La Vénus d'Ille. Colomba. Mateo Falcone

by Prosper Mérimée

Que Mérimée transporte son lecteur en Corse, avec Mateo Falcone et Colomba, ou dans le Roussillon, avec La Vénus d'Ille, c'est à chaque fois pour le dépayser.
Terre étrange, en effet, voire étrangère, que la Corse du XIXe siècle aux yeux des Français continentaux : autre par ses paysages et son habitat, autre par la rudesse farouche du sens de l'honneur et de la vengeance au nom duquel on y règle les conflits dans le sang. Mais terre étrange, aussi, que cette Catalogne française, berceau énigmatique d'une Vénus gréco-phénicienne dont la " vengeance " signe une des réussites les plus justement fameuses de ce fantastique français (Nodier, Gautier, Balzac...
) pétri d'intelligence, de profondeur et d'humour. Lire Mérimée, c'est, au-delà du divertissement, changer de vision du monde.

Genres: French Literature, School, Classics, France

338 pages, Pocket Book

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.

Mérimée loved mysticism, history, and the unusual, and may have been influenced by Charles Nodier (though he did not appreciate his works), the historical fiction popularised by Sir Walter Scott and the cruelty and psychological drama of Aleksandr Pushkin. Many of his stories are mysteries set in foreign places, Spain and Russia being popular sources of inspiration.

In 1834, Mérimée was appointed to the post of inspector-general of historical monuments. He was a born archaeologist, combining linguistic faculty of a very unusual kind with accurate scholarship, with remarkable historical appreciation, and with a sincere love for the arts of design and construction, in the former of which he had some practical skill. In his official capacity he published numerous reports, some of which, with other similar pieces, have been republished in his works.
He was also responsible for several translations of Pushkin and Gogol, when they weren't known in Europe yet.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

La Vénus d’Ille was an interesting and intriguing, short short story; Columba was good, but a bit over-winded at times, and highly formulaic at some point, although that’s surely because of when it was written and the time period in which it was set. Not sure how accurate the portrait of the Corsicans is from that period, but those aspects were fascinating, because it seemed like the Wild West in many ways.

[Loles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tengo la cabeza llena de estúpidas mamarrachadas románticas corsas después de leer esto, pero madre mía qué disfrute 💖💖💖

Con mil ganas de que sea agosto para plantarme en Córcega. 4/5 porque lo he leído en francés y algunas cosillas se me escapaban.

[Aesok · Rating 4 out of 5]

La Vénus d'Ille: 4☆
Colomba: 4☆
Mateo Falcone: 3☆

[Taminski · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating only refers to 'La Vénus d'Ille' as I unfortunately haven't read the other stories.
I read the story for the first time when I was still in school and a couple of weeks ago came across it again and read it since my French had gotten a bit rusty.
I like the mystery that surrounds the statute and the events since its discovery. In my opinion it is also great for the rich (in terms of adjectives) observations of the narrator of the story which gave me a good feeling of the situation that he encountered.
I would definitely recommend it to students of the French language or generally anyone wanting to improve their French.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird