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Six Moral Tales
Years before Eric Rohmer turned to filmmaking, he wrote his famed Six Moral Tales in book form. Stripped-down and incisive, these stories anticipate the literary quality of the cinematic works they would ultimately become. Both a primer for Rohmer's brilliant career and a series of perceptive character studies in their own right, Rohmer's collection Six Moral Tales speaks eloquently of a great cinematic legacy.
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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About the author
Éric Rohmer
56 books48 followersÉric Rohmer (born Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer) was a French film director and screenwriter. He is regarded as a key figure in the post-war New Wave cinema and is a former editor of influential French film journal Cahiers du cinéma. He was also the brother of philosopher and pedagogist René Schérer.
Scherer fashioned his pseudonym from the names of two famous artists: actor and director Erich von Stroheim and writer Sax Rohmer, author of the Fu Manchu series.
Rohmer was the last of the French New Wave directors to become established. He worked as the editor of the Cahiers du cinéma periodical from 1957 to 1963, while most of his Cahiers colleagues, among them Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, were making their names in international cinema.
Scherer fashioned his pseudonym from the names of two famous artists: actor and director Erich von Stroheim and writer Sax Rohmer, author of the Fu Manchu series.
Rohmer was the last of the French New Wave directors to become established. He worked as the editor of the Cahiers du cinéma periodical from 1957 to 1963, while most of his Cahiers colleagues, among them Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, were making their names in international cinema.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
February 13, 2018
Seconda fase del rispolvero scaffali: sul frontespizio data 23/4/1988. Regalo alla morosa di allora (ed attuale moglie), mai letto né da lei né da me.
L'avevo preso perché si era all'epoca assidui frequentatori delle sale cinematografiche, ed i film che Rohmer faceva in quegli anni ci piacevano particolarmente..
Questi sei racconti morali sono poi stati portati sullo schermo da Rohmer in altrettanti film nel corso degli anni 60 e ci raccontano di giovani o giovanissimi acculturati e benestanti che conducono le loro schermaglie amorose con elegante leggerezza, con qualche calibrato affondo di cinismo.
L'analisi dei sentimenti e dei carattere rimanda ai moralisti seicenteschi (La Bruyere e La Rouchefoucauld), ed il gioco della simulazione e della dissimulazione a Laclos.
Come nella scherma, cose in cui i Francesi hanno fatto scuola.
Questo libro – pur godibile – invece l'ho letto in ritardo, anagrafico e storico. I vent'anni sono lontani e quella borghesia agiata ed immune alla volgarità – sempre che sia esistita, di sicuro è stata in capace di costruire un'immagine di sé - è piuttosto un ricordo, per cui in questi racconti, (e temo accadrebbe anche rivedendo i film di Rohmer) ho avvertito l'usura del tempo.
L'avevo preso perché si era all'epoca assidui frequentatori delle sale cinematografiche, ed i film che Rohmer faceva in quegli anni ci piacevano particolarmente..
Questi sei racconti morali sono poi stati portati sullo schermo da Rohmer in altrettanti film nel corso degli anni 60 e ci raccontano di giovani o giovanissimi acculturati e benestanti che conducono le loro schermaglie amorose con elegante leggerezza, con qualche calibrato affondo di cinismo.
L'analisi dei sentimenti e dei carattere rimanda ai moralisti seicenteschi (La Bruyere e La Rouchefoucauld), ed il gioco della simulazione e della dissimulazione a Laclos.
Come nella scherma, cose in cui i Francesi hanno fatto scuola.
Questo libro – pur godibile – invece l'ho letto in ritardo, anagrafico e storico. I vent'anni sono lontani e quella borghesia agiata ed immune alla volgarità – sempre che sia esistita, di sicuro è stata in capace di costruire un'immagine di sé - è piuttosto un ricordo, per cui in questi racconti, (e temo accadrebbe anche rivedendo i film di Rohmer) ho avvertito l'usura del tempo.
September 23, 2020
I have always been a huge fan of Eric Rohmer films. They are spare, very talky, and contain some of the best analysis of modern love that exists. This book is six of those stories, the most famous being My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee and Love in the Afternoon (title changed to Chloe in the Afternoon for the film).
These stories all have a similar feel to them. The main character is generally a man who is interested or already involved in a particular woman or women. The women are always very attractive and the man often presents one image, i.e. fidelity only to succumb to the charms of another. A lot of what Rohmer does here is explore all the possibilities of love, from monogamous to platonic to multiple partner to playing the field. He shows the advantages and disadvantages of all and how the individuals deal with their situations. It all is very charming, very readable, and thought provoking on a personal level.
These stories are from the 1960s and 1970s, so they are a bit dated--pre-AIDS, and right in the middle of free love and open relationships. However, Rohmer's thoughts on love are timeless. He is so wise and knowing and this comes through in all of these wonderful tales.
These stories all have a similar feel to them. The main character is generally a man who is interested or already involved in a particular woman or women. The women are always very attractive and the man often presents one image, i.e. fidelity only to succumb to the charms of another. A lot of what Rohmer does here is explore all the possibilities of love, from monogamous to platonic to multiple partner to playing the field. He shows the advantages and disadvantages of all and how the individuals deal with their situations. It all is very charming, very readable, and thought provoking on a personal level.
These stories are from the 1960s and 1970s, so they are a bit dated--pre-AIDS, and right in the middle of free love and open relationships. However, Rohmer's thoughts on love are timeless. He is so wise and knowing and this comes through in all of these wonderful tales.
August 11, 2016
It's no wonder Rohmer wrote his tales in two different formats. He considered his prose to be insufficient to convey his ideas and to provide the necessary imagery of a traditional romance. The most human of all the screenwriters, the most human in his modesty.
July 6, 2021
" — Se há alguma coisa — digo eu, levantando-me — de que não gosto na Igreja, e que aliás já está a desaparecer, é a contabilidade dos actos, dos pecados ou das boas acções. O que se deve procurar é a pureza do coração. Quando se ama a sério uma mulher, não se deseja ir para a cama com outra."
Excerto de "A Minha Noite em Casa de Maud"
***
Só descobri a existência deste livro no ano passado, durante a feira do livro de Lisboa (devo viver debaixo de uma pedra, só pode)... fiquei radiante, pois o Rohmer é um dos cineastas que melhor sabe trabalhar os diálogos, e trabalhava-vos de tal forma que o espectador se deixa envolver completamente na narrativa e na interioridade das personagens: quando era mais nova os filmes dele desinteressavam-me, em termos técnicos e estéticos não são muito apelativos e o Rohmer nunca conseguiu estar aos calcanhares dos meus favoritos — Dreyer, Bresson, Fellini, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Varda, Tati, etc. —, ainda assim, não o nego, viria a conquistar-me com filmes como o "Raio Verde" (que se tornou um dos meus filmes favoritos) e o "Conto de Inverno", foi por causa deles que fui puxada para o seu universo e acabei por criar um carinho especial por Rohmer.
Excerto de "A Minha Noite em Casa de Maud"
***
Só descobri a existência deste livro no ano passado, durante a feira do livro de Lisboa (devo viver debaixo de uma pedra, só pode)... fiquei radiante, pois o Rohmer é um dos cineastas que melhor sabe trabalhar os diálogos, e trabalhava-vos de tal forma que o espectador se deixa envolver completamente na narrativa e na interioridade das personagens: quando era mais nova os filmes dele desinteressavam-me, em termos técnicos e estéticos não são muito apelativos e o Rohmer nunca conseguiu estar aos calcanhares dos meus favoritos — Dreyer, Bresson, Fellini, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Varda, Tati, etc. —, ainda assim, não o nego, viria a conquistar-me com filmes como o "Raio Verde" (que se tornou um dos meus filmes favoritos) e o "Conto de Inverno", foi por causa deles que fui puxada para o seu universo e acabei por criar um carinho especial por Rohmer.
August 7, 2012
I think I just added Eric Rohmer to my list of favorite writers..Although I ought to read it in its original as well. The way he writes is very simple and clear cut, and sometimes the reader may think he know exactly what awaits the character in the end..but then the writer brings out a twist on the very last page, the very last paragraph and blows your mind with his ideas.
I was also very smitten with all the inner thoughts of the characters, the way their worldviews are described and the thoughts behind their even minute actions. A lot of the world views aligned with mine almost perfectly...reading this, plus watching some of his films as a result and listening to French radio on top of that has awakened a very acute nostalgia for Paris..
I was also very smitten with all the inner thoughts of the characters, the way their worldviews are described and the thoughts behind their even minute actions. A lot of the world views aligned with mine almost perfectly...reading this, plus watching some of his films as a result and listening to French radio on top of that has awakened a very acute nostalgia for Paris..
April 26, 2021
I received this short story collection along with my set of "Six Moral Tales," the Eric Rohmer film collection that Criterion put out a few years ago. Before purchasing this set, I had no knowledge that Rohmer had written a book form of his signature movie series.
The stories go along great with the movies; they're basically the same, only much of the dialogue is skipped in favor of narration summaries. But chances are, if you like Rohmer's films, you'll find much to like about these collected stories. He's right, though (in the introduction), there's something about them that feels incomplete without their filmed versions. They'd make fine pieces on their own, but as companions, and read after, the films, I'd suggest they make the most sense.
The stories go along great with the movies; they're basically the same, only much of the dialogue is skipped in favor of narration summaries. But chances are, if you like Rohmer's films, you'll find much to like about these collected stories. He's right, though (in the introduction), there's something about them that feels incomplete without their filmed versions. They'd make fine pieces on their own, but as companions, and read after, the films, I'd suggest they make the most sense.
November 29, 2021
Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales"-- his most classic films, including "Claire's Knee" and "My Night at Maud's" --retold as short stories. Nicely done, although they lack the visual grace and wit of his movies. Not badly done, and the stories preserve some of the wittier lines of the films. Nonetheless...the films are far superior.
February 7, 2024
Ranking
1. My Night at Mauds
2. Love in the Afternoon
3. Suzanne’s Career
4. Claire’s Knee
5. The Bakery Girl of Monceau
6. La collectionneuse
Basically the moral dilemmas are to be horny and weird or not. However, I did like some of the conversations and it painted a grand picture of how complicated the concept of love is.
1. My Night at Mauds
2. Love in the Afternoon
3. Suzanne’s Career
4. Claire’s Knee
5. The Bakery Girl of Monceau
6. La collectionneuse
Basically the moral dilemmas are to be horny and weird or not. However, I did like some of the conversations and it painted a grand picture of how complicated the concept of love is.
February 4, 2026
“La ambición del cineasta moderno, y que fue también la mía, es la de ser autor absoluto de su obra, asumiendo la tarea tradicionalmente encargada al guionista. Pero esta omnipotencia, en lugar de ser una ventaja y un estimulante, se siente a veces como un estorbo. Ser el dueño absoluto de su obra, poder recortarla o incrementarla según la inspiración o las necesidades del momento, lleva a la euforia pero también a la paralización: esta facilidad es una trampa.”
“Ahí —dice Jérôme— está Don Quijote, en su caballo de madera. Se imagina que vuela por los aires. Le han vendado los ojos: el fuelle es como si fuera el viento, y la antorcha el sol. —Es una alegoría —comenta la novelista—. Los protagonistas de una historia siempre tienen los ojos vendados. Si no, ya no harían nada, la acción se detendría. En el fondo, todo el mundo lleva una venda en los ojos, o al menos unas anteojeras.”
El ejercicio estará completo cuando vea estas pelis
“Ahí —dice Jérôme— está Don Quijote, en su caballo de madera. Se imagina que vuela por los aires. Le han vendado los ojos: el fuelle es como si fuera el viento, y la antorcha el sol. —Es una alegoría —comenta la novelista—. Los protagonistas de una historia siempre tienen los ojos vendados. Si no, ya no harían nada, la acción se detendría. En el fondo, todo el mundo lleva una venda en los ojos, o al menos unas anteojeras.”
El ejercicio estará completo cuando vea estas pelis
August 6, 2024
The best of these tales worked better as movies, but the worst of the movies work better on the page, and they're all at least decent. If I hadn't been watching all of the movies, I still would have enjoyed this, but it obviously works better as a companion.
November 23, 2020
看的是《六個非道德故事》版本（第一本在新加坡Page One買的書啊），後來再版都改成《六個道德故事》了。電影還沒看完，但小說真的很喜歡。印象中，不管是小說還是電影，我都非常喜歡《穆德家的一夜》。
March 23, 2021
Qué intensos son los franceses. Llega a cansar que la estructura de los cuentos sea siempre la misma. Algunos funcionan mejor que otros. Eso sí: el ambiente es chulo y en general entretiene. Ok amigo.
June 9, 2024
Honestly, his book isn’t as interesting as his films. Without the visual elements (French fashion and beautiful scenery), understanding the dialogues requires the reader to use a lot of imagination. The book is also a bit dry, but what I valued from this book is the mockery/irony Rohmer directed toward the Mai characters, who are often men in their 30s.
The film romanticizes love and even affair, as under the French blue sky every act seems to be motivated by understandable desire. In contrast, in the book he deliberately depicted the characters as foolish beings who are unable to control themselves when confronted with desire despite being intelligent ones or even intellectuals.
Another thing I like about the design of the stories is that although the stories are ones about morality, they are not essentially immoral. Oftentimes the character just stands on the verge of committing some dangerous acts, but their intention or desire is never fulfilled. Hence, I see Rohmer as a person who provides a more nuanced perspective to romantic love and modern relationships.
The film romanticizes love and even affair, as under the French blue sky every act seems to be motivated by understandable desire. In contrast, in the book he deliberately depicted the characters as foolish beings who are unable to control themselves when confronted with desire despite being intelligent ones or even intellectuals.
Another thing I like about the design of the stories is that although the stories are ones about morality, they are not essentially immoral. Oftentimes the character just stands on the verge of committing some dangerous acts, but their intention or desire is never fulfilled. Hence, I see Rohmer as a person who provides a more nuanced perspective to romantic love and modern relationships.
September 8, 2008
So I am gathering that the stories came out first, then the films. I have only seen one of the Moral Tales, the one about the girl at the Bakery. First of all, it's a drag that this collection of short stories are not easily out there in bookstores. As far as I know it's part of the Critierion DVD box set of "Six Moral Tales."
Hell, get the whole box set just for the book alone. It's very French in that all the characters are consistently talking out their thoughts, problems, etc. Not exactly the quiet types are they?
Rohmer gets a group of people together and watches them self-destruct in various ways. A very good collection of short stories.
Hell, get the whole box set just for the book alone. It's very French in that all the characters are consistently talking out their thoughts, problems, etc. Not exactly the quiet types are they?
Rohmer gets a group of people together and watches them self-destruct in various ways. A very good collection of short stories.
March 6, 2022
Read this before watching the Six Moral Tales available on Criterion Collection or in stunning Blu-Ray boxed set. Then read three astute essays on Maude, Claire and Chloe in “Homo Irrealis” by Andre Aciman. A wonderful rabbit hole. Look past the misogyny and doofus men who can’t figure out how to relate to women (or their attraction to ALL women, and some sixteen year olds, no less) and get a sense of the artistry of the writer-director and how Rohmer captures the humanity of men and women. This isn’t so much about morality in current terms, but about humans wrestling with their own weaknesses and questions about relationships with another human being.
June 7, 2023
This very fine book is a collection of six stories that were the bases for several films by Rohmer. They are not screenplays in the traditional sense, but rather prose stories told mostly in dialogue, which served as screenplays or treatments of screenplays (Rohmer does not explain exactly). The book is long out of print in English, altho the French version is still available, as are DVDs of the films.
Reading all six together makes me aware of a couple of tendencies that run throughout his work. First and most obvious is his fascination with the ins and outs, the dynamics, the games, and the tensions that exist in romantic relationships between men and women. Secondly, despite his persistent exploration of the topic of infidelity, Rohmer is, as the title may suggest, a believer in traditional values such as honesty, commitment, and fidelity. Thirdly, altho the outlooks of the stories are generally thru the eyes of the male characters, Rohmer's true sympathies and respect seem to be with the women. And I also have to note here what a pleasure it is to read Rohmer's stories and to see his films, because cinema of this caliber ‑ with complex, but believable characters, intelligent dialogue, and ordinary, yet fascinating situations ‑ is a rarity. Now I'll discuss each story individually:
The Baker's Girl ‑ This is a story focusing on the romantic life of a college student. The shy young man has a fascination at a distance with a girl that he sees around his neighborhood, and after he meets her briefly, by literally bumping into her on the street. Then the girl disappears from view, and the young fellow begins patrolling her neighborhood, hoping to bump into her again. He becomes friendly with a girl who works in a bakery, and on the day he is supposed to go out with her, he runs into his dream girl again, and they end up marrying (sic) shortly afterwards.
