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The Book of Masks
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- GenresPoetryNonfiction
268 pages, Paperback
Published August 18, 2017
About the author
Remy de Gourmont
374 books63 followersPeople widely read works of Symbolist poet, novelist, and critic Remy de Gourmont of France, an important influence on Blaise Cendrars, in his era.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 1, 2021
If you are looking to lengthen your already ponderous list of "wanna reads," check out "The Book of Masks," considered the Who's Who of French Symbolist novelists and poets. Critic Rémy de Gourmont's series of short essays regarding thirty writers from this period has become a classic among academics and for fans of French poetry. For those of you familiar with the movement, you will find not only the known patriarchs such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Jean Moréas, André Gide, and Paul Verlaine, but a host of others who may have just escaped your attention, like Paul Adam and Georges Eekhoud.
And for the rest who have no idea what I'm talking about, Symbolism was a movement in art circa the mid 19th Century and which continued into the early 1900s. Influenced by folks such as Edgar Allan Poe, the goal behind Symbolism was to capture absolute Truths, the Thing in and of itself, the Ideal, in language and visuals that were metaphors tangible and accessible to the human mind. Many of you in the art world will recognize the name of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, who was also part of this movement. But in "The Book of Masks," you get a taste of the Symbolist aesthetic through the wonders of French literature.
The "masks" to which Gourmont refers can have several meanings. Each essay is introduced by a "mask" of the particular writer who is the subject, woodcuts by the printer and painter Félix Vallotton. And each of these writers attempts to lift the mask from the invisible yet knowable through their use of imagery and metaphor. These masters do this while they must themselves where a mask, as do all human beings, just as Gourmont says of Moréas:
"Moréas, like his Phoebe, has tried to put on many diverse countenances and even to cover his face with masks. We always recognize him from his brothers: he is a poet."
Gourmont's descriptions of these Symbolist works are genuine poetry in their own right:
"It is a literature entirely new and disconcertingly unexpected, giving the curious sensation (specially rare) that we have never read anything like it; the grape with all its velvet hues in the morning light, but with curious reflections and an air as if the seeds within had become frozen by a breath of ironic wind come from some place farther than the pole."
I mean, who wouldn't want to read the stuff he's talking about?
That being said, "The Book of Masks" not only encapsulates the literature of the time, but is certainly a product of it's time, containing all the flaws we come to expect of 19th Century Europe. Take for example the masogynist discussion of the work of Rachilde, a novelist and playwright who was also a woman:
"Since women have written, not one has had the good faith to speak and confess themselves in bold humility, and the only ideas of feminine psychology known to literature must be sought in the literature of men. There is more to learn of women in Lady Roxanna than in the complete works of George Sand. It is not perhaps a question of untruthfulness; it is rather a natural incapacity to think for herself, to take cognizance of herself in her own brain, and not in the eyes and in the lips of others; even when they ingenuously write into little secret diaries, women think of the unknown god reading—perhaps—over their shoulders."
Geez! Makes you question Gourmont's judgment just a bit, doesn't it?
But overall, I would say this little book is worth your consideration on your literary explorations, and if you are like me, you will come away with a broadened sense of appreciation for poetry and French literature, and with a lot more books in your queue.
And for the rest who have no idea what I'm talking about, Symbolism was a movement in art circa the mid 19th Century and which continued into the early 1900s. Influenced by folks such as Edgar Allan Poe, the goal behind Symbolism was to capture absolute Truths, the Thing in and of itself, the Ideal, in language and visuals that were metaphors tangible and accessible to the human mind. Many of you in the art world will recognize the name of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, who was also part of this movement. But in "The Book of Masks," you get a taste of the Symbolist aesthetic through the wonders of French literature.
The "masks" to which Gourmont refers can have several meanings. Each essay is introduced by a "mask" of the particular writer who is the subject, woodcuts by the printer and painter Félix Vallotton. And each of these writers attempts to lift the mask from the invisible yet knowable through their use of imagery and metaphor. These masters do this while they must themselves where a mask, as do all human beings, just as Gourmont says of Moréas:
"Moréas, like his Phoebe, has tried to put on many diverse countenances and even to cover his face with masks. We always recognize him from his brothers: he is a poet."
Gourmont's descriptions of these Symbolist works are genuine poetry in their own right:
"It is a literature entirely new and disconcertingly unexpected, giving the curious sensation (specially rare) that we have never read anything like it; the grape with all its velvet hues in the morning light, but with curious reflections and an air as if the seeds within had become frozen by a breath of ironic wind come from some place farther than the pole."
I mean, who wouldn't want to read the stuff he's talking about?
That being said, "The Book of Masks" not only encapsulates the literature of the time, but is certainly a product of it's time, containing all the flaws we come to expect of 19th Century Europe. Take for example the masogynist discussion of the work of Rachilde, a novelist and playwright who was also a woman:
"Since women have written, not one has had the good faith to speak and confess themselves in bold humility, and the only ideas of feminine psychology known to literature must be sought in the literature of men. There is more to learn of women in Lady Roxanna than in the complete works of George Sand. It is not perhaps a question of untruthfulness; it is rather a natural incapacity to think for herself, to take cognizance of herself in her own brain, and not in the eyes and in the lips of others; even when they ingenuously write into little secret diaries, women think of the unknown god reading—perhaps—over their shoulders."
Geez! Makes you question Gourmont's judgment just a bit, doesn't it?
But overall, I would say this little book is worth your consideration on your literary explorations, and if you are like me, you will come away with a broadened sense of appreciation for poetry and French literature, and with a lot more books in your queue.
May 27, 2014
Remy de Gourmont is a writer’s critic, plain & simple. He writes with the elegance you’d come to expect from a Frenchman of that era. His analogies for writer’s styles & personas are superb. I believe he grasps so well the mind of the writer because he IS a writer. He understands the plight. He understands the painstaking process. He understands the creative talent & soul of a writer whom has smeared, blurred, dabbled & finely stroked the canvas of literature. This effort is the very identity without apprehension. It is complete nudity. How bold a person must be to publically unsheathe their very psyche before the masses, to bare all. Remy de Gourmont understands this act & coddles the daring & vulnerable instead of shunning & shaming them. This book was very informative on which obscure names of the era I should look for. I look forward to reading many of the lesser known artists. I took many quotes from this book as he way with words & analogies are quite beautiful. I look forward to reading his original works of creation in his own right. Odd though were the reviews of some that are quite popular, but to each his own opinion. Overall, very fine read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews