ragged I shall have recourse to no invention, and neither patch nor connect them; any effort I might make to dress them up would take away the last pleasure I hope to get in telling them."
So writes Jerome Palissier at the beginning of the A More...
So writes Jerome Palissier at the beginning of the A More...
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Jul 01, 2009
Helynne
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In his brief novel Strait is the Gate (La Porte Etroite), Gide takes his title from a scripture in the New Testament that suggests there won't be a great number of people who get into heaven. The protagonist is a young woman who is determined to make the proper sacrifices from a traditionally relgious point of view to assure she will be one of the few to get throught the strait. She is deluded, however. Gide's basic theme here is about the futility of self-sacrifice, or at least, the futil
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Jul 16, 2008
Rebecca
rated it:
Enchanting 'n' doomed young love. Also a cautionary tale of self idolatry with religious and romantic convictions divulged as narcissism.
"You think that one can keep a hopeless love in one's heart for as long as that?... And that life can breath upon it everyday without extinguishing it?"
*mopes*
"You think that one can keep a hopeless love in one's heart for as long as that?... And that life can breath upon it everyday without extinguishing it?"
*mopes*
Sep 02, 2010
A great (small) book -- a world masterpiece, I'd say, which languishes for English-speakers due to pure prejudice. 1909. Graham Greene stole liberally from this, for his tormented Catholic novels, I think I read that. This may be the best description of religious faith in fictive writing. (British novels are ultimately all about money, French novels are essentially about God.) I'm glad I stumbled into it, by happenstance, in a provincial thrift shop. I've always loved the title, which diff
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Sep 21, 2011
Phoebe
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I really wanted to like it. I really did. I mean, just look at the cover! It's beautiful. But, I wanted stop when I was through a quarter of the book but I didn't because this is considered a modernist classic.
I ended up hating it.
Alissa was selfish, foolish, and intolerably self-righteous. The letters and diary entries did not seem particularly insightful although they were clearly meant to be. Jerome was delusional and obstinate, which means at times it was hard to decide w More...
I ended up hating it.
Alissa was selfish, foolish, and intolerably self-righteous. The letters and diary entries did not seem particularly insightful although they were clearly meant to be. Jerome was delusional and obstinate, which means at times it was hard to decide w More...
Apr 22, 2011
Tom
rated it:
I first encountered Andre Gide through The Immoralist, which I loved. It was when I was on an Existentialist kick and I heard of his associations with that group, bought the book, and read it. Recently I read his autobiography, If It Die, and also enjoyed that so I couldn't resist the allure of Strait is the Gate when I cam across it during my recent trip to Hay-on-Wye.
And I'm glad I didn't.
Read the rest of my review here:
http://readinandritin.blogspot.com/2011/04/r More...
And I'm glad I didn't.
Read the rest of my review here:
http://readinandritin.blogspot.com/2011/04/r More...
Jul 28, 2011
Al
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I first read this brief book many, many years ago, and thought then that it was the saddest thing I had ever read. And now, having read it again, I still think that. The tormented Alissa shimmers as she pursues her demented quest for moral perfection, and Jerome is a perfect foil in his frustrated efforts to bring her back to the human world and its pleasures. Don't think from that sentence that this is an erotic novel. Far from it; rather, it's a tale of well-intentioned but tragicall
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Aug 25, 2007
Saman
rated it:
Pooof. what can I say !!!!! you have to read it !!!
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Jun 23, 2011
هر یک از جمله های آلیسا که ابتدا در برابرشان سر به شورش بر می داشتم، پس از آرام شدنم، در وجود من زنده و ماندگار مانده بود. آه! بی گمان حق با او بود!. من دیگر عاشق شبحی بیش نبودم. آلیسایی که دوست داشته بودم، آلیسایی که هنوز دوست می داشتم، دیگر وجود نداشت ... آه! بی شک خسته و دلمرده شده ام شاید!. این فنای رعب آور، این گیرایی و زیبایی بی نهایت قیافه ی او که تمام قلبم را در برابرش می فشرد، آیا چیزی جز بازگشتی گمراهانه به تاریخ بود!؟ .. اگرچه او را آرام آرام، علو مقام داده بودم، و اگرچه او را به هرچه
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Jul 25, 2007
Liel
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The title of Andre Gide's haunting treatise on love and piety is taken from Luke: "Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be that go in thereat: But strait is the gate that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." The book's protagonist, a serious young man named Jerome, understands Luke's words as a commandment to lead a dedicated and purposeful life, which he hopes to do with his cousin and object of infatuation, A
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Dec 14, 2007
El
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Andre Gide's characters are often tortured, searching for something they painfully can not attain. In Strait is the Gate Jerome details his relationship with his cousin, Alissa, how they fell in love with each other and how religion came between them.
While interesting to read in the way all Gide's work tends to be (beautifully written text with vivid characters you want to cheer for, even when they are ridiculous), I was highly frustrated with Alissa's character the most. She was t More...
While interesting to read in the way all Gide's work tends to be (beautifully written text with vivid characters you want to cheer for, even when they are ridiculous), I was highly frustrated with Alissa's character the most. She was t More...
May 20, 2010
Laura
rated it:
"D'autres en auraient pu faire un livre; mais l'histoire que je raconte ici, j'ai mis toute ma force a la vivre et ma vertu s'y est usee. J'ecrirai donc tres simplement mes souvenirs, et s'ils sont en lambeaux par endroits, je n'aurai recours a aucune invention pour les rapiecer ou les joindre; l'effort que j'apporterais a leur appret generait le dernier plaisir que j'espere trouver a les dire."
Aug 31, 2009
Chelsie
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I found this book on a list of top love stories in fiction. I found it very simply written and dull and it was extremely hard for me to get through it all. But at the end when Alison's journal is summarized I found it more tolerable. It had an excellent ending and it almost made the book worth reading. I would not consider this one of the best love stories I have read!
Aug 09, 2010
khashayar
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You think you know why Alissa and Jerome's fate turned out to be a tragedy but when you think it over, you come to the conclusion that what you think is not satisfactory and there are some underground waters flowing! Who is to blame, I am still wondering.
This book is a must to read if you want to delve into human emotions.
This book is a must to read if you want to delve into human emotions.
Dec 29, 2011
Jesse
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A story of tortured and self-sacrificing love that somehow seems quintessentially European: it’s all delicate, muted shades of feeling. For me this is Chekhov territory, and this just doesn’t compare, though there are a number of beautifully realized moments and the occasional, unexpected burst of painful emotional truth.
Dec 19, 2010
Adam
rated it:
Two sisters love one guy. The younger gives him up so the older can have him. The older gives him up so God can have him. The guy is left understandably crushed and confused.
Unfortunately, I was left even more confused. Both sisters give up life along with the guy, the first settling into a placid, meaningless domestic life, the other believing her act a religious martyrdom and, congruent to that belief, wasting away unto death. The first I could understand, but the second left me baff More...
Unfortunately, I was left even more confused. Both sisters give up life along with the guy, the first settling into a placid, meaningless domestic life, the other believing her act a religious martyrdom and, congruent to that belief, wasting away unto death. The first I could understand, but the second left me baff More...
Jan 29, 2009
Racheal
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A bit slow, but an interesting view of love. I kept expecting some twist, some subtle revelation that would make this book a classic to me, and even now, I keep hoping that I will somehow mature into it-- that Gide will show his genius and reinvent my perception of love or religion.
But it hasn't happened. It was mainly just boring.
But it hasn't happened. It was mainly just boring.
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Feb 06, 2010
The usually reliable M. Gide here writes a monstrously dull work about a wimpy young man pining away for a religious maniac. Naturally, he is doomed to fail, and neither the novella nor any of its characters ever in any way threaten to become remotely interesting.
Jul 28, 2011
Neal
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This book is effective in portraying sadness, frustration, and hopelessness. Alissa is the quintessential self saboteur, while Jerome knows the true meaning of waiting in vain. It won't leave a pleasant taste in your mouth but it's excellent writing.
Jun 18, 2011
Deanne
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I probably would have given this book more stars if I hadn't come to the decision 50 pages in that Alissa was an idiot. Maybe because I'm not a religious person, I appreciate that there are people who believe, but not to the extent that Alissa does.
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Mar 11, 2009
Laredo
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Read the ones defined as "important" and make yourself think about them, but don't necessarily agree with everything they say. I can cross Gide off my life list now.
Jan 16, 2009
Ania
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i read this at airports which perhaps makes a difference.it's a simple,lucid book. people who fell in love too young will be affected.
May 18, 2011
Rich
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Very moving. The best book I have read in a long time. At just over 120 pages there is really no excuse for not reading this.
Jan 03, 2011
Tim
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read this 20 years ago, and while i don't remember a thing about it, i do remember that i couldn't put it down :)
