The Devil’s Pool

A short book set in the French region of Berry in the 1840s, where the young widower Germain sets out on a trip to find a new wife but realises that the ideal person for him may have been much closer to home all along. I think that George Sand's novella—with its insistence on the validity of the emotional lives of the peasantry and its well-observed child characters and social details—likely read as much more progressive and even subversive in the France of the July Monarchy period than it does today. Today, the authorial voice which bookends the novella reads as patronising: Sand's peasants, honest people of the soil, may feel more intensely and purely than their social betters, but Sand tells us that they cannot think. Hrm.

The Devil’s Pool by George Sand is a short simple novel about a young French farmer who has been widowed and left with three young children to raise. He lives with his in-laws who encourage him to remarry to provide a mother for his children.

His father-in-law has lined up a widow that he thinks would make a good wife and mother and the fact that she has both a dowry and some land is an added bonus. The young man is sent out to meet this widow and see if they can come to an agreement. He is asked to take a young neighbour with him as she is to work as a shepherdess at a farm along the way. Of course, this young farmer and the shepherdess find they have much in common and a mutual attraction. Along the way they must travel by the show more Devil’s Pool which brings clarity to the decision the young farmer must make.

I found this story charming and engaging with it’s exploration of the age-old question of whether one should chose to follow their heart or their brain. The author was inspired by the print called The Dance of Death by Hans Holbein and she wanted to show that farmers have a deep connection to the land and nature that is far more joyful and inspiring than the hardship and struggle that is usually used to describe their lives. show less

A bit hard to get into; the first chapter seems disconnected from the rest of the book. The middle part is about the love story between Marie and Germain and is much easier to follow and enjoy. But then the last part (the appendix?) is almost a distanced observation of their wedding and the long held wedding traditions that lasts for days. It was nice to learn about their traditions that have long disappeared, but it felt disjointed.

Decided to try this French novella off the 1001 books to read before you die list. It was just ok. It's a simple story about a widowed farmer who finds love with a poor girl in his village. Sand begins by describing a Holbein painting of peasant and farming life and transitions into this tale of the working/lower classes.

I didn't find it particularly memorable. Likely I'd need to understand more about how it fits into French literature as a whole to get more out of it.

Original publication date: 1846
Author’s nationality: French
Original language: French
Length: 109 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased used paperback
Why I read this: off the shelf, 1001 books

This book has been stopping up the works around here. I read it, I digested it, I had thoughts about it, but for some reason I haven't felt quite prepared or qualified or informed enough to just comment on it and get on with life.

I think it's because I have this image of George Sand, this just ass-kicking supergenius female from the intimidating past, leaning over my shoulder, saying, "Don't you GET IT you moron? It wasn't just about cabbages and true love. It was about so! much! more!" The truth is, unfortunately, that unless the imaginary spectre of George Sand wants to clue me in, I'm not sure what else is here besides the cabbages. And the true love.

Well, there's the prologue. The prologue, which addresses the reader directly, is show more about how noble and wise the peasants of rural France are (were) and how their lack of intellect or ability to understand their circumstances doesn't interfere with their feeling of important feelings, and experiencing of deep emotion. Isn't that nice? Those sweet, precious peasants and their silly dumb heads.

Sand takes the prologue to rhapsodize about them and how cute they are, with their toil and whatnot, and then tells a pretty story about them falling (without consciousness) in love with each other. Finally, she takes a few more pages (a lot more pages) to just unapologetically savor the peasants' cute rituals. Marriage rituals.

The truth is, I really liked the book, up until the plot quit and the "I miss the cute peasants I used to look down on in my youth" themes came to the fore. I expected something raunchy, loud, scathing, or at least edgy. This is not that. It's a sweet love story, flavored with a lot of local color. So George Sand was a surprise, for this postfeminist. I'm not sure I'd love to read another of her books, but I'm glad I finally found out what she was really writing, under all that scandal and wild living. show less

Part of the 1001 list to read before you die. I enjoyed this story about a widowed man falling in love with a young girl instead of the woman he is supposed to be set up to marry. The story flowed easily and I liked all the characters. Ending was great because it was happy and I was expecting something sad or gloomy.

On l'appelait la mare au Diable, car ses brumes, le soir, égaraient les voyageurs. Perdus à leur tour, Germain, Marie et le Petit Pierre sont forcés d'y passer la nuit. Le laboureur et la jeune fille ont le coeur triste. Germain va chercher une épouse pour s'occuper de ses enfants orphelins de leur mère. A quoi bon se marier, pense-t-il, quand l'amour n'y est pas. Et Marie a quitté sa mère, ce matin, en larmes, pour se louer comme bergère à la ferme des Ormeaux, si loin. Seul, Petit Pierre, le fils de Germain, est heureux et confiant. De lui dépendra le sort de ceux qu'il aime tant. Dédié à Chopin, ce bref roman champêtre a un charme inégalé. George Sand a vu le beau dans le simple. Elle chante, quelquefois en patois, show more les joies de l'amour, de l'enfance et du travail de la terre. Beaucoup d'amour et un peu d'idéalisme sont ses secrets show less