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Strait is the Gate
A landmark in world literature, Strait is the Gate describes a love affair between an acutely sensitive boy growing up in Paris and his cousin from the Normandy countryside that erupts into a soul-endangering passion. A devastating exploration of aestheticism taken to extremes, Strait is the Gate is a novel of haunting beauty that stimulates the mind and the emotions.
A serious purpose underlies the work of Gide, and it is from such purposes that great novelists arise. - The New York Times
A little masterpiece.... as fine as a spire on Notre Dame. - James Joyce
A serious purpose underlies the work of Gide, and it is from such purposes that great novelists arise. - The New York Times
A little masterpiece.... as fine as a spire on Notre Dame. - James Joyce
104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1909
About the author
André Gide
651 books1,591 followersDiaries and novels, such as
The Immoralist
(1902) and
Lafcadio's Adventures
(1914), of noted French writer André Gide examine alienation and the drive for individuality in an often disapproving society; he won the Nobel Prize of 1947 for literature.
André Paul Guillaume Gide authored books. From beginnings in the symbolist movement, career of Gide ranged to anticolonialism between the two World Wars.
Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes the conflict and eventual reconciliation to public view between the two sides of his personality; a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism split apart these sides. One can see work of Gide as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and it gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of full self, even to the point of owning sexual nature without betraying values at the same time. After his voyage of 1936 to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the same ethos informs his political activity, as his repudiation of Communism suggests.
Chinese 安德烈·纪德
André Paul Guillaume Gide authored books. From beginnings in the symbolist movement, career of Gide ranged to anticolonialism between the two World Wars.
Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes the conflict and eventual reconciliation to public view between the two sides of his personality; a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism split apart these sides. One can see work of Gide as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and it gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of full self, even to the point of owning sexual nature without betraying values at the same time. After his voyage of 1936 to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the same ethos informs his political activity, as his repudiation of Communism suggests.
Chinese 安德烈·纪德
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 517 reviews
January 3, 2009
Gide said that he meant this book to be treated as one half of a pair, together with L'Immoraliste. I took him at his word and read them in rapid succession. By the way, I should say this was atypical - I'm a "when all else fails, read the instructions" kind of person, but I found both books together at a second-hand bookstore and it seemed silly not to do what he said.
Looking at other reviews, I seem to have a fairly different take on the book, and perhaps my reading route has something to do with it. So, here we have a guy who's in love with this charming girl, Alissa, and is hoping to marry her. Alissa, however, takes it into her head that God doesn't wants her to marry her nice fiancé, but rather to contract a form of anorexia, coupled with depression, which eventually kills her. On the way, she also manipulates her unfortunate sister into marrying someone she doesn't much like, trapping her permanently in a loveless marriage.
Well, if Alissa was someone I knew personally, I wouldn't be rhapsodizing about her moving closeness with the Divine. I'd be trying to get her into therapy as quickly as possible, and meanwhile reading up the literature on religious mania. When I did what Gide suggested, and compared her with the main character in L'Immoraliste, I decided that his take on her wasn't very different from what mine would be in a real situation. He thinks Alissa is falling into one of two possible errors with religion, allowing it to take such a large part in her life that it drives her mad, destroying her and also several people she supposedly cares about. The hero of L'Immoraliste falls into the opposite trap. He rejects religion entirely, living an utterly selfish life which ends up killing his beautiful and loving wife in a particularly horrible way.
So, to sum up both books, I'd say Gide was telling people not to abandon religion - but also not to overdo it, and not to forget to listen to their normal human feelings and their common sense. Pretty balanced advice, in fact.
Looking at other reviews, I seem to have a fairly different take on the book, and perhaps my reading route has something to do with it. So, here we have a guy who's in love with this charming girl, Alissa, and is hoping to marry her. Alissa, however, takes it into her head that God doesn't wants her to marry her nice fiancé, but rather to contract a form of anorexia, coupled with depression, which eventually kills her. On the way, she also manipulates her unfortunate sister into marrying someone she doesn't much like, trapping her permanently in a loveless marriage.
Well, if Alissa was someone I knew personally, I wouldn't be rhapsodizing about her moving closeness with the Divine. I'd be trying to get her into therapy as quickly as possible, and meanwhile reading up the literature on religious mania. When I did what Gide suggested, and compared her with the main character in L'Immoraliste, I decided that his take on her wasn't very different from what mine would be in a real situation. He thinks Alissa is falling into one of two possible errors with religion, allowing it to take such a large part in her life that it drives her mad, destroying her and also several people she supposedly cares about. The hero of L'Immoraliste falls into the opposite trap. He rejects religion entirely, living an utterly selfish life which ends up killing his beautiful and loving wife in a particularly horrible way.
So, to sum up both books, I'd say Gide was telling people not to abandon religion - but also not to overdo it, and not to forget to listen to their normal human feelings and their common sense. Pretty balanced advice, in fact.
January 13, 2022
This took me longer to read than I thought it would when I decided to "quickly zoom through one of those 100-page classics I have on my TBR".
It's not awful, just a little dull and mopey at times. I can't see the great romance some other readers have found in these pages. It is mostly about how religious fervour can be a kind of mental illness that destroys a person from within. Despite being in love with Jerome from childhood, Alissa rejects his marriage proposal and gradually withers away out of some misplaced piety. She sees romantic love as a threat to her relationship with god, and so shuns it.
Pretty dark and interesting concept. A little flowery and woe-is-me in execution.
It's not awful, just a little dull and mopey at times. I can't see the great romance some other readers have found in these pages. It is mostly about how religious fervour can be a kind of mental illness that destroys a person from within. Despite being in love with Jerome from childhood, Alissa rejects his marriage proposal and gradually withers away out of some misplaced piety. She sees romantic love as a threat to her relationship with god, and so shuns it.
Pretty dark and interesting concept. A little flowery and woe-is-me in execution.
March 20, 2022
"...the purest and gentlest words would still have seemed too brutal..."
he is a delicate flower, anxious and yearning, planted carefully in his rarified little garden box. the little flower loves his little world, the neat orderly rows and the carefully chosen colors and the long talks about poetry and scripture and love. the little flower dreams of an abiding love. the gardener has planted another flower alongside him, a girl flower. except this flower is not a real flower, it is but a thing, a lovingly crafted and dainty little creation, subtle and submissive, well-versed in poetry and scripture and so able to converse with ease with the boy flower. and yet she is not a real flower. she is not a real girl. her lack of reality confounds and irritates; even more confounding is the gardener's insistence that this creation of his is a creature that lives. this unliving object is but a toy for the gardener, one that he can make enact his own version of femininity, a puppet that moves from simpering, saintly tease to self-loathing religious mania. he can use this toy to torment the poor little boy flower. he can give it bizarre motives and turn it toxic, harmful to both boy and itself. he can make his toy die, and does, all the better to give the boy flower a broken heart. the poor little boy flower moons over his absent toy, that un-girl, as if he and she ever had a real relationship, as if she were ever even real, and not simply a project of the gardener. the poor little reader can only sigh and roll his eyes at such a sad display.
he is a delicate flower, anxious and yearning, planted carefully in his rarified little garden box. the little flower loves his little world, the neat orderly rows and the carefully chosen colors and the long talks about poetry and scripture and love. the little flower dreams of an abiding love. the gardener has planted another flower alongside him, a girl flower. except this flower is not a real flower, it is but a thing, a lovingly crafted and dainty little creation, subtle and submissive, well-versed in poetry and scripture and so able to converse with ease with the boy flower. and yet she is not a real flower. she is not a real girl. her lack of reality confounds and irritates; even more confounding is the gardener's insistence that this creation of his is a creature that lives. this unliving object is but a toy for the gardener, one that he can make enact his own version of femininity, a puppet that moves from simpering, saintly tease to self-loathing religious mania. he can use this toy to torment the poor little boy flower. he can give it bizarre motives and turn it toxic, harmful to both boy and itself. he can make his toy die, and does, all the better to give the boy flower a broken heart. the poor little boy flower moons over his absent toy, that un-girl, as if he and she ever had a real relationship, as if she were ever even real, and not simply a project of the gardener. the poor little reader can only sigh and roll his eyes at such a sad display.
February 3, 2018
758. La porte etroite = Strait Is The Gate, André Gide
در تنگ – آندره ژید (نیلوفر) ادبیات فرانسه؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه آوریل سال 2003 میلادی
عنوان: در تنگ؛ نویسنده: آندره ژید؛ مترجم: عبدالله توکل؛ رضا سید حسینی؛ تهران، کتابفروشی زوار؛ 1316، در 144 ص؛ چاپ دیگر متین، 1342؛ در 207 ص؛ چاپ دیگر: بامداد، 1359، در 214 ص؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، نیلوفر، 1373؛ در 184 ص؛ چاپ پنجم 1381؛ شابک: 9644481615؛ چاپ ششم 1386؛
مترجم: عبدالحسین شریفیان؛ تهران، اساطیر، 1382؛ در 198 ص؛ چاپ دوم 1392؛ شابک: 9789643311490؛
آندره پل گیوم ژید ، در این کتاب خاطرات عشقی پاک را باز میگوید. ا. شربیانی
در تنگ – آندره ژید (نیلوفر) ادبیات فرانسه؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه آوریل سال 2003 میلادی
عنوان: در تنگ؛ نویسنده: آندره ژید؛ مترجم: عبدالله توکل؛ رضا سید حسینی؛ تهران، کتابفروشی زوار؛ 1316، در 144 ص؛ چاپ دیگر متین، 1342؛ در 207 ص؛ چاپ دیگر: بامداد، 1359، در 214 ص؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، نیلوفر، 1373؛ در 184 ص؛ چاپ پنجم 1381؛ شابک: 9644481615؛ چاپ ششم 1386؛
مترجم: عبدالحسین شریفیان؛ تهران، اساطیر، 1382؛ در 198 ص؛ چاپ دوم 1392؛ شابک: 9789643311490؛
آندره پل گیوم ژید ، در این کتاب خاطرات عشقی پاک را باز میگوید. ا. شربیانی
February 6, 2023
Сентиментальная чушь. Благородная Алиса с глазами, полными невыразимой любви под разными предлогами оттягивает сватовство своего возлюбленного Жерома и отказывается от счастья. Дарит ему аметистовый крестик, чтобы он подарил его своей дочери, но после отказа она попросила похоронить ее с этим крестиком. Ее раздирают противоречия. Не страдая какой-нибудь определенной болезнью, она тихо угасала. Слезы и скорбь. Дневник Алисы так же возвышен – грусть, надуманные страдания по Жерому, размышления о своей «жертве» для счастья Жюльетты (вся жертва заключается в том, чтобы выйти замуж позже сестры). Многострочные излияния о добродетели и вере. Добродетель ей видится, как сопротивление любви, и она признается в софистичности ее утверждений. Едва она оказывается рядом с Жеромом, ее возвышенные желания меркнут и гаснут…
Она переусердствовала в добродетели.
Она переусердствовала в добродетели.
December 15, 2011
This book is been hailed as one of the most sensous and sublime love stories of the 19th century, as well as being one of Andre Gide's most vaunted publications. Me? I have no basis for comment or comparison at this time as this was my first tentative foray into the world of Andre Gide. I don't think it will be my last but I don't think I will be charging out the door to clasp all of his other publications lovingly to my bosom. It also seems a little ironic that a gay Frenchman produced one of the best received and highly praised (but devoutly and notably chaste) novels about the ritual trials and tribulations of heterosexual romance?
Gide was alive and kicking in Paris at a time when you could barely walk down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées without rubbing shoulders with a literary giant, artist or poet. The avant garde and the artistic were practicallly falling over each other and no doubt causing endless obstructions in the bars and backstreets of Paris as the sought out each other for drinking, philosophising, trysting, quaffing absinthe and howling at the moon beneath La Tour Eiffel. Ok, I'm not sure how much of that is true but it is infinitely more interesting to imagine it that way, non?
Ultimately I failed to see the great romance of this book and was more generally struck by how it portrays the unchecked spiral of a young girl who quite clearly has some fairly severe mental health problems. These may or may not have been brought on by all the general "ardent-ness" and love-struck mooning which took place around her. Yes, yes young Jerome is an admirable chap who really does love Alissa in his own naieve and youthfully love-struck way, but with all the too-ing and fro-ing and self sacrifice going on, no one actually turns around for long enough to spot the onset of severe depression with religiously zealous overtones which is clearly manifesting itself in Alissa. That, and I found it a little dull at times.
Nil point for joie de vivre.
Gide was alive and kicking in Paris at a time when you could barely walk down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées without rubbing shoulders with a literary giant, artist or poet. The avant garde and the artistic were practicallly falling over each other and no doubt causing endless obstructions in the bars and backstreets of Paris as the sought out each other for drinking, philosophising, trysting, quaffing absinthe and howling at the moon beneath La Tour Eiffel. Ok, I'm not sure how much of that is true but it is infinitely more interesting to imagine it that way, non?
Ultimately I failed to see the great romance of this book and was more generally struck by how it portrays the unchecked spiral of a young girl who quite clearly has some fairly severe mental health problems. These may or may not have been brought on by all the general "ardent-ness" and love-struck mooning which took place around her. Yes, yes young Jerome is an admirable chap who really does love Alissa in his own naieve and youthfully love-struck way, but with all the too-ing and fro-ing and self sacrifice going on, no one actually turns around for long enough to spot the onset of severe depression with religiously zealous overtones which is clearly manifesting itself in Alissa. That, and I found it a little dull at times.
Nil point for joie de vivre.
August 16, 2011
As with most all of Gide’s best novels, this one concerns the anxiety and yearning at the heart of human experience. A very young Jerome Palissier regularly spends holidays at the house of his aunt and uncle’s estate in Fongueusemare in rural Normandy. One day, he happens upon his cousin Alissa, who is distraught at her aloof, hypochondriacal mother. Both desperate to rescue her and drawn by a genuine affection, Jerome takes it upon himself to sweep in and rescue her like a good, Christian knight errant. The subtle imagery of Jerome as a kind of salvific hero is only a foreshadowing of the religious unease that drives this novel forward toward its foreordained conclusion. As Jerome portentously declares, quoting Baudelaire, “Bientot nous plongerons dons les froides tenebres.”
Jerome and Alissa spend irenic summers together reciting poetry, reading from books to one another in their splendid garden, and enjoying music. The appropriateness of Jerome’s name jumps out at you when he mentions another of their mutual literary interests: “We had procured the Gospels in the Vulgate and knew long passages of them by heart.” (It was Saint Jerome who made the first Latin translation of the Bible.) Jerome wishes to become engaged before moving off to the Ecole Normale, but Alissa refuses. He is understandably upset by her rejection, but is only more spurred on by his ecstatic vision (again, that religious imagery) of eventually marrying her. Eventually, we learn that Alissa has sacrificed Jerome so that her sister, Juliette, will be able to get married first, yet even after Juliette gets married - to a boorish, business-minded vintner - Alissa continues to push him away.
