"Aurelien" by Louis Aragon, your imagination, my dear fellow, is worth more than you imagine.
"I will be forsaken for a long time in Caesarea ..."
He does not like her at first glance. It seems to him too provincial, with a bad eye for fabrics and unordered hair. It seems to be "just ugly" ... So begins one of the most impressive love novels of the twentieth century, written between the two world wars by Louis Aragon - one of the first representatives of Surrealism, who with Aurélien proves to be a master of the classical form. "Aurélien " by Louis Aragon is one of the most impressive love novels of the 20th century
But who is Aurélien(can you guess from the title that it's a female name)? A young boy who has returned from the war, who is well-secured (he endures his annuity), seeks himself on the streets of Paris. Though we keep an eye on the hero's path, Aragon does not fully know him. Aurélienis as close to us as he is in the burden he wears, so distant in his confused feelings. He quickly gives his attention to a lady, richly dressed with rings, then runs to a prostitute or is obsessed with Berenice, who despises the rest of the time. Aurélien is close to Onegin in his narcissism, but he is far more nuanced and in no time does his company strain. The novel is constructed around its unbearable egocentricity, but Berenice gradually displaces it. She is the bearer of the spirit of time - a wandering ghost of Romanticism, hesitant whether there is a possibility of lofty love lost in search of a nonexistent absolule. Love between the two is like the age - unfulfilled, past, cause of regret and glances over shoulder. "Aurélien" holds the lost generation, which is uncertain whether he lives after the First or the Second World War. Time of receptions, dating, hidden passions, vanity, and a fragile hope that the world can fix itself. Alas, everyone knows this is impossible, so the best love stories have since. The novel features numerous side stories that help create a complete picture of Paris at that time. Characters often mention or meet artists and high class. Picasso, Cocteau, the Dadaists, are read by Rimbaud, Baudelaire and Rasin (of which the quote is at the beginning of this text). Where are we going without the mandatory travel in the province?
Louis Aragon
"Have you noticed, my dear friend, that the more a person moves away from Paris, the more he is conquered by the feeling of sinking into the past. After fifty kilometers it is already in the nineteenth century, after standing in the eighteenth. Each area - a separate age ... This can be the Middle Ages. " As I read "Aurélien," I sometimes lost in the time - I felt like I was in a Victorian novel. Aragon's style is much closer to that of Henry James than to Fitzgerald and Hemingway. Here the surprises are hiding more in the rich psychological images and the reversal of expectations for love story. Mishima Yukio's "Spring Snow" is another rather distant example, however, in which such treatment of adolescent enthusiasm, eaten by vanity and romantic ideals, can also be found.
I like a lot of tragicomedy, its two genres that makes up for a thrilling story.
For me tragicomedy is the best genre. Or some kind with dark humor, that is funny and sad at the same time :D
And shakespare was the master of tragicomedy, remember merchant of venice?
Yes, I had a course work on it, to write several types of annotations. I have to read it again. :D
I've never read it and I don't think I will. It doesn't sound like the kind of novel I enjoy.
What kind of novel's you like ? :)
In terms of genre I suppose that I always prefer horror or fantasy and I've never been a big fan of surrealism whether in literary or visual form.
I see. Yes it is not your kind of book but the surrealism have give a lot for the horror and fantasy genre. The roots of surrealism is in the work's of people like Edgar Allan Poe. One of the biggest poem that before two centuries ago was written by Lautréamont "The songs of Maldoror" is the leading inspiration for surrealists. This poem maybe is the purest evil write in a book. However, "Aurelien" is written in a classical form, like "Madame Bovary", there is no surrealism there, so you probably won't like it :D But check the surrealism more seriousley :)
I'm not interested in evil, which is probably why I don't like surrealism. I can see how surrealism was able to flourish and in fact had it's roots in spiritualism and occultism. Which is why it's also not surprisingly that it is a branch of avant-garde.
I'm not sure how Edgar Allan Poe's gothic fiction has anything to do with surrealism. I personally don't see it because I thought that Poe was just one writer in a much wider group of authors writing Gothic horror. Perhaps you could elaborate on how he influenced surrealism. What do you think of Aleister Crowley's influence on surrealism?
Actually if you'd like to know the names of some authors contemporary with Aragon whose work I enjoy, there's C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Dennis Wheatley amongst others.
Well, Edgar Allan Poe is more than gothic horror writer. Have you write Poe's novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" ? There is germ of surrealism. I think you know how much Poe influenced Charles Baudelaire and Baudelaire is of the group of the poets like Rimbaud, which are the basis of surrealism.
Interesting, from you I understand for the influence of Aleister Crowley on surrealism. I have to check for more information about that. And for me it is positive think that spiritualism and occultism are heavily rooted in surrealism. But this is a subjective preference. You know that during this period piritualism and occultism have influenced many other movement in art. Let me just mention authors outside the avant-garde like August Strindberg or Gustav Meyrink.
Ah, for J.R.R. Tolkien my opinion is the same as yours for the surrealism. :D I am modest fan of fantasy but only in the visual form :)
Good post
Thanks :)
This post has received gratitude of 9.37 % from @appreciator thanks to: @godflesh.