Adventures of the Mind: The Memoirs of Natalie Clifford Barney

by Natalie Clifford Barney, John Spalding Gatton (Translator), Karla Jay (Foreword, Introduction)

In this book, Barney explores her family tree, chronicles her friendships and associations through reprinted correspondence and recreated conversations, and evokes the golden age of her salon in gallery of literary portraits.

Genres: Lesbian, Nonfiction, Memoir, Queer, Literature, France, Jewish

308 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Natalie Clifford Barney (31 October 1876 – 2 February 1972) was an American expatriate who lived, wrote and hosted a literary salon in Paris. She was a noted poet, memoirist and epigrammatist.

Barney's salon was held at her home on Paris's Left Bank for more than 60 years and brought together writers and artists from around the world, including many leading figures in French literature along with American and British Modernists of the Lost Generation. She worked to promote writing by women and formed a "Women's Academy" in response to the all-male French Academy while also giving support and inspiration to male writers from Remy de Gourmont to Truman Capote.

She was openly lesbian and began publishing love poems to women under her own name as early as 1900, considering scandal as "the best way of getting rid of nuisances". In her writings she supported feminism, paganism and pacifism. She opposed monogamy and had many overlapping, long and short-term relationships, including an on-and-off romance with poet Renée Vivien and a 50-year relationship with painter Romaine Brooks. Her life and love affairs served as inspiration for many novels, ranging from the salacious French bestseller Sapphic Idyll to The Well of Loneliness, arguably the most famous lesbian novel of the 20th century.[3]

Reviews

[au · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd read:

I loved the different "forms" of texts this book includes, with letters, excerpts from books, poems, etc. Reading the letters feels as if I'm intruding on a very private matter (though they all have a common theme- the men are on Natalie's feet). For example, Proust being a very sickly man and Pierre Louys preferring Natalie's works to Renee's. However, I found that even though I much more enjoy learning about the women in Natalie's life, that the portraits were not as well developed as the men's section. I get that the chapters on women were read out loud at her Fridays, but it just felt imbalanced compared to Natalie's portraits on the men (though we know, of course, which of the two Natalie preferred). She says in the preface to the second half of the book that though she only wishes "to imply, to suggest, to sketch" these women, having us appreciate their lives on their own. Still, that doesn't mean I don't want more from her writings!

I think it would be more difficult to enjoy this book if one doesn't know already of Natalie's life or the French literary circles, since she does throw a lot of names out (some for name dropping, honestly). She includes many literary references, including my new favorite quote by Mallarme- "A roll of the dice will never abolish chance."

The portraits in Souvenirs indiscrets were much better fleshed out (translation of some chapters in A Perilous Advantage: The Best of Natalie Clifford Barney). Example being the Renee Vivien chapter. She is quite mean in this Adventures portrait to Renee, essentially calling her "weak" for turning to Christianity and abandoning paganism in her death. Though I found another poet I like- Anna Wickham, who wrote on themes of motherhood and marriage. Overall, would recommend A Perilous Advantage: The Best of Natalie Clifford Barney more, since it has a diverse set of Natalie's writings. Still, as with any Natalie writing, it's a wonderfully witty and a handsome read!