The André Gide Reader

by André Gide

English, French (translation)

978 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Diaries and novels, such as The Immoralist (1902) and Lafcadio's Adventures (1914), of noted French writer André Gide examine alienation and the drive for individuality in an often disapproving society; he won the Nobel Prize of 1947 for literature.

André Paul Guillaume Gide authored books. From beginnings in the symbolist movement, career of Gide ranged to anticolonialism between the two World Wars.

Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes the conflict and eventual reconciliation to public view between the two sides of his personality; a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism split apart these sides. One can see work of Gide as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and it gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of full self, even to the point of owning sexual nature without betraying values at the same time. After his voyage of 1936 to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the same ethos informs his political activity, as his repudiation of Communism suggests.

Chinese 安德烈·纪德

Reviews

[Paul Bard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit: Let's address the elephant in the room with Andre Gide.

Monsieur Gide deserves to have his testicles safety-pinned to his forehead for his countless open rapes and molestations of underage boys.

As an unrepentant and depraved active paedophile for most of his life, Gide was the celebrity of the decadent French culture and colonies, which allowed him to indulge his evil conduct both sexually and in literature. Indeed he was and is celebrated in polite company to this day.

Today European culture has self-suicided. You may, clear and evident in Gide's work, read the suicide note of this once-great civilisation. And if you can stomach that, then bravo to you. On with the original review:

The single best book on Andre Gide available in English, and quite possibly in any language, this book combines everything (and I mean everything) Gidean into one volume. Editor/compiler/psychopomp/guide and teacher Littlejohn provides us with a manifesto for the corruption of future young people by presenting Gide in such an accessible format.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure trove of good writing.

[Amira]

The Immoralist, p. 197 -291