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La Princesse de Clèves by Madame de La…
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La Princesse de Clèves (original 1678; edition 1972)

by Madame de La Fayette, Michel Butor (Introduction), Béatrice Didier (Commentaires)

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2,292556,739 (3.42)118
Classic Literature. Fiction. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML:

This groundbreaking novel made a splash when it was initially published in 1678, changing the course of literary fiction forever. Rather than following in the same vein as the one-dimensional romances that preceded it, The Princess of Cleves tackles its characters' inner dilemmas with unprecedented sophistication and nuance.

.… (more)
Member:Fliamunaro
Title:La Princesse de Clèves
Authors:Madame de La Fayette
Other authors:Michel Butor (Introduction), Béatrice Didier (Commentaires)
Info:Le Livre de Poche (1972), Poche, No 374
Collections:Your library
Rating:
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The Princesse de Clèves by Madame de La Fayette (1678)

  1. 30
    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (andejons)
    andejons: Similar premises: married, upper class women fall in love with men of less than perfect moral standing. The outcomes are very different though.
  2. 20
    Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford (agmlll)
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» See also 118 mentions

English (39)  French (9)  Italian (3)  Spanish (1)  Swedish (1)  Catalan (1)  All languages (54)
Showing 1-5 of 39 (next | show all)
La Princesse de Clèves is remarkable as one of the first real psychological novels to delve into the emotions, thoughts and interior life of its characters in great depth - in that aspect it feels ahead of its time in so many ways, as it does also in its moral ambiguity and the dilemma at its core over which debate raged (and to a lesser extent still does). Clèves predates Les Liaisons dangereuses by a century in its depiction of a fiercely regulated aristocratic society and order where the smallest indiscretions face ruthless punishment and shame even as the proper veneer disguises a seedy and illicit underbelly; the Princess' reactions to this and to the adulterous temptations she is drawn toward through the love of the Duke of Nemours are hard to discern the core root of, whether they be born out of genuine belief and martyrdom for a notion of purity or a more pragmatic withdrawal from the hothouse environment of the French court - she might appear a tragic victim of such a society even in the former instance, and the quasi-medieval view of passion and marriage as so in conflict gives this a pessimistic air to this day, but there's much in here to chew over and it's probably Mme. de la Fayette's finest accomplishment having previously read her shorter pieces.

________

As I commonly found with her works, the actual French vocabulary used is quite intuitive and easy to pick up; I had trouble at first because the first part of this novel is made up of one of the world's worst exposition dumps but it picks up greatly from there onward and also became a much easier read such that even though I was going from my Kindle I barely used the dictionary even if I sometimes had to struggle to piece together the older literary structure. Some wonderful literary French expressions and turns of phrase I learnt from this also. ( )
  franderochefort | Aug 8, 2023 |
8432038911
  archivomorero | Jun 27, 2022 |
A quote from the Madame de La Fayette author page here on Goodreads: "... the work is often taken to be the first true French novel and a prototype of the early psychological novel." This was definitely an interesting depiction of the intrigues of the French court, and when I say intrigues, I mean the intrigues of love. Initially, a bit overwhelmed with the multitude of characters described in the novel, I was finally able to keep everyone straight, although with effort. Regarding it being an early psychological novel, I would have to agree. The author was very skillful in depicting the inner workings of the characters' minds, especially those of the Princess of Cleves and the Duc de Nemours. ( )
  TheTrueBookAddict | Mar 23, 2020 |
I think there's a good story in here somewhere. I wasn't fond of the writing style and there were way too many characters mentioned for me to keep track of who was who. The end was especially disappointing. To see happiness that comes along so rarely in life so close at hand, and to see Madame de Cleves just walk away from it was so frustrating! ( )
  ErinMa | Feb 22, 2019 |
My only criticism of my copy of this book is that it doesn't tell me whose translation it is. I'd been aware of Princess of Cleves for a long time but it wouldn't have occurred me to read it, but as I got it from SantaThing, I now had it and once I got into it, I enjoyed it very much. ( )
  mari_reads | Jul 21, 2018 |
Showing 1-5 of 39 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (161 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Madame de La Fayetteprimary authorall editionscalculated
Adam, AntoineEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Alexanderson, EvaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Buss, RobinTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Cave, TerenceTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
de Vilmorin, LouisePrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Facetti, GermanoCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Haan, Frans deTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hill, JamesCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Loy, RosettaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mitford, NancyTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ortiz, MariaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Prins-Willekes Macdonald, I.E.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Swarth, HélèneIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Swarth, HélèneTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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At no time in France were splendour and refinement so brilliantly displayed as in the last years of the reign of Henri II.
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Classic Literature. Fiction. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML:

This groundbreaking novel made a splash when it was initially published in 1678, changing the course of literary fiction forever. Rather than following in the same vein as the one-dimensional romances that preceded it, The Princess of Cleves tackles its characters' inner dilemmas with unprecedented sophistication and nuance.

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Considered to be the first true French novel and a prototype of the early psychological novel.
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