He visits her at Fongueusemare while finishing both his schooling and a military stint, but every time he mentions wanting to marry her, she rejects him and requests that he leave soon, that she cannot bear his presence. Eventually, she tells him that her love of God surpasses her love for him, even though she has always passionately loved Jerome. During their last meeting together, Alissa has grown thin and pale, presumably because of her anchorite-like existence; she has also removed the books of poetry and novels she and Jerome used to read together, and replaced them with works of cheap, vulgar piety. Even while there is room here to doubt Alissa’s love for Jerome, a chapter that includes her personal journals makes it perfectly clear that she loved Jerome just as much as he loved her, if not more so. Jerome has a final meeting with Juliette while she is enceinte with her fifth child by the vintner. Seeing him calls to mind both her sister’s Christ-like sacrifice and makes her reflect on her own uneventful, bourgeois life. As Flaubert said: “Madame Bovary, c’est moi.”
For maximum effect, as noted above, read this right next to Gide’s “The Immoralist” for a most effective couple of case studies. Considering the year of publication (1909) and the ideas considered – repression, sexuality, sublimation – it should be noted that Gide almost certainly had Freud in mind when he was writing this, though it yields wonderful insights into human psychology even without a Freudian reading.
When reading a novel, sometimes the most difficult obstacle to being able to truly and fully appreciate it is the historical change that has taken place between the time in which it was written and when you read it. Judging from some of the reviews I have seen, that seems to be the case with this novel, too. In both this and “The Immoralist,” Gide looks at the tension, confusion, and repression that can often come about when romantic love is pitted against, and forced to compete with, love for the divine. Since this novel was published, this antagonism has almost completely died, which may lead some readers to accuse Alissa of being frigid. Once we are able to bridge that historical gap, however, and realize that Alissa did not see her torment as self-imposed but rather something that was required of her, this novel proves itself to be a superior meditation on both romantic passion and, what was once thought to be its opposite, sacrifice.
Jerome and Alissa spend irenic summers together reciting poetry, reading from books to one another in their splendid garden, and enjoying music. The appropriateness of Jerome’s name jumps out at you when he mentions another of their mutual literary interests: “We had procured the Gospels in the Vulgate and knew long passages of them by heart.” (It was Saint Jerome who made the first Latin translation of the Bible.) Jerome wishes to become engaged before moving off to the Ecole Normale, but Alissa refuses. He is understandably upset by her rejection, but is only more spurred on by his ecstatic vision (again, that religious imagery) of eventually marrying her. Eventually, we learn that Alissa has sacrificed Jerome so that her sister, Juliette, will be able to get married first, yet even after Juliette gets married - to a boorish, business-minded vintner - Alissa continues to push him away.
He visits her at Fongueusemare while finishing both his schooling and a military stint, but every time he mentions wanting to marry her, she rejects him and requests that he leave soon, that she cannot bear his presence. Eventually, she tells him that her love of God surpasses her love for him, even though she has always passionately loved Jerome. During their last meeting together, Alissa has grown thin and pale, presumably because of her anchorite-like existence; she has also removed the books of poetry and novels she and Jerome used to read together, and replaced them with works of cheap, vulgar piety. Even while there is room here to doubt Alissa’s love for Jerome, a chapter that includes her personal journals makes it perfectly clear that she loved Jerome just as much as he loved her, if not more so. Jerome has a final meeting with Juliette while she is enceinte with her fifth child by the vintner. Seeing him calls to mind both her sister’s Christ-like sacrifice and makes her reflect on her own uneventful, bourgeois life. As Flaubert said: “Madame Bovary, c’est moi.”
For maximum effect, as noted above, read this right next to Gide’s “The Immoralist” for a most effective couple of case studies. Considering the year of publication (1909) and the ideas considered – repression, sexuality, sublimation – it should be noted that Gide almost certainly had Freud in mind when he was writing this, though it yields wonderful insights into human psychology even without a Freudian reading.
When reading a novel, sometimes the most difficult obstacle to being able to truly and fully appreciate it is the historical change that has taken place between the time in which it was written and when you read it. Judging from some of the reviews I have seen, that seems to be the case with this novel, too. In both this and “The Immoralist,” Gide looks at the tension, confusion, and repression that can often come about when romantic love is pitted against, and forced to compete with, love for the divine. Since this novel was published, this antagonism has almost completely died, which may lead some readers to accuse Alissa of being frigid. Once we are able to bridge that historical gap, however, and realize that Alissa did not see her torment as self-imposed but rather something that was required of her, this novel proves itself to be a superior meditation on both romantic passion and, what was once thought to be its opposite, sacrifice.
October 26, 2011
The worst kind of person is one who uses the love of another to hurt herself, someone (Alissa) who willfully provokes feelings in another (Jerome) then uses them in cheap furtherance of a self-glorifying martyrdom. Make no mistake: the about-face from self-indulgence to self-denial is itself an indulgence--and especially despicable when it makes casualties (Jerome, Juliette) of others. Morality is not algebraic; cessation doesn't undo; and neither human frailty nor youth nor the absence of ill intentions excuse. There are consequences for action and inaction. The narrow way and the strait gate are not attained by such monstrous irresponsibility and thoughtless sacrifice of others.
Pretty writing but enraging subject matter. Some have convincingly argued that there's a larger message to this novella--namely the ill effects of taking religious notions too far--but I don't see any awareness of that in the narrative itself. I guess I have little patience for cautionary tales. Forgive my righteous rant, but I feel as though my emotions have been preyed upon for no good reason, and I've wasted my sick day reading this, and that makes me gra-ha-um-py.
Pretty writing but enraging subject matter. Some have convincingly argued that there's a larger message to this novella--namely the ill effects of taking religious notions too far--but I don't see any awareness of that in the narrative itself. I guess I have little patience for cautionary tales. Forgive my righteous rant, but I feel as though my emotions have been preyed upon for no good reason, and I've wasted my sick day reading this, and that makes me gra-ha-um-py.
February 7, 2017
A haunting tale of doomed love.
Sad, powerful and deeply moving.
Stimulates the emotions with beautiful prose.
Such a sad ending!
Sad, powerful and deeply moving.
Stimulates the emotions with beautiful prose.
Such a sad ending!
January 13, 2015
النسخة الفرنسية من الرافعي والمنفلوطي.. تقريبًا.
February 7, 2023
3.5
If only we could lean over the soul we love and see as in a mirror the image we cast there!- read in another as in ourselves, better than in ourselves!
The book examines human experiences, misconceptions, anxieties and the strains the youth go through when in love.
Le meilleur moment des amours
N'est pas quand on a dit : "Je t'aime".
(The best moment of love
Isn't when we said, "I love you.")
If only we could lean over the soul we love and see as in a mirror the image we cast there!- read in another as in ourselves, better than in ourselves!
The book examines human experiences, misconceptions, anxieties and the strains the youth go through when in love.
Le meilleur moment des amours
N'est pas quand on a dit : "Je t'aime".
(The best moment of love
Isn't when we said, "I love you.")
December 15, 2022
Die enge Pforte ist eine Liebesgeschichte, wie sie heute wohl nicht mehr vorkommen könnte. Seit seiner Jugend liebt Jerome seine Cousine Alissa und sie eigentlich auch ihn. Doch die Predigt eines Priesters über das unzüchtige Leben von Alissas Mutter, veranlasst Alissa zu einem äußerst keuschen und puritanischen Lebenswandel. Jeromes Versuchen, sich mit ihr zu verloben, weicht sie immer wieder aus: einmal findet sie, sie seien zu jung, ein andermal findet sie sich zu alt für Jerome etc. p.p. Sie versucht sogar ihre Schwester Juliette, die ebenfalls in Jerome verliebt ist, mit diesem zu verkuppeln, um sie glücklich zu machen. Innerlich wird Alissa jedoch von ihrem Zwiespalt zwischen dem puritanischen Lebenswandel und ihrer Liebe zu Jerome zerfressen und stirbt schließlich eines frühen Todes.
Das klingt hier alles ein wenig lapidar, ist aber in Wirklichkeit eine sehr feinfühlig beschriebene Liebesgeschichte. Trotz der Kürze des Buches sind alle Charaktere sehr gut ausgearbeitet, die Dialoge wohl durchdacht. Manches muss man sich selbst erschließen. Am Ende gibt ein Auszug aus Alissas Tagebüchern Aufschluss über einige Lücken in der Geschichte.
André Gide ist ein Schriftsteller, den heute nicht mehr viele kennen. 1947 wurde er mit dem Literaturnobelpreis ausgezeichnet. Die enge Pforte ist ein guter, leicht zu lesender Einstieg in sein Werk.
Das klingt hier alles ein wenig lapidar, ist aber in Wirklichkeit eine sehr feinfühlig beschriebene Liebesgeschichte. Trotz der Kürze des Buches sind alle Charaktere sehr gut ausgearbeitet, die Dialoge wohl durchdacht. Manches muss man sich selbst erschließen. Am Ende gibt ein Auszug aus Alissas Tagebüchern Aufschluss über einige Lücken in der Geschichte.
André Gide ist ein Schriftsteller, den heute nicht mehr viele kennen. 1947 wurde er mit dem Literaturnobelpreis ausgezeichnet. Die enge Pforte ist ein guter, leicht zu lesender Einstieg in sein Werk.
January 5, 2019
كثيرًا ما يبدو لي أن حبي هو خير ما في نفسي، وأن فضائلي كلها تتعلق به وتتغذى منه، وأنه يرفعني إلى أعلى من ذاتي فلولاه لسقطت إلى ضعة الأناس العاديين. ففي رجاء لقائك وحده يبدو لي الدرب الشاق أفضل الدروب."
في هذه الرواية يعرض أندريه جيد تعقيدات الشعور الإنساني من خلال حبيبين في علاقة معقدة من فرط تداخل المشاعر وطغيان شعور الذنب وعدم الثقة المستحوذة على أحد طرفي العلاقة فأدى هذا إلى التعقيد في العلاقة بالرغم من تساميها.. تقول هي أنها خشيت من أن تحيد علاقتهما عن كمالها بعد أن وصلت لمرحلة سامية من الحب فأصبحت تهرب منه من فرط حبها له.
هذا الشعور عندما يدخل في العلاقة يفسدها، الخوف يمنع من الحياة.
رواية جيدة وتعكس الشعور الإنساني وتعقيداته بشكل مميز.
في هذه الرواية يعرض أندريه جيد تعقيدات الشعور الإنساني من خلال حبيبين في علاقة معقدة من فرط تداخل المشاعر وطغيان شعور الذنب وعدم الثقة المستحوذة على أحد طرفي العلاقة فأدى هذا إلى التعقيد في العلاقة بالرغم من تساميها.. تقول هي أنها خشيت من أن تحيد علاقتهما عن كمالها بعد أن وصلت لمرحلة سامية من الحب فأصبحت تهرب منه من فرط حبها له.
هذا الشعور عندما يدخل في العلاقة يفسدها، الخوف يمنع من الحياة.
رواية جيدة وتعكس الشعور الإنساني وتعقيداته بشكل مميز.
February 8, 2023
O título deste livro tem origem nesta passagem:
"Esforçai-vos por entrar pela porta estreita, pois a porta larga e o caminho espaçoso levam à perdição, e numerosos são os que por aqui passam; mas estreita é a porta e cerrado o caminho que conduzem à vida, e poucos são aqueles que os encontram." (Mateus 7:13,14)
Neste caso, a porta estreita não conduziu à vida, mas à infelicidade e à morte. Um relato de fanatismo religioso no seu melhor, numa excelente tradução de Valentim Garcia. Gostei bastante e fiquei fã do senhor Gide.
"Esforçai-vos por entrar pela porta estreita, pois a porta larga e o caminho espaçoso levam à perdição, e numerosos são os que por aqui passam; mas estreita é a porta e cerrado o caminho que conduzem à vida, e poucos são aqueles que os encontram." (Mateus 7:13,14)
Neste caso, a porta estreita não conduziu à vida, mas à infelicidade e à morte. Um relato de fanatismo religioso no seu melhor, numa excelente tradução de Valentim Garcia. Gostei bastante e fiquei fã do senhor Gide.
August 9, 2015
هل تعرف الإحساس الذي يراودك حين تقابل وجهك بعد عشرات السنين فتنظر للمرأة وتتذكر عمرك كله وهو يمر أمامك وكأنك تنظر من نافذة قطار سريع ؟
هذا الإحساس هو إحساس البطل في هذه الرواية التي
تتعبك معك في رومانسيتها وأخلاقها وضميرها المستيقظ دائماً
فلا الضمير ينام ولا البطل ينسي ولا المشوار ينتهي ..
وكيف ينتهي المشوار والبطل لا ينسي ؟ وحبيبته تضحي بنفسها ؟ وأختها تتعذب بحبها ؟
فالبطل يحب حبيبته
وحبيبته تحبه
وأختها تحب حبيب اختها وهو لا يحبها
وصديقه يحب اخت حبيبته وهي لا تحبه
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
فنحن هنا أمام رباعي معذب من بداية الرواية إلي نهايتها
وأنت تقرأ وتتعذب معهم
وربما تكون الفكرة مُستهلكة إلي حد ما ، وربما تكون قد قرأتها من قبل في أكثر من عمل ، أو شاهدتها في أكثر من فيلم ..
إلا أن الإحساس صادق للغاية ويلعب فيه الضمير الدور الأساسي
فالرواية لا تخلو إطلاقاً من النزعة الدينية .. والفضيلة والإثار يلعبان الدور الرئيس في الرواية !!
فكل واحد من هذا الرباعي فضل أن يكسر قلبه علي أن يكسر قلب الآخر
وفضل كل واحد منهم أن يحيا تعيسا حتي لا يُتعس الآخر ..
وكانت النتيجة أن كلهم ظلو تعساء حزناً علي بعضهم البعض
..
ومرت الأيام .. وكبروا .. وكبر الحزن معهم ..
وظلت الذكري .. ومات النسيان مع الفرحة ..
حسناً .. رواية حزينة ؟؟
نعم ..
مملة تماماً ؟؟
لا ..
فالرواية تستحق التفكير والصبر .. حتي لو فكرتها مستهلكة ..
/
فقدت معي نجمتين
نجمة للفكرة المُكررة والملل في بعض الفقرات ..
ونجمة أخري لكتابة الأحداث علي هيئة خطابات مُرسلة في بعض الأحيان وهذا ما لا أحبه
!
/
أما عن إسلوب أندرية جيد ..
