Farinet's Gold

by Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, John Weeks (Translation)

Dans son village de Mièges, Farinet n'est pas qu'un simple faux-monnayeur. Il fabrique sa monnaie avec le meilleur or qui soit, celui de la montagne. Anarchiste et persuadé que la liberté de chacun surpasse les lois de l'État, il distribue ses pièces d'or auprès des gens du peuple, qui l'admirent et le protègent. Mais le gouvernement ne voit pas d'un bon œil une telle initiative : condamné à une peine de prison, Farinet se réfugie toujours plus haut dans les montagnes, traqué inlassablement par les gendarmes...Farinet a réellement existé. Faux-monnayeur célèbre en Suisse au XIXe siècle, surnommé le « Robin des Bois suisse », il défendait la liberté et incarnait la résistance à l'autorité — valeurs chères à Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. Le roman sera adapté au cinéma par Max Haufler : « L'Or dans la montagne ».-

Genres: Fiction, School, Classics

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

C.F. Ramuz was a French-speaking Swiss writer. Born in Lausanne and educated there he moved to Paris in 1903 where he first published a collection of poems, 'Le petit village.' At the outbreak of WWI in 1914 he returned to Switzerland and devoted his life to writing which included the libretto for Igor Stravinsky's 'Histoire du Soldat' in 1918. He died near his home town. His image now appears on the 200 Swiss Franc note and his foundation awards the quintannual Grand Prix C.F. Ramuz.

Reviews

[jacmaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

chef-d'œuvre.
intéressant de noter que sur les 5 romans de Ramuz que j'ai lu, 3 ont une femme en personnage le plus courageux et entreprenant du roman (Si le soleil ne revenait pas, Derborence et Farinet donc)

[Damien Travel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cosey's comic strip is a wonderful invitation to travel to Val d'Hérens. While the story, as its title in French suggests, is of course inspired by J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, the artist also admits to having borrowed and mixed a few bits and pieces from two novels by Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz: "La Grande Peur dans la montagne (Terror on the Mountain)" and "Farinet ou la Fausse Monnaie (Farinet or the Forged Money)". This last title is amusing when you consider that Ramuz's face now adorns the 200 Swiss franc banknote. The first book is translated in English, but not the second.
The character of Farinet - who goes by the name Baptistin in Cosey's comic strip - takes the name of a counterfeiter who existed in the Valais at the end of the 19th century. Ramuz's hero escaped from Italian prisons in neighboring Val d'Aoste and returned to hide in his native Valais. He has found a vein of gold high up in the mountains, which he mines to make twenty-franc coins worth more than government’s money. His coins are readily accepted in the valley, and he is well received at the inn’s table. But the Sion gendarmes would have none of it. He is put in prison and escapes thanks to Joséphine, the inn's waitress, who is in love with him. But what is he to do? Joséphine suggests he run away with her to Chamonix in France, taking the gold with him. Or will he surrender to the gendarmes, spend six months in prison and then marry Thérèse, the pretty daughter of the commune president who is pushing him in this direction?

https://www.travelreadings.org/2023/1...

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diría algo como otro libro de psicología pero este si funcionó tal vez