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The Devil's Pool and Other Stories
Newly translated into English, "The Devil's Pool" is the most popular of George Sand's novellas and her best-selling work in France today. Illustrating Sand's brevity, liveliness, and exemplary storytelling, the tale deals with many of her characteristic themes--the relations between the sexes, the plight of the underprivileged, and the role of fantasy in human life--making it an ideal introduction to her work. Also included are translations of two of Sand's most admired short stories, "Lavinia" and "The Unknown God," as well as various relevant essays and documents.
Paperback
Published July 15, 2004
About the author
George Sand
3,109 books971 followersAmantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil, best known by her pen name George Sand, was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balzac in England in the 1830s and 1840s, Sand is recognised as one of the most notable writers of the European Romantic era. She wrote more than 50 volumes of various works to her credit, including tales, plays and political texts, alongside her 70 novels.
Like her great-grandmother, Louise Dupin, whom she admired, George Sand advocated for women's rights and passion, criticized the institution of marriage, and fought against the prejudices of a conservative society. She was considered scandalous because of her turbulent love life, her adoption of masculine clothing, and her masculine pseudonym.
Like her great-grandmother, Louise Dupin, whom she admired, George Sand advocated for women's rights and passion, criticized the institution of marriage, and fought against the prejudices of a conservative society. She was considered scandalous because of her turbulent love life, her adoption of masculine clothing, and her masculine pseudonym.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 27, 2018
There are so many interesting threads in this slim volume that it requires two or three readings to do it justice. While this is true in placing George Sand within her own time frame, it is also true of the type of tale she tells and how it continues to be relevant today.
In various ways life has been simpler in the past, and yet there are many ways in which it is simpler now. To gain an insight into these shifts, and how they continue to work through issues and out of them again, this dual piece which uses a type of fairytale setting against the timepiece of a rural wedding is a mix which could just as easily be applied to a gothic tale or science fiction piece in modern times.
Really what is happening here is the questioning of beliefs and how we perceive the world around us based both on perceptions and interconnections with those of others around us. Neither is a settled world of its own. Each blends in some way that is not wholly up to us. Even the presence of a child to help adults choose a good relationship for themselves reminds us that what we choose for ourselves must be workable beyond ourselves to have any real longevity. This is only one way in which this can be considered.
While specific beliefs have been to the fore in particular settings and societies at particular times in history, the mix of different beliefs is difficult to come to terms with across time and place. Fairytale in one way in which this can more easily be considered than the heavily weighted doctrine of any particular religion.
One of the ways in which George Sand refers to those weightier perspectives is by reference to both artworks and writings of others. As she does so she is quite aware that these methods of transferring ideas are partly responsible for the disappearance of the rural lifestyle she is simultaneously recording here. It gives her writing a poignancy beyond the acceptance or defiance of Death that her introduction seems to suggest is the great question to be considered.
There seems to remain an importance about life for the participants well beyond the observation of it by others that Literature and Art imply. It is this awareness of multiple levels that places her among the better writers of her age, and keeps her alive and present to us.
In various ways life has been simpler in the past, and yet there are many ways in which it is simpler now. To gain an insight into these shifts, and how they continue to work through issues and out of them again, this dual piece which uses a type of fairytale setting against the timepiece of a rural wedding is a mix which could just as easily be applied to a gothic tale or science fiction piece in modern times.
Really what is happening here is the questioning of beliefs and how we perceive the world around us based both on perceptions and interconnections with those of others around us. Neither is a settled world of its own. Each blends in some way that is not wholly up to us. Even the presence of a child to help adults choose a good relationship for themselves reminds us that what we choose for ourselves must be workable beyond ourselves to have any real longevity. This is only one way in which this can be considered.
While specific beliefs have been to the fore in particular settings and societies at particular times in history, the mix of different beliefs is difficult to come to terms with across time and place. Fairytale in one way in which this can more easily be considered than the heavily weighted doctrine of any particular religion.
One of the ways in which George Sand refers to those weightier perspectives is by reference to both artworks and writings of others. As she does so she is quite aware that these methods of transferring ideas are partly responsible for the disappearance of the rural lifestyle she is simultaneously recording here. It gives her writing a poignancy beyond the acceptance or defiance of Death that her introduction seems to suggest is the great question to be considered.
There seems to remain an importance about life for the participants well beyond the observation of it by others that Literature and Art imply. It is this awareness of multiple levels that places her among the better writers of her age, and keeps her alive and present to us.
October 27, 2018
Come for the Devil's Pool and stay for The Country Wedding, which in my limited opinion was a much more entertaining story than the Devil's Pool.
Your enjoyment of this novel though ultimately depends on whether you like reading satirical criticisms of France in 1800's. Overall well worth the time, and I sincerely hope Sand gets more American recognition in the future.
Your enjoyment of this novel though ultimately depends on whether you like reading satirical criticisms of France in 1800's. Overall well worth the time, and I sincerely hope Sand gets more American recognition in the future.
January 22, 2018
Very readable for its age.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews