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From Proust to Camus: Profiles of Modern French Writers
ESSAYS ON, PROUST, BERGSON, VALERY, GIDE, ALAIN, CLAUDEL, MAURIAC, SAINT EXUPERY, ROMAINS, MALRAUX, SARTRE, BEAUVOIR, CAMUS
- GenresNonfiction
368 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 1970
About the author
André Maurois
1,096 books255 followersAndré Maurois, born Emile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog, was a French author. André Maurois was a pseudonym that became his legal name in 1947.
During World War I he joined the French army and served as an interpreter and later a liaison officer to the British army. His first novel, Les silences du colonel Bramble, was a witty but socially realistic account of that experience. It was an immediate success in France. It was translated and also became popular in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries as The Silence of Colonel Bramble. Many of his other works have also been translated into English (mainly by Hamish Miles (1894–1937)), as they often dealt with British people or topics, such as his biographies of Disraeli, Byron, and Shelley.
During 1938 Maurois was elected to the prestigious Académie française. Maurois was encouraged and assisted in seeking this post by Marshal Philippe Pétain, and he made a point of acknowleging with thanks his debt to Pétain in his 1941 autobiography, Call no man happy - though by the time of writing, their paths had sharply diverged, Pétain having become Head of State of the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy France.
During World War II he served in the French army and the Free French Forces.
He died during 1967 after a long career as an author of novels, biographies, histories, children's books and science fiction stories. He is buried in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery near Paris.
During World War I he joined the French army and served as an interpreter and later a liaison officer to the British army. His first novel, Les silences du colonel Bramble, was a witty but socially realistic account of that experience. It was an immediate success in France. It was translated and also became popular in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries as The Silence of Colonel Bramble. Many of his other works have also been translated into English (mainly by Hamish Miles (1894–1937)), as they often dealt with British people or topics, such as his biographies of Disraeli, Byron, and Shelley.
During 1938 Maurois was elected to the prestigious Académie française. Maurois was encouraged and assisted in seeking this post by Marshal Philippe Pétain, and he made a point of acknowleging with thanks his debt to Pétain in his 1941 autobiography, Call no man happy - though by the time of writing, their paths had sharply diverged, Pétain having become Head of State of the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy France.
During World War II he served in the French army and the Free French Forces.
He died during 1967 after a long career as an author of novels, biographies, histories, children's books and science fiction stories. He is buried in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery near Paris.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 25, 2025
I have always liked reading about writers, their lives and work. Therefore, reading 'De Proust à Camus' and the previous collection I recently read 'De la Bruyère à Proust: Lecture, mon doux plaisir' (32 essays on mostly French literature, all in all) has been a real pleasure. I feel as if I completed an engaging and intensive French literature course taught by literature teacher we all wished we had had in high school. Maurois' unique point of view based on his extensive knowledge, experience and literary talent has provided me with so many illuminating insights and new book titles on my TBR list, of course!
June 30, 2025
"El viento se levanta, ¡hay que tratar de vivir!" (Proust)
"Pero el Dios de Bergson no es geómetra, es poeta." (Bergson)
"La Historia no es una ciencia; es un arte: tiene su lugar entre las Musas." (Valery)
"Llegamos a ser artistas cuando hacemos nosotros mismos lo que queremos ver u oír." (Alain)
"Quiero vivir, quiero vivir para mi. Quiero amar. Quiero gozar de la belleza del mundo. Quiero salvarme solo." (Duhamel)
"Gusta de evocar los milenarios y escuchar el murmullo de los siglos." (Malraux)
"Hijo del Sol, de la Miseria y de la Muerte." (Camus)
Dejadme... dejadme con mis filósofos romanticistas y pretenciosos... dejadme con mis metáforas que quisiera acabar de entender y que espero hacerlo con los años... dejadme con mis evocaciones a la eternidad y la naturaleza y la muerte, que realmente todas hablan de Dios... dejadme con mis frases repetitivas y sentenciosas que realmente no son tan profundas pero que para mi suenan a tatuajes... Hasta que sepa algo más de filosofía es a lo que me voy a aferrar.
"Pero el Dios de Bergson no es geómetra, es poeta." (Bergson)
"La Historia no es una ciencia; es un arte: tiene su lugar entre las Musas." (Valery)
"Llegamos a ser artistas cuando hacemos nosotros mismos lo que queremos ver u oír." (Alain)
"Quiero vivir, quiero vivir para mi. Quiero amar. Quiero gozar de la belleza del mundo. Quiero salvarme solo." (Duhamel)
"Gusta de evocar los milenarios y escuchar el murmullo de los siglos." (Malraux)
"Hijo del Sol, de la Miseria y de la Muerte." (Camus)
Dejadme... dejadme con mis filósofos romanticistas y pretenciosos... dejadme con mis metáforas que quisiera acabar de entender y que espero hacerlo con los años... dejadme con mis evocaciones a la eternidad y la naturaleza y la muerte, que realmente todas hablan de Dios... dejadme con mis frases repetitivas y sentenciosas que realmente no son tan profundas pero que para mi suenan a tatuajes... Hasta que sepa algo más de filosofía es a lo que me voy a aferrar.
November 23, 2022
Llegué a este libro por casualidad, a través de una librería de segunda mano, y sin tener ninguna referencia. Pero me ha resultado super agradable y muy didáctico. Es una compilación de pequeños ensayos (20-30 páginas cada uno) sobre 12 autores franceses de la primera mitad del siglo XX (Proust, Bergson, Valéry, Alain, Paul Claudel, Mauriac, Duhamel, Saint-Exupery, Lacretelle, Romains, Malraux y Camus), en los que se dan pinceladas de la vida, obra y, especialmente, pensamiento, de cada uno de estos autores. Libro que te anima a leer otros libros, porque de cada autor que habla te entran ganas de leerlo todo. Y del propio Maurois también.
March 27, 2025
“Ертөнц утга учиргүй шүү; бурхдаас юу ч горьдох хэрэггүй шүү. Гэхдээ энэ зайлшгүй хувь тавилангийн өмнө үүнийг ухамсарлан, энэ хувь заяагаа үзэн ядахын сацуу бид аль болохоор хүн хэмээгч амьтны чадах хэмжээнд энэ бүхнийг өөрчлөх хэрэгтэй юм шүү”.”
“Энэ бужигнаан үймээний ямар ч утгагүй чанарыг, бас ач тус нь гардаггүй өчнөөн төчнөөн зовлон зүдүүрийг ухамсарлах нь хүний аж амьдралын утга учиргүй (абсурд) шинжийг нээж байгаа хэрэг юм.”
“Прустээс Камю хүртэл” номын хэсэглэн орчуулсан хэсгүүдийг уншаад Альбер Камюг жоохон ч болов таних шиг боллоо.
“Энэ бужигнаан үймээний ямар ч утгагүй чанарыг, бас ач тус нь гардаггүй өчнөөн төчнөөн зовлон зүдүүрийг ухамсарлах нь хүний аж амьдралын утга учиргүй (абсурд) шинжийг нээж байгаа хэрэг юм.”
“Прустээс Камю хүртэл” номын хэсэглэн орчуулсан хэсгүүдийг уншаад Альбер Камюг жоохон ч болов таних шиг боллоо.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews