A monumental undertaking, to write a novel with one of the primary characters essentially writing the novel as it's being read, through journal entries. It allows the reader a window into the author's, and meta-author's, thought process. Well written, if at times somewhat tiresome as both authors cast back and forth on the path of the characters and the meaning of the narrative. There is also an element of the French romp, with characters longing for others and hopping around between beds. The principal plot thread is a group of young men as they come of age and try to make their way into the adult world, some good some bad in moral composition, and some meandering between the two poles. I think the lack of singular focus detracted from the reading experience for me, though the author's undertaking is to be admired.

3 bones!!! ( )

I read 210 pages, which is more than half of the novel itself (not the added journal), so I'm calling this read. I really liked the format, with the different changes, but not very much happens. I've read plenty of slice-of-life books, ones that don't have a plot so to speak but talk about people, and some of them have impacted me deeply; this isn't one of them. Glad I gave it a shot, but it's time to move on. ( )

While there is no doubt that this is an excellently crafted polyphonic novel that successfully leads the reader to a creative (literally, not figuratively) reading process, I did not particularly enjoy the subject material. If there were scales both for "liking" a book and for "quality reading experience," this book would rank much more highly on the second, despite being a bit tricky to follow at times.

The major points of interest to me throughout the reading of this book were the diverse and complicated mess of characters that weave their way through the story, the imposition placed on the reader to read actively, and the frequent occurrences of mise en abîme created by the use of dialogue and multiple narrators who discuss literature in general, the writing process, and the book itself. ( )

It will take me a long time to unpack all of this, all of what it meant... there is so much to mull over. Suffice it to say, 'The Counterfeiters' is the kind of expansive classic that can take over your dreams, even when you are wide awake. It has a plot that is impossible to pin down, but that twists and turns around itself in a way that would make Charlie Kaufman proud - to summarise it would be to re-write it, and I would never want to do that. ( )

The Counterfeiters is a book about writing a book, also called "The Counterfeiters". That is the primary theme of the novel which comes from the title of the book by the writer Edouard. Thus The Counterfeiters is a novel-within-a-novel, with Edouard (the alter ego of Gide) writing a book of the same title. Other stylistic devices are also used, such as an omniscient narrator that sometimes addresses the reader directly, weighs in on the characters' motivations or discusses alternate realities. However, there is also the story of a group of boys who are passing counterfeit coins throughout Paris. Thus we have entered a world where we cannot trust our senses -- what is counterfeit and what is real?

The story of Edouard writing his novel demonstrates his search for knowledge, yet as he associates with a group of his own adolescent relatives it appears as an artificial arrangement; one that displays the effects upon society of youth's corruption of traditional standards and values. The collapse of morality is illustrated with Eduoard's nephew Vincent, who deserts his lover Laura, a married woman, and runs away with Lillian, the mistress of Count Robert de Passavant. His life goes downhill as he murders her and goes insane.
There is also the coming of age story of Bernard and Olivier as they prepare to leave school -- but does this extend beyond their education and emanate from all who are learning about the world? This learning which is required by the changing nature of the everyday, the quotidian reality that is, perhaps, counterfeit.

I found the details of Edouard's struggles with his career, his family, his friendships and love provided images that enhanced the main themes, yet also energized the narrative drive. Another subplot of the novel is homosexuality. Some of the characters are overtly homosexual, like the adolescent Olivier, and the adult writers Count de Passavant and Eduoard. The Count seems to be an evil and corrupting force while the latter is benevolent. Even when the treatment is not overt, there is a homoerotic subtext that runs throughout, which encompasses Olivier's friend, Bernard, and their schoolfellows Gontran and Philippe. The main theme of The Counterfeiters encompasses the issue of sexuality, morality, and social order and lineage in a unique way for his era.

Gide's novel was not received well on its appearance, perhaps because of its homosexual themes and its unusual composition. It is this unusual composition that I thought made it an interesting read; along with which the way Gide demonstrates ideas through his characters and their actions much like Dostoevsky and Thomas Mann. The Counterfeiters has seen its reputation improve in the intervening years and is now generally counted among the great novels of the twentieth century. ( )