Suzanne's Career ‑ This was perhaps my favorite in the collection, a superbly rendered tale of college romance and friendship. Suzanne is a girl that gets involved with the narrator's egoistic friend Guillaume, who treats her like shit, using her, leading her on, then humiliating her. The narrator follows his friend's lead, and allows the girl to spend her money on him, without returning the favor and continuing to disrespect her. A certain uniquely French kind of nastiness comes through here. Ultimately, the narrator has some money stolen from him, possibly by Guillaume, but probably by Suzanne, both of whom had requested loans from him. Suzanne, a less‑than‑gorgeous girl, gets herself a new boyfriend and has the last laugh. There are subplots too, such as the narrator's unsuccessful pursuit of a girl named Sophie, and most effectively, there is a believable depiction of college students and their liveliness, arrogance, and fluidity.
My Night at Maud's ‑ This was the film that put Rohmer on the cultural map in the U.S.A., and it is a fine one. This story is interesting, and features lengthy discussions on Pascal and Catholicism. It is about a 34 year‑old engineer, a serious and religious man, who would like to find a wife. He has been transferred to a city in central France, Clermont‑Ferrond (shots of which play a big part in the film). There he meets an old buddy and they get together with a woman named Maud. The engineer spends the night, but declines to have sex with Maud. Soon after he meets Francoise, the love of his life, and they begin to court. There is a fascinating twist at the end, when Maud and Francoise get a look at each other, and it is revealed that Francoise was the lover of Maud's first husband, a fact of which she is ashamed.
The Collector ‑ This was also fascinating, a tale of the bored, decadent, young rich, who have nothing better to do than screw around and play games with each other's egos. Haydee and Adrien are both staying at the same villa. Haydee screws around like crazy, and Adrien is both disgusted and fascinated with her. He begins doing strange things like setting her up with friends to watch the results ‑ there are some pointlessly Byzantine games being played here. Ultimately they end up together, but only for a day or so, because they are both "collectors", and unable to really love other people.
Claire's Knee ‑ This is another one that I have seen, and it was only mildly interesting to read the screenplay. Jerome is a 30-something diplomat spending a few weeks on a lake in Switzerland. He runs into an old friend, and through her, meets a family that has 2 teenaged girls he becomes fascinated with. He is unable to admit the true nature of his fascination however, and he ends up with a fixation on the knee of one of the girls. He feels particularly hostile to her bold boyfriend, and when he sees him with another girl, he informs Claire, thus causing her to cry and satisfying his male ego. However, in another superb Rohmer final twist, it turns out that the guy was not cheating at all, the girl he was with was a friend who was using him as a shoulder to cry on.
Love in the Afternoon ‑ The film title was translated as "Chloe in the Afternoon", and it is another one that I've seen. It is about a young businessman, very proper and straight-laced, happily married with children, who becomes romantically fascinated with a former acquaintance whose life is the antithesis of his ‑ she is sloppy, unfocused, morally loose. At the end, as their affair was about to be consumated, the guy chickens out, and goes back to his wife and tells her he loves her.
Reading all six together makes me aware of a couple of tendencies that run throughout his work. First and most obvious is his fascination with the ins and outs, the dynamics, the games, and the tensions that exist in romantic relationships between men and women. Secondly, despite his persistent exploration of the topic of infidelity, Rohmer is, as the title may suggest, a believer in traditional values such as honesty, commitment, and fidelity. Thirdly, altho the outlooks of the stories are generally thru the eyes of the male characters, Rohmer's true sympathies and respect seem to be with the women. And I also have to note here what a pleasure it is to read Rohmer's stories and to see his films, because cinema of this caliber ‑ with complex, but believable characters, intelligent dialogue, and ordinary, yet fascinating situations ‑ is a rarity. Now I'll discuss each story individually:
The Baker's Girl ‑ This is a story focusing on the romantic life of a college student. The shy young man has a fascination at a distance with a girl that he sees around his neighborhood, and after he meets her briefly, by literally bumping into her on the street. Then the girl disappears from view, and the young fellow begins patrolling her neighborhood, hoping to bump into her again. He becomes friendly with a girl who works in a bakery, and on the day he is supposed to go out with her, he runs into his dream girl again, and they end up marrying (sic) shortly afterwards.