فقد كانت القراءة الأولي له ،
وهو أديب فرنسي شهير للغاية
لابد أن تمر عليه إذا كنت مهتماً بالأدب الغربي ،
حتي ولو لم تُعجب بإسلوبه .. عليك أن تقرأ له .. ولو مرة واحدة
~~
November 3, 2016
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar'ın kitaplarından birinde adi geçen romandı Dar Kapı, bu vesileyle okuma listeme almıştım...
Girisgahtan bir alıntı ile baslayayım: "Fedakarlık nedir, insan aşk için nelerden vazgeçer, peki ya ilahi aşk? Saflık için, Tanrı'ya tertemiz geri dönmek için, erdem olarak kabul edilen değerleri korumak için insan bazen kendi hayatını verebilir mi?"
Kitapta başlarken çevirmenin yazdığı sunuştan yaptığım bu alıntı öyle değerli ki, eserin devamında bu soruların cevaplarına yazarın yaşamından kesitler kullanarak verdiği cevapları bulacaksınız.
Sade anlatimlı, çabucak biten, derin bir eser Dar Kapı.
Okumak hayamınıza farklı kapılar açacaktır.
Girisgahtan bir alıntı ile baslayayım: "Fedakarlık nedir, insan aşk için nelerden vazgeçer, peki ya ilahi aşk? Saflık için, Tanrı'ya tertemiz geri dönmek için, erdem olarak kabul edilen değerleri korumak için insan bazen kendi hayatını verebilir mi?"
Kitapta başlarken çevirmenin yazdığı sunuştan yaptığım bu alıntı öyle değerli ki, eserin devamında bu soruların cevaplarına yazarın yaşamından kesitler kullanarak verdiği cevapları bulacaksınız.
Sade anlatimlı, çabucak biten, derin bir eser Dar Kapı.
Okumak hayamınıza farklı kapılar açacaktır.
October 24, 2014
Much about this novel could lead some current readers to brush it aside, maybe even with a sneer: overheated teenage romanticism, a struggle with a literalistic but now somewhat passee notion of what Protestant devotion should be, frequent Biblical references and quotations, a somewhat "old-fashioned" use of letters and diary entries to present several points of view, etc. But I confess this novel enthralled me precisely because I have seen in my own religious tradition so many of the same tendencies portrayed here, particularly the tendency to construct a relationship in such a religious-romantic way that only disappointment and frustration can follow. The narrator is a young man, Jerome who spends much of his youth with his female cousin, Alissa, reading poetry side-by-side in a lovely family garden (i.e., "Eden")--these are children of a hyper-educated, Protestant bourgeoisie. Alissa, for Jerome is obsessively enticing and entiringly maddening (the latter for me as well). She is determined not to fall into the sensuality of her "creole" mother, which so pained her father, and also to sacrifice her own life, in some Christ-like way, for the happiness of her rather mediocre sister. But let me say, without raising the necessity of a spoiler alert, that one must withhold judging her too harshly, as I had done, before reading the final bundle of diary entries, which conclude the novel. These add a layer of depth--or at maybe confusion--to Alissa's fascinating personality.
February 4, 2019
من انجيل " لوقا " يستمد الكاتب عنوانا لروايته ، وبتأثير كلمات خلال موعظة في كنيسة يستمع لها بطل الرواية تنطلق الأحداث ، و اما بطلة الرواية فما هي إلا ظمأ صوفي يمشي على قدمين او قُل هي صلاة لملاك على هيئة شخصية روائية ، فتأمل الأجواء المصاحبة لهذه الرائعة الروائية !!
علاقة الحب بالصوفية والفلسفة الالهية هو موضوع الرواية الرئيس ، وعليه يبني الكاتب أحداثها من خلال العلاقة الغرامية التي تجمع بطلي الرواية ( اليزا و جيروم ) .
في البداية تشعر ان لا شئ مميز في علاقة الحب هذه ، تسير الامور على طبيعتها وبمراحلها المعتادة في أية علاقة مماثلة ، و مع تقدم الأحداث تبدأ باكتشاف ما يريد الكاتب تصويره في هذه العلاقة و على اكثر من محور :
1-الحب كمتطلب عقلي ( اختلاط العقل بالعاطفة ) فالفكر لدى الحبيبان ما هو الا سبيل لاتحاد أدق و الطف فهو قناع العاطفة وتمويه الحب .
" الحب الذي في عقلي يفكر " .
" ان حبك لي حب عقلي قبل كل شئ ، وامعان ذهني حلو في الحنان والاخلاص "
ان في ضروب عقلنة الهوى والعاطفة التي ساقها الكاتب خلال هذه العلاقة لآية للسائلين ، فكل تطور تشهده العلاقة يخضع لكل أدوات العقل والمنطق وامعان الفكر من طرفيها فيأتي هذا التطور فاقدا لبريقه وخافتا في وهجه فيعلل المتحابان ذلك ويعلقانه على شماعة الفضيلة وهذا ما يقودنا الى المحور الثاني .
" فخير لحظات الحب هي ما سبقت قول أحبك " .
2-البحث عن الكمال الخيالي / الفضيلة
" وتكتب الي أليزا " أنت الذي لا تشكو أبدا ولا أستطيع تصورك خائر العزيمة " فكيف لا أذلل كل الصعاب تدليلا على مقالها ؟ !"
منذ بداية غرامهما دأب كل منهما على محاولة تنقية علاقتهما ونفسيهما من كل الشوائب الانسانية والتي لا يمكن ايجاد علاقة خالية منها بحكم الواقع ، ولا اظن الكاتب من المتوهمين باحتمالية تحقيق ذلك ولكنه سلط الضوء على هذا الجانب ( الظروف الخارجية ) على حساب الجانب الآخر ( الصراعات النفسية ) ، فتجده يختبئ خلف ضعف ذا��رة الراوي " جيروم " حينا ، وصعوبة تصوير المحنة التي تعتمر نفسه حينا آخر، او عدم ضرورتها للسياق في أحيان أخرى ولك بتلف صفحات من يوميات اليزا مثالا على ذلك .
قاد هذا البحث عن الكمال والفضيلة صاحبته الى حبها الأعظم والأجل ، وحيث ان هذا الطريق ضيق ولا يتسع لهما معا في الوقت نفسه كان قرارها الحاسم والذي شكل ذروة الرواية و عقدتها .
" يا صديقي ، اني أستشعر بقربك سعادة ما كنت أحسبها طوع يدي انسان ..... ولكن صدقني اننا لم نولد للسعادة "
* ترجمة الشعر الى أبيات لها صدر وعجز كما تُرجمت في هذه الرواية عمل اجرامي يجب ان يعاقب عليه القانون ، فاذا ما علمنا أن الشعر هو ما يضيع في الترجمة العادية التي يُعَتد بها ، فان ترجمة كهذه تصبح أقرب الى المهزلة ( أقصد أبيات الشعر المترجمة الى العربية وليس الترجمة الكاملة للرواية ) .
* مركب النقص لدى عميد الأدب العربي طه حسين ، كان واضحا جليا في الرسائل المتبادلة بينه وبين اندريه جيد والتي عدت من قبلهما في مقام المقدمة للترجمة العربية للرواية ، فلم يكن هناك أدنى داعي للرد الذي اتحفنا به طه حسين دفاعا عن الاسلام من هجوم لم يقع ، ولكنها عقدة النقص اذ تدفع صاحبها الى الخفة .
بالعودة الى بطلة روايتنا
" يا الهي ! تمنيت لو نُقبل كلانا عليك ، تدفع احدنا قوة الآخر ! يقول أولهما للثاني " استند الى ذراعي ، اذا تعبت " فيجيبه " حسبي أن اراك جانبي " ولكن لا ! اذ الطريق التي توصينا بها ، يا الهي ، طريق ضيقة حتى ما يستطيع سلوكها قرينين " !!!
