From the Bookshelf of The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910…

Indiana

George Sand,

Sylvia Raphael (Translator)

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Aug 01, 2022 dwreader rated it it was amazing

Shelves: about-france, literature-classics

I don’t remember last time I thoroughly enjoyed a bad romance, rendered primarily in elaborate verbal exchanges. Haven’t been through Part 4 yet (mostly finished & spoiler).

Failed to reconnect with Madame Bovary, this is a better version, an easy read with an exotic locale & island Frenchs, Creoles. It would be interesting to do a comparative study of the two female characters. In a sense Indiana is still in a fairy tale as nobody truly loved or cherished M Bovary despite her brave outings but I I don’t remember last time I thoroughly enjoyed a bad romance, rendered primarily in elaborate verbal exchanges. Haven’t been through Part 4 yet (mostly finished & spoiler).

Failed to reconnect with Madame Bovary, this is a better version, an easy read with an exotic locale & island Frenchs, Creoles. It would be interesting to do a comparative study of the two female characters. In a sense Indiana is still in a fairy tale as nobody truly loved or cherished M Bovary despite her brave outings but Indiana will always have Ralph, a concocted female fantasy.

Ralph, the Cousin, of few words except in the end, be ready for a few pages of monologue style confession (Indiana my little Di?): an older cousin who grew up with then raised her and forever shadowed her since his own forced/extremely unhappy/failed marriage, with a silent noble personality and miserable backstory, misanthropic yet non-vengeful view of the rest of the world, a bettered & humane version of Heathcliff+ some more, patiently/painfully witnessed her ‘affair’ then rescued her from brink of suicide/destruction after each of Raymon’s convenient and heartless desertions…eagle eyed over her well-being at all times, for most part of the book having trouble expressing himself vs Raymon the villain’s well versed Parisian manner, misunderstood by Indiana since Raymon taking center stage (her prejudice agains him), several hints of his physical strength & presence, adequately rich too…pretty much every bit of male archetype rolled into one. Is he …God? A personalized god we could all use. What couldn’t he do for the one and only one he deeply loved and cared for? Omnipresent and all mighty!

Can’t wait to see how this all ends…and there they have it!

Raymon, the sensitive seductive self-centered Parisian. Very strange structure with a mostly hidden agenda. Oh the misery! As if the misguided seduction & infatuation episode from P&P took over this book. The villain had his full portrait inside out: with two victims, one short/intense & tragic, the other ‘affair’ restrained/delicate & protracted, then one quite happy ending granted for him with both wealth & a lovely/proper wife?

The book is about Indiana. Against Raymon or her husband or her general miseries, despite of her innocence and ignorance, she always had a strong presence and voice. Somehow she never recovered her strength on page with the final humiliation (after a few months oceanic journey as a stowaway, some more months hospitalization…), as she finally headed toward her own super condensed happy ending (spiritual or realistic & both conceived and offered by Ralph), she disappeared into Ralph. So this is a fictionalized fairy tale. ...more

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