Suzanne's Career ‑ This was perhaps my favorite in the collection, a superbly rendered tale of college romance and friendship. Suzanne is a girl that gets involved with the narrator's egoistic friend Guillaume, who treats her like shit, using her, leading her on, then humiliating her. The narrator follows his friend's lead, and allows the girl to spend her money on him, without returning the favor and continuing to disrespect her. A certain uniquely French kind of nastiness comes through here. Ultimately, the narrator has some money stolen from him, possibly by Guillaume, but probably by Suzanne, both of whom had requested loans from him. Suzanne, a less‑than‑gorgeous girl, gets herself a new boyfriend and has the last laugh. There are subplots too, such as the narrator's unsuccessful pursuit of a girl named Sophie, and most effectively, there is a believable depiction of college students and their liveliness, arrogance, and fluidity.
My Night at Maud's ‑ This was the film that put Rohmer on the cultural map in the U.S.A., and it is a fine one. This story is interesting, and features lengthy discussions on Pascal and Catholicism. It is about a 34 year‑old engineer, a serious and religious man, who would like to find a wife. He has been transferred to a city in central France, Clermont‑Ferrond (shots of which play a big part in the film). There he meets an old buddy and they get together with a woman named Maud. The engineer spends the night, but declines to have sex with Maud. Soon after he meets Francoise, the love of his life, and they begin to court. There is a fascinating twist at the end, when Maud and Francoise get a look at each other, and it is revealed that Francoise was the lover of Maud's first husband, a fact of which she is ashamed.
The Collector ‑ This was also fascinating, a tale of the bored, decadent, young rich, who have nothing better to do than screw around and play games with each other's egos. Haydee and Adrien are both staying at the same villa. Haydee screws around like crazy, and Adrien is both disgusted and fascinated with her. He begins doing strange things like setting her up with friends to watch the results ‑ there are some pointlessly Byzantine games being played here. Ultimately they end up together, but only for a day or so, because they are both "collectors", and unable to really love other people.
Claire's Knee ‑ This is another one that I have seen, and it was only mildly interesting to read the screenplay. Jerome is a 30-something diplomat spending a few weeks on a lake in Switzerland. He runs into an old friend, and through her, meets a family that has 2 teenaged girls he becomes fascinated with. He is unable to admit the true nature of his fascination however, and he ends up with a fixation on the knee of one of the girls. He feels particularly hostile to her bold boyfriend, and when he sees him with another girl, he informs Claire, thus causing her to cry and satisfying his male ego. However, in another superb Rohmer final twist, it turns out that the guy was not cheating at all, the girl he was with was a friend who was using him as a shoulder to cry on.
Love in the Afternoon ‑ The film title was translated as "Chloe in the Afternoon", and it is another one that I've seen. It is about a young businessman, very proper and straight-laced, happily married with children, who becomes romantically fascinated with a former acquaintance whose life is the antithesis of his ‑ she is sloppy, unfocused, morally loose. At the end, as their affair was about to be consumated, the guy chickens out, and goes back to his wife and tells her he loves her.
August 3, 2018
-Sí, pero a veces siento remordimientos de no hablarte mucho, de no confiarme a ti, mientras que charlo durante horas con personas que no me interesan nada, personas con las que tengo relaciones superficiales... o, al menos, pasajeras.
August 11, 2025
250528: nostalgia triumphs!- could this really be fifty years ago? slightly before my time, not too much. gentle. generous. droll. comic, brilliant exploration of society, romance, sexuality of certain class in Europe at that time...
January 10, 2016
Appreciate the introspection, in six distinct stories. Look forward to catching its cinematic interpretation.
April 26, 2019
Piercing!
