A Wave of Dreams

by Louis Aragon, Adam Cornford

This is the first time Aragon's seminal French surrealist text has been published in English as a single volume and the translation is accompanied by a CD of eight spoken extracts set to music by Tymon Dogg and Alex Thomas. Aragon's extraordinary prose-poem-essay A Wave of Dreams (Une vague de reves), is a compelling, lyrical, first-hand account of the early days of surrealist experimentation in Paris. Writing in 1924, Aragon vividly describes, and philosophically evaluates, the inner adventures, the hallucinations and encounters with the 'Marvellous' which took the young surrealists to the brink of insanity as a revolutionary new era in Art History was born."

Genres: Poetry

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

French writer Louis Aragon founded literary surrealism.

Louis Aragon, a major figure in the avant-garde movements, shaped visual culture in the 20th century. His long career as a poet, novelist, Communist polemicist and bona fide war hero secured his place in the pantheon of greats.

With André Breton and Phillipe Soupault, Aragon launched the movement and through Paysan de Paris (Paris Peasant), his novel of 1926, produced the considered defining text of the movement.

Aragon parted company with the movement in the early 1930s, devoted his energies to the Communist party, and went to produce a vast body that combined elements of the social avant-garde.

Aragon, a leading influence on the shaping of the novel in the early to mid-20th century, gave voice and images to the art. He, also a critic, edited as a member of the Académie Goncourt. After 1959, people frequent nominated him for the Nobel Prize.

Reviews

[Lohana Saby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très petit ouvrage reproduction d’un texte oublié d’Aragon. Sur les débuts du surréalisme.

P25
La liberté, ce mot magnifique, voilà le point où il prend pour la première fois un sens : la liberté commence ou naît le va merveilleux.

P26
Rêves, rêves, rêves, le domaine des rêves à chaque fois s’étend.
Rêves, rêves, rêves, le soleil bleu des rêves enfin fait reculer les bêtes aux yeux d’acier vers leurs tanières.
[…]

P38
C’est qu’il rêve, et je rêve, emporte, je rêve.
Je rêve d’un long rêve où chacun rêverait.
Je ne sais ce que ça devenir cette nouvelle entreprise de songes.
Je rêve sur le bord du monde et de la nuit.

[Nate D]

Full text (?) can be read online, here: http://www.mattesonart.com/louis-arag...

There's also a rather out of print version that comes with a CD of audio recordings of parts of this, incidentally.

[Guðrún Gunnarsdóttir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fyrsta greinin sem er lesin fyrir háskóla, stórt móment.

[enorab04 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intéressant pour comprendre la période surréaliste !

[Ricardo Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A liberdade começa onde nasce o maravilhoso

[Francisco Pez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lectura imprescindible para todo joven surrealista.
Lo conseguí en una librería del centro, de pisos y anaqueles de madera. Todo parecía estar en desorden y la gran cantidad de gente que había, al igual que los libros, se acomodaba como podía. Alguien se acercó y sirvió vino, nosotros felices, eran tiempos de recorrer buscando poesía y textos del surrealismo. Recorridas siempre, si se quiere, de cierto aire surrealista. Caminar cuadras enteras con los ojos cerrados, avanzando de la mano, y cosas así. La librería cerraba, se despedía del barrio con bebidas y liquidación del inventario. Siempre sentí que me quedó mucho por disfrutar en aquel espacio, lo recuerdo con añoranza. Unos meses después me mudé a una cuadra de distancia. El local se mantuvo vacío, siempre, salvo cuando yo invocaba esa tarde cada vez que pasaba por el frente.