انها الظمأ الصوفي اذ يمشي على قدمين ، فتصفق له ملائكة السماء !!
علاقة الحب بالصوفية والفلسفة الالهية هو موضوع الرواية الرئيس ، وعليه يبني الكاتب أحداثها من خلال العلاقة الغرامية التي تجمع بطلي الرواية ( اليزا و جيروم ) .
في البداية تشعر ان لا شئ مميز في علاقة الحب هذه ، تسير الامور على طبيعتها وبمراحلها المعتادة في أية علاقة مماثلة ، و مع تقدم الأحداث تبدأ باكتشاف ما يريد الكاتب تصويره في هذه العلاقة و على اكثر من محور :
1-الحب كمتطلب عقلي ( اختلاط العقل بالعاطفة ) فالفكر لدى الحبيبان ما هو الا سبيل لاتحاد أدق و الطف فهو قناع العاطفة وتمويه الحب .
" الحب الذي في عقلي يفكر " .
" ان حبك لي حب عقلي قبل كل شئ ، وامعان ذهني حلو في الحنان والاخلاص "
ان في ضروب عقلنة الهوى والعاطفة التي ساقها الكاتب خلال هذه العلاقة لآية للسائلين ، فكل تطور تشهده العلاقة يخضع لكل أدوات العقل والمنطق وامعان الفكر من طرفيها فيأتي هذا التطور فاقدا لبريقه وخافتا في وهجه فيعلل المتحابان ذلك ويعلقانه على شماعة الفضيلة وهذا ما يقودنا الى المحور الثاني .
" فخير لحظات الحب هي ما سبقت قول أحبك " .
2-البحث عن الكمال الخيالي / الفضيلة
" وتكتب الي أليزا " أنت الذي لا تشكو أبدا ولا أستطيع تصورك خائر العزيمة " فكيف لا أذلل كل الصعاب تدليلا على مقالها ؟ !"
منذ بداية غرامهما دأب كل منهما على محاولة تنقية علاقتهما ونفسيهما من كل الشوائب الانسانية والتي لا يمكن ايجاد علاقة خالية منها بحكم الواقع ، ولا اظن الكاتب من المتوهمين باحتمالية تحقيق ذلك ولكنه سلط الضوء على هذا الجانب ( الظروف الخارجية ) على حساب الجانب الآخر ( الصراعات النفسية ) ، فتجده يختبئ خلف ضعف ذا��رة الراوي " جيروم " حينا ، وصعوبة تصوير المحنة التي تعتمر نفسه حينا آخر، او عدم ضرورتها للسياق في أحيان أخرى ولك بتلف صفحات من يوميات اليزا مثالا على ذلك .
قاد هذا البحث عن الكمال والفضيلة صاحبته الى حبها الأعظم والأجل ، وحيث ان هذا الطريق ضيق ولا يتسع لهما معا في الوقت نفسه كان قرارها الحاسم والذي شكل ذروة الرواية و عقدتها .
" يا صديقي ، اني أستشعر بقربك سعادة ما كنت أحسبها طوع يدي انسان ..... ولكن صدقني اننا لم نولد للسعادة "
* ترجمة الشعر الى أبيات لها صدر وعجز كما تُرجمت في هذه الرواية عمل اجرامي يجب ان يعاقب عليه القانون ، فاذا ما علمنا أن الشعر هو ما يضيع في الترجمة العادية التي يُعَتد بها ، فان ترجمة كهذه تصبح أقرب الى المهزلة ( أقصد أبيات الشعر المترجمة الى العربية وليس الترجمة الكاملة للرواية ) .
* مركب النقص لدى عميد الأدب العربي طه حسين ، كان واضحا جليا في الرسائل المتبادلة بينه وبين اندريه جيد والتي عدت من قبلهما في مقام المقدمة للترجمة العربية للرواية ، فلم يكن هناك أدنى داعي للرد الذي اتحفنا به طه حسين دفاعا عن الاسلام من هجوم لم يقع ، ولكنها عقدة النقص اذ تدفع صاحبها الى الخفة .
بالعودة الى بطلة روايتنا
" يا الهي ! تمنيت لو نُقبل كلانا عليك ، تدفع احدنا قوة الآخر ! يقول أولهما للثاني " استند الى ذراعي ، اذا تعبت " فيجيبه " حسبي أن اراك جانبي " ولكن لا ! اذ الطريق التي توصينا بها ، يا الهي ، طريق ضيقة حتى ما يستطيع سلوكها قرينين " !!!
انها الظمأ الصوفي اذ يمشي على قدمين ، فتصفق له ملائكة السماء !!
August 23, 2020
کتاب احتمالا برای خیلی ها قشنگی بود. توصیفات جذابی داشت. قلم زیبایی داشت نویسنده. در حقیقت بنظرم از نظر تکنیک و حتی خود داستان (برای بعضی ها) هیییچ مشکلی نداشت.
اما من فقط ۳ ستاره میدم اونم چون این داستان و شخصیت هاش منو به شدت عصبانی کردن! واقعا میخواستم جفتشونو به قتل برسونم و بدبختانه اینکه داستان مثل اکویی بود از اخرین خاطره غم انگیز خودم....پس اگر خودخواهی بیش از حد یه ادم و بزغالگی و نفهمی بکی دیگه زیاد ازارتون نمیده قطعا از کتاب خوشتون خواهد اومد.
اما من فقط ۳ ستاره میدم اونم چون این داستان و شخصیت هاش منو به شدت عصبانی کردن! واقعا میخواستم جفتشونو به قتل برسونم و بدبختانه اینکه داستان مثل اکویی بود از اخرین خاطره غم انگیز خودم....پس اگر خودخواهی بیش از حد یه ادم و بزغالگی و نفهمی بکی دیگه زیاد ازارتون نمیده قطعا از کتاب خوشتون خواهد اومد.
February 25, 2016
"Esforçai-vos por entrar pela porta estreita, pois a porta larga e o caminho espaçoso levam à perdição, e numerosos são os que por aqui passam; mas estreita é a porta e cerrado o caminho que conduzem à vida, e poucos são aqueles que os encontram."
(Mateus 7:13,14)
Julieta ama Jerónimo.
Jerónimo ama Alissa.
Alissa ama Jerónimo.
Julieta casa com Eduardo.
Alissa e Jerónimo são infelizes para sempre...
(Mateus 7:13,14)
Julieta ama Jerónimo.
Jerónimo ama Alissa.
Alissa ama Jerónimo.
Julieta casa com Eduardo.
Alissa e Jerónimo são infelizes para sempre...
August 16, 2012
Is Andre Gide always pointing in the wrong direction? And does he ever have any fun? Can someone please tell him that the First World War's coming and that very soon we're all going to be living in a world of "if it's a bit warm, take off your jacket. You don't have to move your entire household 200 miles to the north"?
I think I'd probably have been kinder if the secret diary had been more fun. A book with a boring secret diary? That's just rubbish, isn't it?
November 21, 2012
كلاسيكى صرف ... عذاب الحب العذرى و البحث عن الفضيله المطلقة ... حيث يكون الله وحد فى قلب الانسان و لا مشاركه من اخرين
بدايتها كانت جميله ... لكن يعيبها الكأبة المفرطة , ايضا لم يكن واضحا اسباب التقلب المفاجئ فى حالات البطلة لكن النهاية كانت كافيه للتوضيح
واضح ان النص الاصلى صعب لغويا , حاول المترجم مجاراة المستوى لكن جاء النص متكلفا بعض الشئ
بدايتها كانت جميله ... لكن يعيبها الكأبة المفرطة , ايضا لم يكن واضحا اسباب التقلب المفاجئ فى حالات البطلة لكن النهاية كانت كافيه للتوضيح
واضح ان النص الاصلى صعب لغويا , حاول المترجم مجاراة المستوى لكن جاء النص متكلفا بعض الشئ
November 11, 2018
0,4 estrellas
September 15, 2016
يخطئ أندريه جيد عندنا يعتبر أن الحب الدنيوي يجب أن يسير في درب العذاب لنيل ملكوت الله ، تلك نظرة مخصية تافهة للحب أرفضها و أرفض،كل متعلقاتها ، باختصار جيروم و أليسا ثنائي فاشل ، و أليسا المقيتة التي أضاعت لحظات كان الأجدر أن تعيشها بكل زخمها مع حبها تستحق،الرثاء ، لوقوعها تحت تأثير استيهام بغيض جداً .
December 25, 2018
KENDİME NOT: André Gide okumaya devam et. Başka, herhangi bi' kitabını daha çok seveceksin belli.
Elinde süründürmemeye çalış derim. Aynı anda bin tane kitap okumak, bin parçaya bölünmek nasıl bir hobi vizyonsuz köpek? Başladığın kitabı bitirmeden diğerini eline alma. Yettin artık.
Buda şurada bi' dursun: 843.912 GID 2013 - 843 GİD 2002
Elinde süründürmemeye çalış derim. Aynı anda bin tane kitap okumak, bin parçaya bölünmek nasıl bir hobi vizyonsuz köpek? Başladığın kitabı bitirmeden diğerini eline alma. Yettin artık.
Buda şurada bi' dursun: 843.912 GID 2013 - 843 GİD 2002
April 26, 2017
Strait is the Gate is, for some reason, the first of Andre Gide's books which I have read, despite his having been on my radar for years. I had written his name upon the list of authors whom I hoped to get to during 2017, and also thought that he would be a great inclusion upon my Reading the World list. First published in France in 1909, and in Dorothy Bussy's 1924 translation, I could not pass up the chance of adding yet another marvellous classic of French literature to my list.
Strait is the Gate also seemed a wonderful place to start, being, as it is, the first novel by the Nobel Prize for Literature winner of 1947, and one of his best works in English; indeed, its blurb states that is is '... regarded by many as the most perfect piece of writing which Gide ever achieved. In its simplicity, its craftsmanship, its limpidity of style, and its power to stimulate the mind and the emotions at one and the same time, it set a standard for the short novel which has not yet been excelled'.
Strait is the Gate is a 'story of young love blighted and turned to tragedy by the sense of religious dedication in the beloved'. The novella's opening paragraph is relayed in one of my favourite styles: 'Some people might have made a book out of it; but the story I am going to tell is one which took all my strength to live and over which I spent all my virtue. So I shall set down my recollections quite simply, and if in places they are ragged I shall have recourse to no invention, and neither patch nor connect them; any effort I might make to dress them up would take away the last pleasure I hope to gt in telling them'. All of Gide's writing holds this strength, and his descriptions in particular are absolutely beautiful, and often quite startling. Of the house of an uncle, our narrator, Jerome, says thus: 'Certain others [windows] have flaws in the glass which our parents used to call "bubbles"; a tree seen through them becomes distorted; when the postman passes he suddenly develops a hump'. He describes his aunt, Lucile, whilst she is playing the piano: '... sometimes she would break off in the middle of a bar and pause, suspended motionless on a chord'.
After the death of both of his parents, young Jerome becomes infatuated with his cousin, Alissa, with whom he spends every summer at her family's secluded house in Le Havre. 'No doubt,' he says, 'like all boys of fourteen, I was still unformed and pliable, but my love for Alissa soon urged me further and more deliberately along the road on which I had started'. Alissa's younger sister, Juliette, fast becomes a go-between for the pair: 'She was the messenger... I talked to her interminably of our love, and she never seemed tired of listening. I told her what I dared not tell Alissa, with whom excess of love made me constrained and shy. Alissa seemed to lend herself to this child's play and to be delighted that I should talk so happily to her sister, ignoring or feigning to ignore that in reality we talked only of her'.
Religion was not so much of an aspect here as the blurb makes out; rather, it is more of a familial novel, and a wonderfully wrought one at that. Interesting family politics are at play throughout. Letters which Gide writes from the perspective of others in Jerome's family feel entirely authentic; he has captured such nuanced elements of voice, and renders each distinctive. His prose is packed with emotion, which grows as the work progresses.
Bussy's translation is seamless; there is such a marvellous elasticity to the writing, and the whole has been rendered beautifully. Strait is the Gate is a truly beautiful work, and a novella which I was immediately immersed within. Whilst it is my first taste of Gide's work, it certainly will not be my last. I can fast see him becoming one of my favourite authors, in fact.
Strait is the Gate also seemed a wonderful place to start, being, as it is, the first novel by the Nobel Prize for Literature winner of 1947, and one of his best works in English; indeed, its blurb states that is is '... regarded by many as the most perfect piece of writing which Gide ever achieved. In its simplicity, its craftsmanship, its limpidity of style, and its power to stimulate the mind and the emotions at one and the same time, it set a standard for the short novel which has not yet been excelled'.
Strait is the Gate is a 'story of young love blighted and turned to tragedy by the sense of religious dedication in the beloved'. The novella's opening paragraph is relayed in one of my favourite styles: 'Some people might have made a book out of it; but the story I am going to tell is one which took all my strength to live and over which I spent all my virtue. So I shall set down my recollections quite simply, and if in places they are ragged I shall have recourse to no invention, and neither patch nor connect them; any effort I might make to dress them up would take away the last pleasure I hope to gt in telling them'. All of Gide's writing holds this strength, and his descriptions in particular are absolutely beautiful, and often quite startling. Of the house of an uncle, our narrator, Jerome, says thus: 'Certain others [windows] have flaws in the glass which our parents used to call "bubbles"; a tree seen through them becomes distorted; when the postman passes he suddenly develops a hump'. He describes his aunt, Lucile, whilst she is playing the piano: '... sometimes she would break off in the middle of a bar and pause, suspended motionless on a chord'.
After the death of both of his parents, young Jerome becomes infatuated with his cousin, Alissa, with whom he spends every summer at her family's secluded house in Le Havre. 'No doubt,' he says, 'like all boys of fourteen, I was still unformed and pliable, but my love for Alissa soon urged me further and more deliberately along the road on which I had started'. Alissa's younger sister, Juliette, fast becomes a go-between for the pair: 'She was the messenger... I talked to her interminably of our love, and she never seemed tired of listening. I told her what I dared not tell Alissa, with whom excess of love made me constrained and shy. Alissa seemed to lend herself to this child's play and to be delighted that I should talk so happily to her sister, ignoring or feigning to ignore that in reality we talked only of her'.
Religion was not so much of an aspect here as the blurb makes out; rather, it is more of a familial novel, and a wonderfully wrought one at that. Interesting family politics are at play throughout. Letters which Gide writes from the perspective of others in Jerome's family feel entirely authentic; he has captured such nuanced elements of voice, and renders each distinctive. His prose is packed with emotion, which grows as the work progresses.
Bussy's translation is seamless; there is such a marvellous elasticity to the writing, and the whole has been rendered beautifully. Strait is the Gate is a truly beautiful work, and a novella which I was immediately immersed within. Whilst it is my first taste of Gide's work, it certainly will not be my last. I can fast see him becoming one of my favourite authors, in fact.
January 29, 2020
*2.5/5
Θα είμαι πολύ κακιά αν πω πως δεν καταλαβαίνω ακριβώς γιατί το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, έδωσε στον συγγραφέα του το Νόμπελ Λογοτεχνίας;
Νιώθω πως το βιβλίο αυτό, είναι πολύ... λίγο.
Όχι, δεν αναφέρομα�� στον αριθμό των σελίδων -αν και ισχύει- αλλά σε όλα τ'άλλα.
Στην πλοκή, στους διαλόγους, στους χαρακτηρες και τις σχέσεις τους...
Τίποτα δεν έμοιαζε ολοκληρωμένο. Αντιθέτως, ολόκληρο το έργο έμοιαζε σαν μια τσαπατσούλικη περίληψη.
Επιπλέον, θεωρώ πως δεν υπήρχε λόγος να πάει η πλοκή εκεί που πήγε.
Δεν υπήρχε λόγος να συμπεριφερθεί η "πρωταγωνήστρια" έτσι, ούτε να λήξει τη σχέση με τον πρωταγωνιστή, αλλά ούτε και να πεθάνει.
Και όχι γιατί δέθηκα μαζί της και ο θάνατός της με στεναχώρησε -αντιθέτως, δεν με έκανε να νιώσω τίποτα- αλλά γιατί γενικά η "θυσία" της και ο λόγος που το έκανε, δεν είχαν απολύτως κανένα νόημα.
Τέλος, αν και δεν θα χαρακτήριζα το συγκεκριμένο ως ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου βιβλία, τουλάχιστον είμαι ευχαριστημένη που δεν με έκανε να νιώσω αυτό το θυμό και το "cringe" που με έχουν κάνει άλλες "φόλες" να νιώσω. Ίσως για αυτό, του δίνω μισό αστέρι παραπάνω.
If you made it this far, congratulations!
'Till next time, take care :) :)
Θα είμαι πολύ κακιά αν πω πως δεν καταλαβαίνω ακριβώς γιατί το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, έδωσε στον συγγραφέα του το Νόμπελ Λογοτεχνίας;
Νιώθω πως το βιβλίο αυτό, είναι πολύ... λίγο.
Όχι, δεν αναφέρομα�� στον αριθμό των σελίδων -αν και ισχύει- αλλά σε όλα τ'άλλα.
Στην πλοκή, στους διαλόγους, στους χαρακτηρες και τις σχέσεις τους...
Τίποτα δεν έμοιαζε ολοκληρωμένο. Αντιθέτως, ολόκληρο το έργο έμοιαζε σαν μια τσαπατσούλικη περίληψη.
Επιπλέον, θεωρώ πως δεν υπήρχε λόγος να πάει η πλοκή εκεί που πήγε.
Δεν υπήρχε λόγος να συμπεριφερθεί η "πρωταγωνήστρια" έτσι, ούτε να λήξει τη σχέση με τον πρωταγωνιστή, αλλά ούτε και να πεθάνει.
Και όχι γιατί δέθηκα μαζί της και ο θάνατός της με στεναχώρησε -αντιθέτως, δεν με έκανε να νιώσω τίποτα- αλλά γιατί γενικά η "θυσία" της και ο λόγος που το έκανε, δεν είχαν απολύτως κανένα νόημα.
Τέλος, αν και δεν θα χαρακτήριζα το συγκεκριμένο ως ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου βιβλία, τουλάχιστον είμαι ευχαριστημένη που δεν με έκανε να νιώσω αυτό το θυμό και το "cringe" που με έχουν κάνει άλλες "φόλες" να νιώσω. Ίσως για αυτό, του δίνω μισό αστέρι παραπάνω.
If you made it this far, congratulations!
'Till next time, take care :) :)
August 24, 2017
با خوندن مائده هاى زمينى آندره ژيد ، ردپاش به راحتى همه جا قابل تشخيص ميشه و از اوناس كه كتاباش يجورايى به همديگه وصلن . تو اين كتاب هم مفاهيم فلسفى و اون جمله هاى موندگارشو با يه داستان عشقى ِ شل كن سفت كن ِ پرغرور قاطى كرده و راحتتر به خورد مغز ميره . اگه مثه من با شخصيت كتاب احساس نزديكى كنيد خيلى راحت بلاتكليفياى دختره رو درك ميكنيد كه البته نيازمند:
١) يك كراش مخفيانه روى كسى كه باهاش در ارتباطين
٢) كمى ديوانگى بيش از حد
٣) خالى از هرگونه ريسك و دلو به دريا زدن و موندن روى عقايد شخصيتون
٤) و قادر به حمل بار سنگين روحى روانى به تنهايى هست . ( ديگه بيشتر از اين خودمو لو نميدم :)) )
معنى اسم كتاب از متن كتاب :
"بكوشيد تا از تنگ داخل شويد، زيرا كه در بزرگ و راه فراخ به ضلال مى رسد و بسيارند كسانى كه از اين دروازه مى گذرند، اما تنگ است درى كه به زندگى راه مى برد و باريك است راهى كه به سرچشمه حيات مى رود و كم اند كسانى كه اين در و اين راه را مى يابند."
١) يك كراش مخفيانه روى كسى كه باهاش در ارتباطين
٢) كمى ديوانگى بيش از حد
٣) خالى از هرگونه ريسك و دلو به دريا زدن و موندن روى عقايد شخصيتون
٤) و قادر به حمل بار سنگين روحى روانى به تنهايى هست . ( ديگه بيشتر از اين خودمو لو نميدم :)) )
معنى اسم كتاب از متن كتاب :
"بكوشيد تا از تنگ داخل شويد، زيرا كه در بزرگ و راه فراخ به ضلال مى رسد و بسيارند كسانى كه از اين دروازه مى گذرند، اما تنگ است درى كه به زندگى راه مى برد و باريك است راهى كه به سرچشمه حيات مى رود و كم اند كسانى كه اين در و اين راه را مى يابند."
December 8, 2022
Ben Kapra yayinevinden cikmis olan baskisini okudum ve cok fazla yazim hatasi gordum maalesef. O yuzden 3 yildiz verdim🤷🏻♀️
November 1, 2016
الفكرة الدينية المنتشرة عند المجتمع المتدين في الغرب عن التضحية بأبسط مشاعر الحياة إرضاء لرغبة الرب، أراها فكرة مقيتة !
و كأن الإنسان بها لم يُخلق إلا ليتناول العذاب تلو العذاب حتى يأخذ الله أمانته...
يا الهي ما اقسى ألا يعيش الإنسانٍ في حب إنسانيّ خالص.
باب ضيقٌ حقاً هو ذاك الباب الذي يُفضي إلى نهاية تعيسة أبعد ما تكون عن الطبيعية الاجتماعية لدى البشر.
نظرة جيروم في أن التقرب إلى الله ممكن باتحاد روحين معاً،، أقرب للعقل الإنساني الخالص.. فنحن لسنا بملائكة ولا أشباه آلهة.
وفيما يتعلق بشخصية أليسا،، أصابتني باحباط ! وبمعنى آخر أسلوبها كان "بياعة كلام" منذ البداية !
كان فيها تختصر وتخلص الموضوع بسرعة من الاول -_-
قراءة أولى لأندريه جيد.
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