August 2, 2024
“‘It’s true. I’ve never met anyone who disturbed me as much as you have. It’s not a matter of religion. I’ve always been indifferent on the subject. I am neither for nor against, but what would ultimately prevent me from taking it seriously are people like you. Actually, all you’re worried about is your middle-class respectability. To remain alone in a room with a woman after midnight, that’s just terrible. But it would never occur to you that it might be all right for you to spend an hour or two together some evening when I feel lonely, when just possibly we might break through accepted conventions and make some kind of real contact, even if we were never to see each other again. It wouldn’t occur to you, would it? And that I find not only stupid but downright un-Christian.’” -p.89~90 (My Night at Maud’s)
“At long last I was alone beside the water, far from the ritual of crowded beaches and cruises, a childhood dream, postponed from year to year, finally come true. When I contemplated the sea, I wanted my gaze to be as empty as possible, stripped clean of any painterly prejudice or preconception or botanical curiosity. I surrendered myself to the gentle play of light and shadow on the water, and to the fascination of watching the ocean floor with its brownish algae and purple sea urchins, and then I surrendered myself to the water itself, floating almost without movement, in total lethargy. I let the thousand little currents carry me at will. This state of passivity, of complete availability, struck me as a perfect way of prolonging the euphoria that comes when for the first time during the summer months you go for a swim in the sea. I could easily imagine letting a whole month go by in this same frame of mind.” -p.137 (La Collectionneuse)
“‘Aha, you see! So you slept with her, too. In fact, there appears to be hardly a man alive who hasn’t! The bitch. This said, collectors have to be ranked very low on the human totem pole. All they’re interested in is numbers: how many of this, how many of that. Purity is precisely the opposite. What counts is the process of elimination, so that when finally you do choose, it has meaning.’” -p.148~149 (La Collectionneuse)
“‘That’s the whole problem. I like them all, which is why I don’t settle on any. Why one rather than another? Since I can’t have them all, I don’t want any.’” -p.199 (Claire’s Knee)
“‘And yet even if I don’t want her, I have the feeling I have some sovereign right to her, emanating from the strength of my desire. I’m convinced I deserve her more than anyone. Yesterday, for instance, I was watching those two lovebirds down at the tennis courts, and I said to myself, “In every woman there is some vulnerable point. For some it’s the neck; for others, the waist, or the hands.” And for Claire, in that position, in that light, it was the knee. Her knee was the magnetic pole of my desire, the precise point where, if I had been allowed to follow the dictates of my desire, I would have placed my hand. And just as I was thinking that, her boyfriend placed his hand there. In all innocence. Without malice aforethought. That hand, above all, was stupid, and that shocked me!’” -p.202 (Claire’s Knee)
“I love a big city. Suburbs and provincial towns depress me terribly. And despite the mob and the noise, I never tire of plunging into the moving throng as I would into the sea, reveling in its depths and in swimming back up to the surface, a solitary swimmer, letting myself be carried by the currents but ready to strike out on my own as soon as the wave breaks and disintegrates. Like the sea, crowds are tonic to me, and encourage my dreams.” -p.219 (Love in the Afternoon)
“The prospect of peace and happiness stretching far into the future ultimately depresses me. I find myself looking back on the not-to-distant past, when I was assailed by the doubts and torments of uncertainty, the awful feeling of not being sure. I dream of a life filled with loves that are just beginning—and loves that will last forever. In other words, I dream of the impossible…” -p.228 (Love in the Afternoon)
——————
The Bakery Girl of Monceau 8/10
Suzanne’s Career 7/10
My Night at Maud’s 8.5/10
La Collectionneuse 9/10
Claire’s Knee 9.5/10
Love in the Afternoon 9/10
“At long last I was alone beside the water, far from the ritual of crowded beaches and cruises, a childhood dream, postponed from year to year, finally come true. When I contemplated the sea, I wanted my gaze to be as empty as possible, stripped clean of any painterly prejudice or preconception or botanical curiosity. I surrendered myself to the gentle play of light and shadow on the water, and to the fascination of watching the ocean floor with its brownish algae and purple sea urchins, and then I surrendered myself to the water itself, floating almost without movement, in total lethargy. I let the thousand little currents carry me at will. This state of passivity, of complete availability, struck me as a perfect way of prolonging the euphoria that comes when for the first time during the summer months you go for a swim in the sea. I could easily imagine letting a whole month go by in this same frame of mind.” -p.137 (La Collectionneuse)
“‘Aha, you see! So you slept with her, too. In fact, there appears to be hardly a man alive who hasn’t! The bitch. This said, collectors have to be ranked very low on the human totem pole. All they’re interested in is numbers: how many of this, how many of that. Purity is precisely the opposite. What counts is the process of elimination, so that when finally you do choose, it has meaning.’” -p.148~149 (La Collectionneuse)
“‘That’s the whole problem. I like them all, which is why I don’t settle on any. Why one rather than another? Since I can’t have them all, I don’t want any.’” -p.199 (Claire’s Knee)
“‘And yet even if I don’t want her, I have the feeling I have some sovereign right to her, emanating from the strength of my desire. I’m convinced I deserve her more than anyone. Yesterday, for instance, I was watching those two lovebirds down at the tennis courts, and I said to myself, “In every woman there is some vulnerable point. For some it’s the neck; for others, the waist, or the hands.” And for Claire, in that position, in that light, it was the knee. Her knee was the magnetic pole of my desire, the precise point where, if I had been allowed to follow the dictates of my desire, I would have placed my hand. And just as I was thinking that, her boyfriend placed his hand there. In all innocence. Without malice aforethought. That hand, above all, was stupid, and that shocked me!’” -p.202 (Claire’s Knee)
“I love a big city. Suburbs and provincial towns depress me terribly. And despite the mob and the noise, I never tire of plunging into the moving throng as I would into the sea, reveling in its depths and in swimming back up to the surface, a solitary swimmer, letting myself be carried by the currents but ready to strike out on my own as soon as the wave breaks and disintegrates. Like the sea, crowds are tonic to me, and encourage my dreams.” -p.219 (Love in the Afternoon)
“The prospect of peace and happiness stretching far into the future ultimately depresses me. I find myself looking back on the not-to-distant past, when I was assailed by the doubts and torments of uncertainty, the awful feeling of not being sure. I dream of a life filled with loves that are just beginning—and loves that will last forever. In other words, I dream of the impossible…” -p.228 (Love in the Afternoon)
——————
The Bakery Girl of Monceau 8/10
Suzanne’s Career 7/10
My Night at Maud’s 8.5/10
La Collectionneuse 9/10
Claire’s Knee 9.5/10
Love in the Afternoon 9/10
July 28, 2018
Não é um homem jovem que aqui segura a pena e essa sagesse desinteressada, ganha pelos anos, incide aqui na figura do celibatário voluntário (frequentemente, à força) que colhe, nos vários contos, a diferentes velocidades mas sem remissões, os seus frutos, ainda que envenenados porque contra a moral burguesa e suas proliferações no conceito de Amor (a maiúscula é do autor). A sua grande vitória enquanto escritor está na frase curta, não diremos cinematográfica, mas que retém a tempos um lirismo e uma objectividade crua.
February 28, 2022
No me sorprende que Rohmer primero escribiera estos cuentos antes de pensar en adaptarlos como películas. La atención al diálogo en su obra siempre tiene un componente literario, novelesco, que es fascinante y que, por escrito, resulta especialmente sugestivo. Como con las películas, las dos que más me han turbado y fascinado son "Mi noche con Maud" y "El amor después del mediodía", que son excelentes. Adicionalmente, una que me ha gustado más como cuento que como película es "La rodilla de Claire".
May 30, 2022
Short story versions of Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales films. Apparently he wrote them as stories first instead of as scripts because he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get them produced. The films are some of the most successfully “literary” movies I’ve seen, they’re very good at making pure dialogue feel cinematic, to the point that the written stories don’t work quite as well - all of these are essentially about characters using conversations with others to delude themselves about what they’re really thinking and that doesn’t come across super clearly on the page, weirdly. Still good.
March 14, 2021
I incredibly enjoyed this book! I feel absolutely sad that I have just now learned of the amazing Mr Eric Rohmer and want to track down his films, to see if he is better in the film niche or writing niche! Above all, the stories are moderately quick in pace, with interesting characters and the endings really drive on what Rohmer wants to get across.
May 24, 2022
Mixed feelings because these stories are somewhat character driven and I didn't like most of the characters nor find many that interesting but I really like the mundanity of the stories, the look at people in random moments/times of their lives. This is probably closer to 2.5/5, tbh. I don't even have a favorite story here or one that I liked the most.
November 28, 2024
Read this out of curiosity more than anything having watched the six tales. They provide some beautiful groundwork, but admittedly these tales all operate better as films. It’s all here in the text though which is always interesting and exciting!
Read
January 10, 2021Criterion Booklet
January 30, 2021
love eric rohmer movies but some of these stories were better told than others
November 9, 2021
I have received the hardcover first edition of this book recently— felt like showing off, might delete later.
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