What do you think?
Nêne (Classic Reprint)
Excerpt from Nene
Les editeurs s'imaginent generalement que les lecteurs se demandent toujours, avant d'acheter un roman, s'il est parisien, provincial, ou paysan. Quelle que soit l'idee que nous nous fassions de leurs prejuges, il va'ut mieux se garder, quand on leur presente un manuscrit, de leur signaler que c'est celui d'un roman provincial ou d'un roman paysan. Ils le decouvriront peut-etre toujours trop tot; enfin, on court encore la chance qu'ils ne s'en apercevront pas.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Les editeurs s'imaginent generalement que les lecteurs se demandent toujours, avant d'acheter un roman, s'il est parisien, provincial, ou paysan. Quelle que soit l'idee que nous nous fassions de leurs prejuges, il va'ut mieux se garder, quand on leur presente un manuscrit, de leur signaler que c'est celui d'un roman provincial ou d'un roman paysan. Ils le decouvriront peut-etre toujours trop tot; enfin, on court encore la chance qu'ils ne s'en apercevront pas.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
261 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1920
About the author
Ernest Pérochon
51 books5 followersErnest Pérochon (1885, Courlay, Deux-Sèvres - 1942) was a French writer who received the Prix Goncourt in 1920 for his book Nêne. He taught elementary school before giving it up to write full time in 1921. His works include poetry, novels (in genres ranging from realism to science fiction) and children's literature.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 6, 2026
Prix Goncourt 1920 - Assez partagé. D’un côté c’est une histoire édifiante sur la dépendance affective et tout ce qu’elle pousse une femme pourtant sensée à faire. De l’autre, son destin paraît assez artificiel et relève principalement d’une sacrée succession de mauvais choix. La fin est inutilement cruelle mais l’ensemble se lit plutôt bien.
March 26, 2024
3.5 - It's a good story overall, I enjoyed it. The writing was inconsistent, starting off poetic and rich in detail and meandering through sections that feel rushed.
My biggest criticism is that the two main villains of the book are too one dimensional. They are purely evil and have no redeeming personality traits. If the narrative wasn't omnicient and therefore using their point of view too, that might have worked better. As it is, even from their own viewpoint they are only ever behaving in evil ways.
I thought the main character was interesting both for her personality and her character arc. What I like is that from her point of view, she's a saint, a martyr, someone who couldn't possibly do any wrong. When we then see the jealousy and hatred that she's capable of, it's a good contrast. One of the things that irritated me about her was her willingness to give so much money away and also the fact that her only purpose in life is the children, who aren't even hers. I also love the hypocrisy of her jealously imagining someone else buying the affection of the children when she's already spent so much time doing that herself. She also shows that she's capable of genuinely heroic actions. It's this contrast between liking her for her heroism but disliking her for her habit of playing martyr that's so interesting to me.
My biggest criticism is that the two main villains of the book are too one dimensional. They are purely evil and have no redeeming personality traits. If the narrative wasn't omnicient and therefore using their point of view too, that might have worked better. As it is, even from their own viewpoint they are only ever behaving in evil ways.
I thought the main character was interesting both for her personality and her character arc. What I like is that from her point of view, she's a saint, a martyr, someone who couldn't possibly do any wrong. When we then see the jealousy and hatred that she's capable of, it's a good contrast. One of the things that irritated me about her was her willingness to give so much money away and also the fact that her only purpose in life is the children, who aren't even hers. I also love the hypocrisy of her jealously imagining someone else buying the affection of the children when she's already spent so much time doing that herself. She also shows that she's capable of genuinely heroic actions. It's this contrast between liking her for her heroism but disliking her for her habit of playing martyr that's so interesting to me.
November 3, 2025
Первая Мировая война завершена. За 1919 год Гонкуровскую премию вручили Марселю Прусту, невзирая на явную направленность его творчества в сторону модернизма. А в 1920 году отметили премией сельскую пастораль «Нен» за авторством Эрнеста Перошона. Но вероятно не сразу узнали, что данное произведение было написано шестью годами ранее, тогда же изданное. То есть премии удостоилось переиздание книги другим издательством. Читатель понимает, в военные годы Перошон не мог стать лауреатом, причина чего понятна и очевидна. Либо посчитали за возможное вручить задним числом. Конечно, это не совсем справедливо по отношению к произведениям, впервые изданным именно в 1920 году. Но что же из того? Ориентиры оказались утраченными. Заново вспоминать о войне могли не желать. А тут такая примечательная картина сельского быта. Впрочем, не всё там действительно хорошо — есть отягощение в виде сохраняющихся традиций прошлого, некогда пошедших против воли большинства.
(c) Trounin
(c) Trounin
July 30, 2024
Un roman qui se veut triste mais qui ne l’est pas tant que ça parce que la protagoniste aurait pu éviter toutes ses peines si elle avait eu un minimum de présence d’esprit.
Heureusement pour moi, le cadre où l’histoire a lieu était tellement idyllique (dans une grande et belle maison, près d’une grande prairie, pas loin d’un village, j’adore) qu’au final être spectatrice des mauvais choix de vie de Nêne n’a pas été une expérience aussi négative que ça.
Ce livre est sympathique mais sans plus à mes yeux.
Heureusement pour moi, le cadre où l’histoire a lieu était tellement idyllique (dans une grande et belle maison, près d’une grande prairie, pas loin d’un village, j’adore) qu’au final être spectatrice des mauvais choix de vie de Nêne n’a pas été une expérience aussi négative que ça.
Ce livre est sympathique mais sans plus à mes yeux.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews