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Indiana
The first novel that George Sand wrote without a collaborator, this is not only a vivid romance, but also an impassioned plea for change in the inequitable French marriage laws of the time, and for a new view of women. It tells the story of a beautiful and innocent young woman, married at sixteen to a much older man. She falls in love with her handsome, frivolous neighbor, but discovers too late that his love is quite different from her own. This new translation, the first since 1900, does full justice to the passion and conviction of Sand's writing, and the introduction fully explores the response to Sand in her own time as well as contemporary feminist treatments.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1832
About the author
George Sand
3,054 books781 followersThe novels
Lélia
(1833) and
Consuelo
(1842) among works, plays, and essays of French writer George Sand, pen name of Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin, baroness Dudevant, concern the freedom and independence of women.
People recognize this best known, most popular memoirist and journalist, more renowned in Europe in her lifetime than Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac in England in the 1830s and 1840s, People recognize Sand of the most notable writers of the Romantic era of Europe.
People celebrated this controversial life, which oftentimes overshadowed her creative production. Known for its blend of romance and realism, her effortless spontaneity proliferated without sacrificing style and form. Sand stated the primary happiness in life in love and so focused on relationships in most of her novels as she tackled the complexities of politics, society, and gender.
People best know Sand for bold statements about the rights in 19th-century society, her exploration of contemporary social and philosophical issues, and her depiction of the lives and language of provincials. Set of influences of each period of her literary career focused on specific themes. Her rustic perhaps truly represented her form as an author.
Her first period reflected her rebellion against the bonds of marriage and deal largely with the relationships between men and women. English poet Lord Byron and French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau clearly influenced Sand with romantic novels, full of passionate personal revolt and ardent feminism, attitudes that went against societal conventions and outraged her early British and American critics. These extremely successful early Indiana , Lelia, and Jacques (1834) established Sand as an important literary voice for her generation.
Pastorals, which depict rural scenes and peasant characters, form the last phase of her career. Her love of the French countryside and her sympathy with the peasants inspired La Mare au Diable (1846) and Francis the Waif (1847–1848), set in Berry. Gentle idealism distinguished these realistic pastorals in background detail; many critics finest considered them her finest. After her pastoral period, she continued until her death, but people remember few today.
Unconventional life of George Sand in numerous ways: she fondly dressed in clothing of men to gain access to those parts of Paris, not decorous for ladies to go. She smoked in public to scandalize Parisian society. Lust affairs of Sand included high-profile relationships with the composer Frédéric François Chopin, the novelist Prosper Mérimée, and the poet and playwright Louis Charles Alfred de Musset.
People recognize this best known, most popular memoirist and journalist, more renowned in Europe in her lifetime than Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac in England in the 1830s and 1840s, People recognize Sand of the most notable writers of the Romantic era of Europe.
People celebrated this controversial life, which oftentimes overshadowed her creative production. Known for its blend of romance and realism, her effortless spontaneity proliferated without sacrificing style and form. Sand stated the primary happiness in life in love and so focused on relationships in most of her novels as she tackled the complexities of politics, society, and gender.
People best know Sand for bold statements about the rights in 19th-century society, her exploration of contemporary social and philosophical issues, and her depiction of the lives and language of provincials. Set of influences of each period of her literary career focused on specific themes. Her rustic perhaps truly represented her form as an author.
Her first period reflected her rebellion against the bonds of marriage and deal largely with the relationships between men and women. English poet Lord Byron and French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau clearly influenced Sand with romantic novels, full of passionate personal revolt and ardent feminism, attitudes that went against societal conventions and outraged her early British and American critics. These extremely successful early Indiana , Lelia, and Jacques (1834) established Sand as an important literary voice for her generation.
Pastorals, which depict rural scenes and peasant characters, form the last phase of her career. Her love of the French countryside and her sympathy with the peasants inspired La Mare au Diable (1846) and Francis the Waif (1847–1848), set in Berry. Gentle idealism distinguished these realistic pastorals in background detail; many critics finest considered them her finest. After her pastoral period, she continued until her death, but people remember few today.
Unconventional life of George Sand in numerous ways: she fondly dressed in clothing of men to gain access to those parts of Paris, not decorous for ladies to go. She smoked in public to scandalize Parisian society. Lust affairs of Sand included high-profile relationships with the composer Frédéric François Chopin, the novelist Prosper Mérimée, and the poet and playwright Louis Charles Alfred de Musset.
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April 15, 2022
Cute, fit, rich, aristocratic and more than a little dizzy, Raymon is in a serious fix – I think you gentlemen will understand this one very easily – he’s fallen for a 19 year old ladies maid – yes! - and not only that, this ladies maid is a Creole and she has brown arms! And it’s reasonable to conclude that the rest of her person is brown too (although this is not explicitly stated) – and – wait – he’s got her up the duff – what a pickle, right? – but that’s not the worst of it – finally Raymon gets to meet the hot maid’s mistress Indiana and wouldn’t you know – she’s even hotter, and also only 19! So now he’s instantly not in love with the maid and totally in love with Indiana – who is suffering silently in a loveless marriage to a nasty old trout. So he has to ditch the maid and schmooze the mistress under the gaze of the gross old fart and do it without lying or being cruel to anyone because at this point he still thinks of himself as a nice guy! (That changes later.) But, you know, it can be done:
Raymon felt that with a little skill he might deceive both these women simultaneously.
Raymon is such a drama queen. Actually everyone in this melodrama is a drama queen, even the family pets. This is how they roll:
Raymon: I’ll snatch you away from his cruel law. Do you want me to kill him? Tell me you love me and I’ll be his murderer.
(This is like on the first date. I myself would have kept that for the third date but it’s 19th century France.)
Indiana : You make me shudder, If you want to kill anyone, kill me!
Raymon : Die then, but die of happiness!
And he presses his lips upon her head, but George Sand makes it clear that nothing further occurred because at that point she fainted. (I think the art of fainting has been lost. Nowadays people just eyeroll.)
On their fourth date he says
Have I not opened the door of your alcove to the devil of lust?
As Indiana is a nice girl, the answer is no, the alcove door remained closed.
I got sick and tired of Indiana. The girl pretty much does nothing but faint, lie in bed gravely ill, weep buckets, lament and wish for death. The blurb will get you believing that this novel is a diatribe about the “inequitable marriage laws of the time” but actually this is not so. Yes, the nasty old codger is violent but 98% of the story is about how Raymon gets her to fall for him and then realises that he doesn’t love her anymore oh wait yes he does oh no he doesn’t. This is one self-centred young aristo. I would say he needs a strong beating with a baseball bat but that would be to indulge in the very male violence this book condemns. How frustrating.
Raymon is such a ladykiller. The maid says :
Kiss me as you used to and I won’t regret ruining myself to give you a few days’ pleasure.
He has a way with words. He spouts stuff like
I am no longer now your slave or your ally, I am only the man who loves you to distraction and holds you in his arms, you unkind, capricious, cruel woman, but one who is beautiful, mad and adored.
Later he writes to Indiana :
I would give my life for one hour in your arms, but I am capable of suffering a whole lifetime to get one of your smiles.
Here’s the thing – when he says or writes this emotional bullying drivel, he believes every word. Next day is a different story, but at the time, he’s totally sincere.
All this sounds like I enjoyed this novel for its ridiculously over the top silliness mingled with some acidulous observations on the venality of shallow men. But I didn’t. You have to wade through way too much. Characters will spout gruesome gushes of plush purple prose for page upon page, they can all bore for France at the Olympics. And the ending is really quite unpleasant, suddenly turning into a hymn to Catholic piety. The whole thing is absurd and kind of revolting in its overemotional wallowing. I have to admit it’s often kind of funny, in a highly unintentional way. But that’s not a good thing.
Typical sentence from this novel :
He shuddered from head to foot and fell to the floor in a faint.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3 for no very clear reason.
Raymon felt that with a little skill he might deceive both these women simultaneously.
Raymon is such a drama queen. Actually everyone in this melodrama is a drama queen, even the family pets. This is how they roll:
Raymon: I’ll snatch you away from his cruel law. Do you want me to kill him? Tell me you love me and I’ll be his murderer.
(This is like on the first date. I myself would have kept that for the third date but it’s 19th century France.)
Indiana : You make me shudder, If you want to kill anyone, kill me!
Raymon : Die then, but die of happiness!
And he presses his lips upon her head, but George Sand makes it clear that nothing further occurred because at that point she fainted. (I think the art of fainting has been lost. Nowadays people just eyeroll.)
On their fourth date he says
Have I not opened the door of your alcove to the devil of lust?
As Indiana is a nice girl, the answer is no, the alcove door remained closed.
I got sick and tired of Indiana. The girl pretty much does nothing but faint, lie in bed gravely ill, weep buckets, lament and wish for death. The blurb will get you believing that this novel is a diatribe about the “inequitable marriage laws of the time” but actually this is not so. Yes, the nasty old codger is violent but 98% of the story is about how Raymon gets her to fall for him and then realises that he doesn’t love her anymore oh wait yes he does oh no he doesn’t. This is one self-centred young aristo. I would say he needs a strong beating with a baseball bat but that would be to indulge in the very male violence this book condemns. How frustrating.
Raymon is such a ladykiller. The maid says :
Kiss me as you used to and I won’t regret ruining myself to give you a few days’ pleasure.
He has a way with words. He spouts stuff like
I am no longer now your slave or your ally, I am only the man who loves you to distraction and holds you in his arms, you unkind, capricious, cruel woman, but one who is beautiful, mad and adored.
Later he writes to Indiana :
I would give my life for one hour in your arms, but I am capable of suffering a whole lifetime to get one of your smiles.
Here’s the thing – when he says or writes this emotional bullying drivel, he believes every word. Next day is a different story, but at the time, he’s totally sincere.
All this sounds like I enjoyed this novel for its ridiculously over the top silliness mingled with some acidulous observations on the venality of shallow men. But I didn’t. You have to wade through way too much. Characters will spout gruesome gushes of plush purple prose for page upon page, they can all bore for France at the Olympics. And the ending is really quite unpleasant, suddenly turning into a hymn to Catholic piety. The whole thing is absurd and kind of revolting in its overemotional wallowing. I have to admit it’s often kind of funny, in a highly unintentional way. But that’s not a good thing.
Typical sentence from this novel :
He shuddered from head to foot and fell to the floor in a faint.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3 for no very clear reason.
August 28, 2017
‘You’ve been unbelievably imprudent!’ said Raymon, carefully closing the door behind him. ‘And my servants know you’re here! They’ve just told me.’
‘I made no secret of my presence,’ she replied coldly, ‘and, as for the word you use, I think it ill-chosen.’
‘I said imprudent; I ought to have said insane.’
‘I would have said courageous. But it doesn’t matter.'
No, no, it does matter, and I would like to get back to using the word insane. This novel was insane. Seriously, there was nothing sane amidst the high drama in this story. There was no sane person among the characters in this story. All of whom deserved to be slapped repeatedly by the way.
At some point when reading this I asked whether Sand wrote this as satire, but apparently she did not. This was, apparently, an earnest attempt at a story and at characters.
I am really torn about this book, because I can't decide whether I liked it: plot, characters, and style, were all over the place. There were inconceivable and weird turns, there were high dramatics, there were tantrums, there was a lot of sentimentality.
And, yet, at no point did I want to set the book aside. At no point did I want to DNF this.
I guess this is because the plot was so incredibly packed with moments that astonished me, that I just had to watch this train wreck of a novel until the end.
And what an end this was!
I guess I should have written about how Indiana is Sand making a stand for women's rights, and the emancipation of women as individuals who are equal under law, and the general struggle of individuals of both sexes against the social constrictions of her time, but, oh boy, that would mean that I would have to take Indiana serious as a novel.
And that I just cannot do.
For all the courage, sass, and modernism that Sand stands for, I have to separate the author from this particular book.
This particular book was insane!
‘I made no secret of my presence,’ she replied coldly, ‘and, as for the word you use, I think it ill-chosen.’
‘I said imprudent; I ought to have said insane.’
‘I would have said courageous. But it doesn’t matter.'
No, no, it does matter, and I would like to get back to using the word insane. This novel was insane. Seriously, there was nothing sane amidst the high drama in this story. There was no sane person among the characters in this story. All of whom deserved to be slapped repeatedly by the way.
At some point when reading this I asked whether Sand wrote this as satire, but apparently she did not. This was, apparently, an earnest attempt at a story and at characters.
I am really torn about this book, because I can't decide whether I liked it: plot, characters, and style, were all over the place. There were inconceivable and weird turns, there were high dramatics, there were tantrums, there was a lot of sentimentality.
And, yet, at no point did I want to set the book aside. At no point did I want to DNF this.
I guess this is because the plot was so incredibly packed with moments that astonished me, that I just had to watch this train wreck of a novel until the end.
And what an end this was!
I guess I should have written about how Indiana is Sand making a stand for women's rights, and the emancipation of women as individuals who are equal under law, and the general struggle of individuals of both sexes against the social constrictions of her time, but, oh boy, that would mean that I would have to take Indiana serious as a novel.
And that I just cannot do.
For all the courage, sass, and modernism that Sand stands for, I have to separate the author from this particular book.
This particular book was insane!
November 1, 2015
.This was the first novel of Amantine Aurore Dupin, better known in the literary world as George Sand. It is the story of Indiana, a young French Creole girl who grew up on the Isle of Bourbon, known today as Reunion. She is married to an older French nobleman and living in Paris. The plot revolves around her unhappy marriage, her love for a handsome young neighbor, and her friendship with Ralph, her loyal cousin and protector. The themes of the novel touch on adultery, unfulfilled love, and class and gender inequality in early 19th century France.
What led me to this novel was my interest in the author, George Sand, after having read a biography. Her highly unconventional lifestyle included several extra-marital affairs with well known men, one being Frederic Chopin, the composer, and a lesbian affair with actress Marie Dorval. Later in life she became good friends with Gustave Flaubert. Her interesting life is the subject of Elizabeth Berg's current bestseller, The Dream Lover: A Novel of George Sand
What led me to this novel was my interest in the author, George Sand, after having read a biography. Her highly unconventional lifestyle included several extra-marital affairs with well known men, one being Frederic Chopin, the composer, and a lesbian affair with actress Marie Dorval. Later in life she became good friends with Gustave Flaubert. Her interesting life is the subject of Elizabeth Berg's current bestseller, The Dream Lover: A Novel of George Sand
July 1, 2020
"Pero la costumbre adquirida con otras mujeres, otorgaba a sus palabras esa especie de poder de convicción ante el que la ingenua Indiana se abandonaba, sin comprender que todo aquello no había sido inventado para ella. Normalmente, y las mujeres lo saben muy bien, un hombre que habla de amor con cierto ingenio, sólo está medianamente enamorado"
¿Qué clase de "Madame Bovary" fue esto? No, pero aunque creo bastante similar en el concepto o algunas situaciones me ha gustado más esta obra de la genuina George Sand. Aunque también hay muchas cosas que no me gustaron por eso dejo la puntuación en 3 puntos.
La historia nos cuenta sobre "las pasiones", como dice el subtítulo de la obra, de Indiana, una mujer que muy joven fue obligada a casarse con un viejo coronel retirado de los ejércitos napoleónicos que sin embargo tenía futuro prometedor en algunos asuntos empresariales, el Sr. Delmate. Y así a muy temprana edad aprendió a ahogar los deseos de su corazón y seguir una vida monótona aunque algo apacible y poder tolerar a su marido, aunque siendo la diferencia de edad tan amplia, parece ella esperar algún día vivir otra vida más prometedora. Junto a la pareja vive sir Ralph, un primo de Indiana de procedencia inglesa, al cual el Sr. Delmare ha sabido aceptar a pesar de ser un poco "celoso" ya que la conducta de Ralph siempre ha sido la de un hermano aunque por momentos parece defender a Indiana frente a los abusos de su marido de una forma un poco exagerada.
Durante un confuso evento romántico entra en la vida de Indiana Raymon de Ramière, un joven periodista y político que va con la monarquía absolutista francesa y que es muy hábil en asuntos políticos así como hablar y enamorar mujeres. Bueno, si Julián Sorel de "Rojo y Negro" puede caer mal por su supuesto interés en "seducir" mujeres pues éste resulta mucho peor porque en realidad es otro de los tantos hombres que no saben bien lo que quieren que encontramos en las novelas del romanticismo de este periodo.
La novela es romántica y Sand creo es muy hábil en lograr convertir sus experiencias propias en esta novela, como muchos de los escritores románticos de la época, esto no siempre me gusta pues prefiero también la construcción de nuevos personajes o situaciones. Vemos a Sand reflejada en Indiana, casada muy joven con un hombre pronto mayor y sintiendo por momentos el ahogamiento en su vida tan parsimoniosa. Indiana tiene una personalidad bastante que podría considerarse tóxica como todos creo en la novela. Tanto Indiana como Raymon tienen bastante de bipolares y eso puede hacer bastante cansado y hasta pesado el leer toda esta obra, pues hay muchos idas y venidas. Es el reflejo quizás de la propia autora que pasó por situaciones muy parecidas, de hecho logro reconocer algunas de sus propias cartas de amor y conductas en las de Indiana. Si te gusta las relaciones y los hombres muy devotos al estilo Jane Austen probablemente te pueda gustar, pero si no, probablemente sea incluso difícil terminar de leer toda la novela.
No sé si es por ser una de sus primeras novelas pero en mi opinión la estructura de toda la novela no está muy bien armada lo que hace que por momentos aburra regular, sin embargo, he anotado muchísimas frases de la novela (más de 50) y es que la autora tiene ideas muy buenas, quizás algunas tomadas de otras partes como todos, pero otras bastante adelantadas y revolucionarias sobre todo en cuanto a la situación de las mujeres:
"Le horrorizó tanta resolución y experimentó cierto desagrado hacia la señora Delmare, pues los hombres, sobre todo los amantes, tienen la inocente y ridícula presunción de querer proteger la fragilidad de las mujeres antes que admirar su valor"
.... e incluso muchas frases románticas buenas aunque algunas sí un poco saturadas. Personalmente pienso que de haber hecho el relato más corto o más concreto se hubiera resaltado muchas más las frases incluso las políticas pero habiendo a veces un exceso de descripciones o repeticiones para incidir en un asunto hace que se pierdan un poco. Hay también diálogos muy líricos que sí parecen muy artificiales en el ambiente de la obra, o quizás diálogos demasiado largos que parecen realmente muy poco creíbles.
Me gustó también que Sand le dé algo de contexto, a pesar que cuando habla de ciertos temas que parece no comprender demasiado, pero sí da algunas pinceladas de la situación política de Francia, incluso haciendo buenas conclusiones del estado post imperio napoleónico y en los albores de la Monarquía de Julio:
"Estos hombres (del ejército), reunidos e impelidos por una mano poderosa, lograron mágicas hazañas, se crecían como gigantes en el fragor de la batalla; pero, de vuelta a la vida civil, aquellos héroes no eran más que soldados, audaces y groseros compañeros que razonaban como máquinas"
De la situación de los jóvenes de aquella época:
"Sacó la conclusión de que el hombre que vive en sociedad precisa de dos tipos de felicidad: la proporcionada por la vida pública y la privada, los triunfos sociales y las alegrías domésticas"
Me ha hecho recordar bastante a Madame Bovary pero vaya que es mucho de la misma vida de George Sand. Muy interesante, lleno de buenas frases y sobre todo de originalidad en algunas apreciaciones pero la historia en sí y su estilo no me gustaron tanto.
¿Qué clase de "Madame Bovary" fue esto? No, pero aunque creo bastante similar en el concepto o algunas situaciones me ha gustado más esta obra de la genuina George Sand. Aunque también hay muchas cosas que no me gustaron por eso dejo la puntuación en 3 puntos.
La historia nos cuenta sobre "las pasiones", como dice el subtítulo de la obra, de Indiana, una mujer que muy joven fue obligada a casarse con un viejo coronel retirado de los ejércitos napoleónicos que sin embargo tenía futuro prometedor en algunos asuntos empresariales, el Sr. Delmate. Y así a muy temprana edad aprendió a ahogar los deseos de su corazón y seguir una vida monótona aunque algo apacible y poder tolerar a su marido, aunque siendo la diferencia de edad tan amplia, parece ella esperar algún día vivir otra vida más prometedora. Junto a la pareja vive sir Ralph, un primo de Indiana de procedencia inglesa, al cual el Sr. Delmare ha sabido aceptar a pesar de ser un poco "celoso" ya que la conducta de Ralph siempre ha sido la de un hermano aunque por momentos parece defender a Indiana frente a los abusos de su marido de una forma un poco exagerada.
Durante un confuso evento romántico entra en la vida de Indiana Raymon de Ramière, un joven periodista y político que va con la monarquía absolutista francesa y que es muy hábil en asuntos políticos así como hablar y enamorar mujeres. Bueno, si Julián Sorel de "Rojo y Negro" puede caer mal por su supuesto interés en "seducir" mujeres pues éste resulta mucho peor porque en realidad es otro de los tantos hombres que no saben bien lo que quieren que encontramos en las novelas del romanticismo de este periodo.
La novela es romántica y Sand creo es muy hábil en lograr convertir sus experiencias propias en esta novela, como muchos de los escritores románticos de la época, esto no siempre me gusta pues prefiero también la construcción de nuevos personajes o situaciones. Vemos a Sand reflejada en Indiana, casada muy joven con un hombre pronto mayor y sintiendo por momentos el ahogamiento en su vida tan parsimoniosa. Indiana tiene una personalidad bastante que podría considerarse tóxica como todos creo en la novela. Tanto Indiana como Raymon tienen bastante de bipolares y eso puede hacer bastante cansado y hasta pesado el leer toda esta obra, pues hay muchos idas y venidas. Es el reflejo quizás de la propia autora que pasó por situaciones muy parecidas, de hecho logro reconocer algunas de sus propias cartas de amor y conductas en las de Indiana. Si te gusta las relaciones y los hombres muy devotos al estilo Jane Austen probablemente te pueda gustar, pero si no, probablemente sea incluso difícil terminar de leer toda la novela.
No sé si es por ser una de sus primeras novelas pero en mi opinión la estructura de toda la novela no está muy bien armada lo que hace que por momentos aburra regular, sin embargo, he anotado muchísimas frases de la novela (más de 50) y es que la autora tiene ideas muy buenas, quizás algunas tomadas de otras partes como todos, pero otras bastante adelantadas y revolucionarias sobre todo en cuanto a la situación de las mujeres:
"Le horrorizó tanta resolución y experimentó cierto desagrado hacia la señora Delmare, pues los hombres, sobre todo los amantes, tienen la inocente y ridícula presunción de querer proteger la fragilidad de las mujeres antes que admirar su valor"
.... e incluso muchas frases románticas buenas aunque algunas sí un poco saturadas. Personalmente pienso que de haber hecho el relato más corto o más concreto se hubiera resaltado muchas más las frases incluso las políticas pero habiendo a veces un exceso de descripciones o repeticiones para incidir en un asunto hace que se pierdan un poco. Hay también diálogos muy líricos que sí parecen muy artificiales en el ambiente de la obra, o quizás diálogos demasiado largos que parecen realmente muy poco creíbles.
Me gustó también que Sand le dé algo de contexto, a pesar que cuando habla de ciertos temas que parece no comprender demasiado, pero sí da algunas pinceladas de la situación política de Francia, incluso haciendo buenas conclusiones del estado post imperio napoleónico y en los albores de la Monarquía de Julio:
"Estos hombres (del ejército), reunidos e impelidos por una mano poderosa, lograron mágicas hazañas, se crecían como gigantes en el fragor de la batalla; pero, de vuelta a la vida civil, aquellos héroes no eran más que soldados, audaces y groseros compañeros que razonaban como máquinas"
De la situación de los jóvenes de aquella época:
"Sacó la conclusión de que el hombre que vive en sociedad precisa de dos tipos de felicidad: la proporcionada por la vida pública y la privada, los triunfos sociales y las alegrías domésticas"
Me ha hecho recordar bastante a Madame Bovary pero vaya que es mucho de la misma vida de George Sand. Muy interesante, lleno de buenas frases y sobre todo de originalidad en algunas apreciaciones pero la historia en sí y su estilo no me gustaron tanto.
July 14, 2021
George Sand, seudónimo de Amantine, fue una de las escritoras más reconocidas del romanticismo francés. Una figura sumamente controvertida y peculiar en la época, pues Sand era baronesa pero vestía con ropa masculina, fumaba en público, tuvo múltiples amantes y se codeaba con grandes autores de la literatura francesa tales como Flaubert, Hugo y Balzac, tuvo una larga amistad con Napoleón y una relación sentimental con el compositor Chopin. En 1832 escribió una de sus obras más notables: «Indiana» que ha resultado ser una grata e inesperada sorpresa.
Indiana es una joven obligada a contraer un matrimonio de conveniencia con un anciano coronel, que lejos de aportarle felicidad en la vida, le brinda soledad y una profunda tristeza que la hunden cada día en el abismo. No es hasta que conoce a Raymon, un hombre apuesto y vividor, que retoma sus ganas de vivir y retorna su jovialidad y alegría. Pero la inconstancia en el comportamiento de este y sus cambios de pensamientos y sentimientos pondrán en un constante peligro el honor y tranquilidad de Indiana.
Esta novela reflexiona sobre las injustificadas condiciones matrimoniales, el deseo femenino censurado y aplacado que tenían que sufrir las mujeres, del suicidio como modo de salvación y sin duda sobre el adulterio. Dista mucho de ser un escrito empalagoso o que resulte demasiado endulzado en su lenguaje. Al contrario, la autora mezcla lo trágico con lo dramático, contexto político e histórico con un ritmo ágil y bello.
La calidad que reflejan las frases escogidas por Sand, reafirman una prosa y una brillantez admirables. Es capaz de mantener la tensión, de evocar desagrado y odio hacia algunos de los personajes y crea una inevitable empatía hacia nuestra protagonista. Una mujer que guarda la esperanza, que lucha por ser amada como se merece y que cae en incontables ocasiones pero nunca desfallece.
En conclusión, me parece sumamente incongruente y difícil de digerir que tal autora sea tan olvidada en nuestros lares. Un personaje que resulta admirable o cuanto menos curioso y que definitivamente muestra una gran capacidad de escritura, una narrativa inteligente, crítica y que sin duda seguiré leyendo esta vez sí, en su idioma original. Os recomiendo leer algo de Amantine, u conocer más datos sobre su vida.
Indiana es una joven obligada a contraer un matrimonio de conveniencia con un anciano coronel, que lejos de aportarle felicidad en la vida, le brinda soledad y una profunda tristeza que la hunden cada día en el abismo. No es hasta que conoce a Raymon, un hombre apuesto y vividor, que retoma sus ganas de vivir y retorna su jovialidad y alegría. Pero la inconstancia en el comportamiento de este y sus cambios de pensamientos y sentimientos pondrán en un constante peligro el honor y tranquilidad de Indiana.
Esta novela reflexiona sobre las injustificadas condiciones matrimoniales, el deseo femenino censurado y aplacado que tenían que sufrir las mujeres, del suicidio como modo de salvación y sin duda sobre el adulterio. Dista mucho de ser un escrito empalagoso o que resulte demasiado endulzado en su lenguaje. Al contrario, la autora mezcla lo trágico con lo dramático, contexto político e histórico con un ritmo ágil y bello.
La calidad que reflejan las frases escogidas por Sand, reafirman una prosa y una brillantez admirables. Es capaz de mantener la tensión, de evocar desagrado y odio hacia algunos de los personajes y crea una inevitable empatía hacia nuestra protagonista. Una mujer que guarda la esperanza, que lucha por ser amada como se merece y que cae en incontables ocasiones pero nunca desfallece.
En conclusión, me parece sumamente incongruente y difícil de digerir que tal autora sea tan olvidada en nuestros lares. Un personaje que resulta admirable o cuanto menos curioso y que definitivamente muestra una gran capacidad de escritura, una narrativa inteligente, crítica y que sin duda seguiré leyendo esta vez sí, en su idioma original. Os recomiendo leer algo de Amantine, u conocer más datos sobre su vida.
February 16, 2019
In her two prefaces, that of 1832, when Indiana first released ― George Sand was 28―, and that of 1848, when it was republished, she explains why and how she wrote this novel. She had already a great experience of life, for such a young woman, at the beginning of the 19th century, and above all, she a luminous intelligence.
"I wrote Indiana, I had to write Indiana (…) Is the cause I was defending so small? It is that of half of the human race, it is that of the entire human race; for the woe of women leads to that of men, as that of the slaves leads to that of the masters, and I tried to show it in Indiana. It has been said that it was an individual cause that I pleaded; as if I had been the only unfortunate human being in this peaceful and radiant humanity! Enough cries of pain and sympathy responded to mine so that I now know about the supreme bliss of others.
(...) I wrote Indiana with the unreasoned feeling, it is true, but deep and legitimate, of the injustice and barbarity of the laws that still govern the existence of the woman in marriage, in the family and the society. I did not have to make a treatise on jurisprudence, but to wage war against public opinion; because it is she who delays or prepares social improvements. The war will be long and hard; but I am neither the first, nor the only, nor the last champion of such a beautiful cause, and I will defend it as long as I have a breath of life left."
George Sand was full of strength and sincerity when she described "the ill-established relationship between men and women, by the fact of society." She only did her job as a storyteller by telling the truth about the society of her time that put the woman below all else.
Yet, the character of Indiana, the woman, is very miserable: it will take many years for this young innocent woman, uneducated, unloved, to understand the men around her and to understand herself. She will deliver, throughout the novel, an exhausting struggle against the society that denies her being a woman, but who wants to make her an angel while she is a human being made of flesh, blood and heart.
The husband, who represents the legitimacy, the law, is as blind as she is. Oh, he doesn’t have the best part!
The lover, the tempter, the society gave him the illusion that the world was there only to please him, that luxuriousness were there only to be seized by his white and soft hand, that women were there only to satisfy the pleasure of men like him. Why would he seek to change this society that fills him with his benefits?
As for the good man, he is easily recognizable: he is the one who does not seek to look bright in society, the one who forgets himself for the benefit of others.
Yes, you can read Indiana for its advocacy for women's freedom, to know History through this story, or simply to read a good and beautiful story. But when you have read Indiana so, you will come back to it to impregnate yourself with George Sand’s knowledge of the world, deep understanding of men and women’s soul, and the great intelligence that she puts at your fingertips in a clear, simple, bright and attaching style.
"I wrote Indiana, I had to write Indiana (…) Is the cause I was defending so small? It is that of half of the human race, it is that of the entire human race; for the woe of women leads to that of men, as that of the slaves leads to that of the masters, and I tried to show it in Indiana. It has been said that it was an individual cause that I pleaded; as if I had been the only unfortunate human being in this peaceful and radiant humanity! Enough cries of pain and sympathy responded to mine so that I now know about the supreme bliss of others.
(...) I wrote Indiana with the unreasoned feeling, it is true, but deep and legitimate, of the injustice and barbarity of the laws that still govern the existence of the woman in marriage, in the family and the society. I did not have to make a treatise on jurisprudence, but to wage war against public opinion; because it is she who delays or prepares social improvements. The war will be long and hard; but I am neither the first, nor the only, nor the last champion of such a beautiful cause, and I will defend it as long as I have a breath of life left."
George Sand was full of strength and sincerity when she described "the ill-established relationship between men and women, by the fact of society." She only did her job as a storyteller by telling the truth about the society of her time that put the woman below all else.
Yet, the character of Indiana, the woman, is very miserable: it will take many years for this young innocent woman, uneducated, unloved, to understand the men around her and to understand herself. She will deliver, throughout the novel, an exhausting struggle against the society that denies her being a woman, but who wants to make her an angel while she is a human being made of flesh, blood and heart.
The husband, who represents the legitimacy, the law, is as blind as she is. Oh, he doesn’t have the best part!
The lover, the tempter, the society gave him the illusion that the world was there only to please him, that luxuriousness were there only to be seized by his white and soft hand, that women were there only to satisfy the pleasure of men like him. Why would he seek to change this society that fills him with his benefits?
As for the good man, he is easily recognizable: he is the one who does not seek to look bright in society, the one who forgets himself for the benefit of others.
Yes, you can read Indiana for its advocacy for women's freedom, to know History through this story, or simply to read a good and beautiful story. But when you have read Indiana so, you will come back to it to impregnate yourself with George Sand’s knowledge of the world, deep understanding of men and women’s soul, and the great intelligence that she puts at your fingertips in a clear, simple, bright and attaching style.
December 25, 2023
La scrittrice George Sand [1804-1876] esordì nella letteratura nel 1832 proprio con il romanzo “Indiana” ambientato tra l’esotica isola Bourbon non lontana dal Madagascar nell’oceano Indiano e la Francia: protagonista principale un’avvenente giovane donna, chiamata Indiana, moglie non innamorata dell’anziano marito, un generale francese a riposo, e dunque apparentemente fragile preda del vanesio Raymon de Ramière che, dopo aver sedotto l’attraente Noun cameriera e intima amica del cuore di Indiana che va ad annegarsi nel fiume dopo aver compreso di essere stata per il giovane Raymon solo un diversivo, decide di circuire anche Indiana per soddisfare la sua lussuria e la mai soddisfatta sete di seduzione. Impresa che sembra facilmente alla sua portata…
Romanzo romantico per eccellenza, “Indiana” si fa apprezzare per lo sforzo dell’autrice che con un racconto privo di cadute di tono, racconta l’impegno del giovane Raymon che con la sua arte seduttiva, servendosi di abilità, pazienza e perseveranza, è certo di avere la meglio sulla ritrosia, sulla diffidenza e onestà di Indiana, difesa a sua insaputa, nei momenti di maggiore tensione, dal cugino Ralph, segretamente innamorato di lei.
Un'opera che si legge con piacere la cui pecca può essere tutt’al più una certa prolissità giustificata probabilmente dall’essere opera di esordio.
Romanzo romantico per eccellenza, “Indiana” si fa apprezzare per lo sforzo dell’autrice che con un racconto privo di cadute di tono, racconta l’impegno del giovane Raymon che con la sua arte seduttiva, servendosi di abilità, pazienza e perseveranza, è certo di avere la meglio sulla ritrosia, sulla diffidenza e onestà di Indiana, difesa a sua insaputa, nei momenti di maggiore tensione, dal cugino Ralph, segretamente innamorato di lei.
Un'opera che si legge con piacere la cui pecca può essere tutt’al più una certa prolissità giustificata probabilmente dall’essere opera di esordio.
February 24, 2020
There are moments of exaltation and ecstasy when our thoughts become, in a way, more pure, more subtle, more ethereal. These rare moments raise us up so high, carry us so far out of ourselves, that when we fall back to earth we lose the consciousness and the memory of that intellectual intoxication. Who can understand the anchorite’s mysterious visions? Who can relate the dreams of the poet before his emotion has cooled so that he can write them down for us?
March 4, 2021
J'ai été complètement happée par ce récit. Indiana a pris vie pour moi au fil des pages et n'a pas grand chose à envier aux grandes héroïnes que j'aime tant, comme Isabel Archer, Jane Eyre ou Anna Karénine. J'ai du mal à comprendre pourquoi ce roman n'est pas plus connu, avec une telle destinée et l'écriture magistrale qu'est celle de George Sand. C'est un tourbillon d'émotions, de romanesque, de tragédie, de féminisme avant-gardiste. La pauvre et grande Indiana, entourée de personnages masculins qui deviennent de plus en plus odieux et détestables alors que l'intrigue avance, sombre sous leur perfidie et leurs pièges successifs mais continue de briller et de se débattre, en témoigne la lettre incroyable écrite à Raymon vers la fin du roman, et tant d'autres extraits magistraux. Grande découverte et coup de coeur.
"La loi de ce pays vous a fait mon maître. Vous pouvez lier mon corps, garrotter mes mains, gouverner mes actions. Vous avez le droit du plus fort, et la société vous le confirme ; mais sur ma volonté, monsieur, vous ne pouvez rien."
"La loi de ce pays vous a fait mon maître. Vous pouvez lier mon corps, garrotter mes mains, gouverner mes actions. Vous avez le droit du plus fort, et la société vous le confirme ; mais sur ma volonté, monsieur, vous ne pouvez rien."
August 11, 2014
Wow this was a disappointment.
I disliked this so much, I thought for a while that I was going to one-star it. But, somewhere there is some benefit of the doubt for it. (Plus, I've still only ever one-starred one book, and that seems a stern record to break.)
This book is melodrama city and I did not like it. This is melodrama like origin-of-the-word melodrama: no realism, immobile characters, senseless actions with huge consequences, lots of fainting and suicide. I wasn't expecting it, for one thing, and it was also just not enjoyable. If you'd like to read this book, get ready for: long speeches with illogical reversals that explain everything at the last minute; guys who hear their girlfriend fell off a horse and start slitting their throats in despair before asking if she's okay; exoticism and Creoles; constant comments about purity and women and duty; pains in the ass.
This story is positioned as a tragic romance, or a tale of seduction, or a love affair, but there are actually zero of those things in it. Sex in this book is really weird. Indiana, the woman in a loveless marriage, is spiritless and resigned. When the epic derp Raymon decides to become her lover — basically as a game, with classic She's All That nuance — she is excited, but that is all. They are not in love. Who cares, I guess? But (I don't know how else to say this) I thought that things would be a little more French. This is, after all, George Sand, about whom I know approximately two and a half things, and she is very French indeed. Yet somehow, this book is modest in the extreme.
There's a specific reason, though, that this is a problem, and the reason is simply that some of the connected themes offend me. The person Raymon has sex with the most is the Creole maid, who is "other"ed like crazy the whole entire time. (So, not only do we get a virgin/whore dichotomy out of that icky business, but a cultural one as well.) And, the whole reason that Raymon becomes drawn to Indiana is her persona of untouched purity. And so, plotting to seduce her doesn't really… work. (We actually have to hear about this a lot.)
The funny thing is that Raymon is the character that I liked. Ralph, good loyal Ralph, made me want to barf in my mouth. Raymon, at least, is so terrible that he's funny, and when he gets upset — unlike every other character who gets upset for no reason — it's because he's done something very stupid. (My favorite comment, from Shannon: "He's like a train wreck, except … a train wreck is usually a one-time event. Raymon just keeps happening to people.") Raymon's final betrayal is also sort of perfectly awful.
Ralph, to the contrary, is just as clueless but somehow an even worse person. His pale, clammy devotion to Indiana is gross and not sweet, and the more we hear of their backstory together — I can't believe I even survived that endless speech at the waterfall — the grosser it is. Oh, you were friends from childhood, that's sweet. Oh, you're actually cousins? … Okay, well it was a different time. Actually, he is more like a father to you? That's… a little uncomfortably Freudian. That's… um… That is officially the least realistic thing I've ever read. … Yes, I am barfing in my mouth. Like I promised.
It's possible that I read the worst translation ever written. (This was a quick pick off the library shelf, and I forgot to do research.) I don't think that's it, but I should say it.
But, okay, what's the point? I said there was a benefit of the doubt to this novel, and it comes mostly from the authorial voice. George Sand, when she changes the subject away from the things the story is about, is no dummy! Definitely the most important thing about this book as literature is Sand's strangely subtle way of using political history. The references are cunningly "inside baseball." She has written it in a setting that is very, very fixed in time — very different, if you think about it, from most novels that can be read and fully understood more than a hundred years later, using only the information given inside the novel itself. With this book, you need all kinds of information from outside it, about very current and recent events in French politics. It isn't a political novel — the references have only a little bearing on the plot — but with them Sand is explaining why she's written this story at all. In my opinion, this is actually really cool! I just wish that I had any of that historical knowledge, or that I had read an edition that provided it. The notes in this one were abysmal — a single asterisk for each, and then all lumped together at the back of the book, just a few pages total. The references are far too sly for that treatment, and I acknowledge that a lot was lost this way.
I'm interested, intellectually, in the place that novels like this occupy. I'm interested in the difference between novels of adultery and novels of courtship. I'm interested in the Frenchness of it all! And I can take a little melodrama if it gets me somewhere. This was presented to me, in fact, as an alternate take on my favorite book, The Mill on the Floss (by Britain's lady George): a girl in need of love, a childhood friend overlooked for a seductive rake, and similar thematic use of water. (Even a boat journey, and you know I've got a thing about the boats!) It sounded convincing, put this way, but they could hardly be more different and still be the same species.
Thing is, of course, George Sand published an incredibly large number of novels, and she occupies a place in literature that is not simply intellectual. It's possible that what I'd really like the most is to read a good biography, but I'd like to give the writing another legitimate try again, and just know better what I'm getting into with these novels. And if I ever do, I'm going to need one of you people to tell me what it should be.
I disliked this so much, I thought for a while that I was going to one-star it. But, somewhere there is some benefit of the doubt for it. (Plus, I've still only ever one-starred one book, and that seems a stern record to break.)
This book is melodrama city and I did not like it. This is melodrama like origin-of-the-word melodrama: no realism, immobile characters, senseless actions with huge consequences, lots of fainting and suicide. I wasn't expecting it, for one thing, and it was also just not enjoyable. If you'd like to read this book, get ready for: long speeches with illogical reversals that explain everything at the last minute; guys who hear their girlfriend fell off a horse and start slitting their throats in despair before asking if she's okay; exoticism and Creoles; constant comments about purity and women and duty; pains in the ass.
This story is positioned as a tragic romance, or a tale of seduction, or a love affair, but there are actually zero of those things in it. Sex in this book is really weird. Indiana, the woman in a loveless marriage, is spiritless and resigned. When the epic derp Raymon decides to become her lover — basically as a game, with classic She's All That nuance — she is excited, but that is all. They are not in love. Who cares, I guess? But (I don't know how else to say this) I thought that things would be a little more French. This is, after all, George Sand, about whom I know approximately two and a half things, and she is very French indeed. Yet somehow, this book is modest in the extreme.
There's a specific reason, though, that this is a problem, and the reason is simply that some of the connected themes offend me. The person Raymon has sex with the most is the Creole maid, who is "other"ed like crazy the whole entire time. (So, not only do we get a virgin/whore dichotomy out of that icky business, but a cultural one as well.) And, the whole reason that Raymon becomes drawn to Indiana is her persona of untouched purity. And so, plotting to seduce her doesn't really… work. (We actually have to hear about this a lot.)
The funny thing is that Raymon is the character that I liked. Ralph, good loyal Ralph, made me want to barf in my mouth. Raymon, at least, is so terrible that he's funny, and when he gets upset — unlike every other character who gets upset for no reason — it's because he's done something very stupid. (My favorite comment, from Shannon: "He's like a train wreck, except … a train wreck is usually a one-time event. Raymon just keeps happening to people.") Raymon's final betrayal is also sort of perfectly awful.
Ralph, to the contrary, is just as clueless but somehow an even worse person. His pale, clammy devotion to Indiana is gross and not sweet, and the more we hear of their backstory together — I can't believe I even survived that endless speech at the waterfall — the grosser it is. Oh, you were friends from childhood, that's sweet. Oh, you're actually cousins? … Okay, well it was a different time. Actually, he is more like a father to you? That's… a little uncomfortably Freudian. That's… um… That is officially the least realistic thing I've ever read. … Yes, I am barfing in my mouth. Like I promised.
It's possible that I read the worst translation ever written. (This was a quick pick off the library shelf, and I forgot to do research.) I don't think that's it, but I should say it.
But, okay, what's the point? I said there was a benefit of the doubt to this novel, and it comes mostly from the authorial voice. George Sand, when she changes the subject away from the things the story is about, is no dummy! Definitely the most important thing about this book as literature is Sand's strangely subtle way of using political history. The references are cunningly "inside baseball." She has written it in a setting that is very, very fixed in time — very different, if you think about it, from most novels that can be read and fully understood more than a hundred years later, using only the information given inside the novel itself. With this book, you need all kinds of information from outside it, about very current and recent events in French politics. It isn't a political novel — the references have only a little bearing on the plot — but with them Sand is explaining why she's written this story at all. In my opinion, this is actually really cool! I just wish that I had any of that historical knowledge, or that I had read an edition that provided it. The notes in this one were abysmal — a single asterisk for each, and then all lumped together at the back of the book, just a few pages total. The references are far too sly for that treatment, and I acknowledge that a lot was lost this way.
I'm interested, intellectually, in the place that novels like this occupy. I'm interested in the difference between novels of adultery and novels of courtship. I'm interested in the Frenchness of it all! And I can take a little melodrama if it gets me somewhere. This was presented to me, in fact, as an alternate take on my favorite book, The Mill on the Floss (by Britain's lady George): a girl in need of love, a childhood friend overlooked for a seductive rake, and similar thematic use of water. (Even a boat journey, and you know I've got a thing about the boats!) It sounded convincing, put this way, but they could hardly be more different and still be the same species.
Thing is, of course, George Sand published an incredibly large number of novels, and she occupies a place in literature that is not simply intellectual. It's possible that what I'd really like the most is to read a good biography, but I'd like to give the writing another legitimate try again, and just know better what I'm getting into with these novels. And if I ever do, I'm going to need one of you people to tell me what it should be.
August 31, 2016
I only read this book because it is set on Reunion Island off the east coast of Madagascar, wanting to read as many books set as many places in Africa as I cross countries and occupied territories off of my list. Technically Reunion is part of France, but isn't anywhere near it.
I know of George Sand from her relationship with Chopin, but this is the first book I have read by her.
It is the story of a "Creole" woman (the older version of the word, meaning anyone born in the islands, no matter their ethnicity. She marries a much older man, one who is commanding but she does not love. Most of the novel takes place around the July Revolution (1830) in France, events that lead to the loss of some of his financial stability. This along with her friend's death and her discovered love affair inspires him to move them back to Reunion. So half the novel takes place in gloomy France, and the second half takes place in Reunion.
The landscape of Reunion becomes important in the story (just do a Google image search for Bernica, so beautiful!) Indiana's cousin Sir Ralph helped raise her during her childhood on the island, has accompanied her to France when she gets married, and returns with them to the island. This becomes very important because while it is obvious to the reader, it is not obvious to Indiana that he has been pining for her.
The man she has the love affair with causes all sorts of dramatic problems (to be expected, considering the era), but it was frustrating that even with the death of her friend, she still feels entitled to this relationship.
Most of the dramatic moments in the book take place through angst-ridden letters or long declarative speeches. Not my favorite thing.
Also entwined in this novel is commentary on women and their place in society, how they have no control over their own lives, but Sand fights back a bit. In passages like this, Indiana reasserts the right to her personhood. Most of what I marked are versions of this sentiment:
I know of George Sand from her relationship with Chopin, but this is the first book I have read by her.
It is the story of a "Creole" woman (the older version of the word, meaning anyone born in the islands, no matter their ethnicity. She marries a much older man, one who is commanding but she does not love. Most of the novel takes place around the July Revolution (1830) in France, events that lead to the loss of some of his financial stability. This along with her friend's death and her discovered love affair inspires him to move them back to Reunion. So half the novel takes place in gloomy France, and the second half takes place in Reunion.
The landscape of Reunion becomes important in the story (just do a Google image search for Bernica, so beautiful!) Indiana's cousin Sir Ralph helped raise her during her childhood on the island, has accompanied her to France when she gets married, and returns with them to the island. This becomes very important because while it is obvious to the reader, it is not obvious to Indiana that he has been pining for her.
The man she has the love affair with causes all sorts of dramatic problems (to be expected, considering the era), but it was frustrating that even with the death of her friend, she still feels entitled to this relationship.
Most of the dramatic moments in the book take place through angst-ridden letters or long declarative speeches. Not my favorite thing.
Also entwined in this novel is commentary on women and their place in society, how they have no control over their own lives, but Sand fights back a bit. In passages like this, Indiana reasserts the right to her personhood. Most of what I marked are versions of this sentiment:
"‘I know I’m the slave and you’re the lord. The law of the land has made you my master. You can tie up my body, bind my hands, control my actions. You have the right of the stronger, and society confirms you in it. But over my will, Monsieur, you have no power. God alone can bend and subdue it. So look for a law, a dungeon, an instrument of torture that gives you a hold over me! It’s as if you wanted to touch the air and grasp space.’"And she does prove exactly how much will she has by following the direction of another man in the end. Yeah. Spoiler alert.
June 25, 2018
Indiana, was the first published solo novel written by Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, whose adopted pen name starting with this book was George Sand.
I had never read a book written by this author, so chose for my first, Indiana, the United State in which I was born.
Indiana is the name of the story's heroine. She is married to a man much older than she in a loveless marriage. Other characters are her maid, Noun (isn't that a neat name?), Ralph Brown, her cousin, and Ramon de Ramiere, a dandy who shows an interest in both Noun and Indiana.
The novel deals with many typical nineteenth-century themes. These include adultery, social constraint, and unfulfilled longing for romantic love. The plot itself was entertaining. I did not enjoy, however, the long-winded soliloquies of the main characters. There were not many of them, but just enough to be boring.
I am glad that I read this book. Might read another George Sand since this was her first book; she might have gotten better!! I did enjoy that the author inserted herself into the book, occasionally offering her opinion of the goings-on.
3 stars
I had never read a book written by this author, so chose for my first, Indiana, the United State in which I was born.
Indiana is the name of the story's heroine. She is married to a man much older than she in a loveless marriage. Other characters are her maid, Noun (isn't that a neat name?), Ralph Brown, her cousin, and Ramon de Ramiere, a dandy who shows an interest in both Noun and Indiana.
The novel deals with many typical nineteenth-century themes. These include adultery, social constraint, and unfulfilled longing for romantic love. The plot itself was entertaining. I did not enjoy, however, the long-winded soliloquies of the main characters. There were not many of them, but just enough to be boring.
I am glad that I read this book. Might read another George Sand since this was her first book; she might have gotten better!! I did enjoy that the author inserted herself into the book, occasionally offering her opinion of the goings-on.
3 stars
April 27, 2023
This was my first book by George Sand and surely not the last.
I love Romantic literature and so I enjoyed very much this French novel that tells the story of a 19 years old woman, Indiana, who was born on the Island of Bourbon and unhappily married to an old Frenchman. At the beginning of the novel she meets the young and handsome Raymon and falls for him, but he is incostant and selfish and has an affair also with Indiana's chambermaid Noun, that she loves as a sister.
Spectator of Indiana's torments is her cousin Ralph, who suffers of the so called "spleen", the melancholic depression so diffuse during the Romantic era.
The prose was excellent, not at all dated or boring.
Ralph was my favourite character by far.
I love Romantic literature and so I enjoyed very much this French novel that tells the story of a 19 years old woman, Indiana, who was born on the Island of Bourbon and unhappily married to an old Frenchman. At the beginning of the novel she meets the young and handsome Raymon and falls for him, but he is incostant and selfish and has an affair also with Indiana's chambermaid Noun, that she loves as a sister.
Spectator of Indiana's torments is her cousin Ralph, who suffers of the so called "spleen", the melancholic depression so diffuse during the Romantic era.
The prose was excellent, not at all dated or boring.
Ralph was my favourite character by far.
July 29, 2012
I'm currently in the final stages of writing a dissertation, so there's a chance I might be projecting my own mental state onto George Sand. But, reading Indiana, I constantly felt like she had something important to say that wasn't fully making its way into the text. The back cover of my copy promises "a powerful plea for change in the inequitable French marriage laws of the time", and it isn't that. It's something much more ambitious and subtle.
The important thing George Sand knows is something about Indiana herself, and the conditions of her life and personality that make her particularly vulnerable to the type of love offered by Raymon de Ramiere. It's also something about the form her love takes -- a constant struggle between the desire to sacrifice and the desire to fight back. I think part of the problem might be in the balance between the two impulses. The moments of rebellion are important and deserve more weight than they get in the novel. I wanted to know more about Indiana's inner life, and about what the struggle is like for her.
Instead, Sand's clearest vision is turned on Raymon, who was my favorite part of the book in spite of the fact that he's unremittingly terrible. As I was reading, I kept thinking that he's like a train wreck, except that turns out to be an insufficient metaphor because a train wreck is usually a one-time event. Raymon just keeps happening to people. His selfishness and stupidity repeatedly combine to put him in the most absurd situations, which would almost be funny if they weren't so tragic for everyone else involved.
Next to Raymon and his capacity for creating disaster, Sir Ralph and Indiana's husband seem almost nonexistent, which makes the novel's ending difficult to accept. Sand's problem, I think, is that there's no realistically good ending for Indiana, and the outlines of her character are too vague to support anything very melodramatic. I'm interested to read her later novels, though, and see if she comes back at the problem from a different angle.
The important thing George Sand knows is something about Indiana herself, and the conditions of her life and personality that make her particularly vulnerable to the type of love offered by Raymon de Ramiere. It's also something about the form her love takes -- a constant struggle between the desire to sacrifice and the desire to fight back. I think part of the problem might be in the balance between the two impulses. The moments of rebellion are important and deserve more weight than they get in the novel. I wanted to know more about Indiana's inner life, and about what the struggle is like for her.
Instead, Sand's clearest vision is turned on Raymon, who was my favorite part of the book in spite of the fact that he's unremittingly terrible. As I was reading, I kept thinking that he's like a train wreck, except that turns out to be an insufficient metaphor because a train wreck is usually a one-time event. Raymon just keeps happening to people. His selfishness and stupidity repeatedly combine to put him in the most absurd situations, which would almost be funny if they weren't so tragic for everyone else involved.
Next to Raymon and his capacity for creating disaster, Sir Ralph and Indiana's husband seem almost nonexistent, which makes the novel's ending difficult to accept. Sand's problem, I think, is that there's no realistically good ending for Indiana, and the outlines of her character are too vague to support anything very melodramatic. I'm interested to read her later novels, though, and see if she comes back at the problem from a different angle.
September 23, 2016
Spent the first half of this book increasingly disgusted with the plot and the characters. I didn't care what happened to them. I also wondered if it read better in French. The dialogue especially seemed odd to me. (For clarification, I am used to reading 19th century novels, but I am mainly used to reading English ones.)
I kept reading mainly because I needed the book for a challenge, and because I was intrigued by the glimpses into French culture during the Bourbon Restoration. Then when I started the third part something happened. I don't know if it was simply that I got used to the writing style, or if it was because Indiana showed some spine, even if no brain. Or maybe it was the fact that the story moved out of the Delmare residence and into Paris, and I got to know their characters and their motivations better. There were some excellent indictments against French society and male dominance. And the plot thickened, repeatedly. I was kept wondering if we would get a happy ending or true Greek style tragedy. It was worth the read after all, but I kept thinking of that game where you add "with a chainsaw" after a title, and there were times when I really wanted "Indiana with a chainsaw" instead of "Indiana the Doormat who just wants to be loved".
I kept reading mainly because I needed the book for a challenge, and because I was intrigued by the glimpses into French culture during the Bourbon Restoration. Then when I started the third part something happened. I don't know if it was simply that I got used to the writing style, or if it was because Indiana showed some spine, even if no brain. Or maybe it was the fact that the story moved out of the Delmare residence and into Paris, and I got to know their characters and their motivations better. There were some excellent indictments against French society and male dominance. And the plot thickened, repeatedly. I was kept wondering if we would get a happy ending or true Greek style tragedy. It was worth the read after all, but I kept thinking of that game where you add "with a chainsaw" after a title, and there were times when I really wanted "Indiana with a chainsaw" instead of "Indiana the Doormat who just wants to be loved".
March 25, 2022
4.5 ⭐️
wow. absolutely loved this!!!
beautifully written, perceptive, immersive, romantic, and melancholy. Indiana is one of my favorite classics I’ve read! :)
wow. absolutely loved this!!!
beautifully written, perceptive, immersive, romantic, and melancholy. Indiana is one of my favorite classics I’ve read! :)
February 10, 2024
No less than 4.5 stars. George Sand’s Indiana (Oxford Univ Press, paperback) is a very early work by a very mature 28-year-old woman writer. On the surface it is a nicely done variation on a classic love triangle. A very young woman, her family in financial need marries off a daughter (Indiana) into a loveless marriage with a jealous much older rich man who gets has a romantic bad boy neighbor. So far this could be just another melodrama, queue the black and white flickering camera and the soulful violin strings. Indiana comes with a lot of historic context and a depth of character not to be expected. It is family friendly and recommended
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Indiana is a break through romantic novel in that it has a woman feeling the most complex emotions. More typical of the period, women were not thought to have sufficient brains or soul to be the center of an emotional novel. Indiana is a colonial from the West Indies where the locals are known as Creole. The term will come much later to have distinct racial tones, but within the novel there is more than a little confusion of creole as a racial term and as a term for a mix of island population and white colonials. At the time it was known that Napoleon’s Josephine was a creole and because of that was thought to be among the most beautiful of the western worlds’ women.
Indiana as a novel was understood to be a protest about the helplessness of married women under existing laws. She had been married off to an older man and had no choice except to stay married or risk social economic and possible legal ruin. Ms. Sand chooses to keep this the center of the plot and does not add in the problems of a married women who endures loveless marriage in the name of her children.
Part of what makes the narrative more nuanced is that we get clear insights into the interior life of the main characters. The rich older husband, a military man is not merely afraid for his wife’s loyalties, but in his way, he cares for her health. While he is given to bad temper, he has enough soul to recognize, if too late that he has overreacted causing pain to people not deserving of his physical wrath.
The bad boy lover is more than a bad boy. His interior life is filled with self-justification and excuses linked to a good hearted but over indulgent mother. He is not evil for the sake of evil, but used to amorous adventures with willing women who are like him, are protective of their own reputations and emotions. It is only when his wander eye alights upon the more innocent that he lacks the soul to place anyone in front of his next feel good infatuation.
Indiana is my first George Sand, it will not be my last.
Indiana is perhaps too much of an innocent. She seems capable of killing herself by the self induced loneliness inside her much regretted marriage. She can invent a hundred reason why she cannot take opportunities to trade some innocence for happiness, but she is also thoughtful and able to stay true to herself even as events seem ready to crush her.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Indiana is a break through romantic novel in that it has a woman feeling the most complex emotions. More typical of the period, women were not thought to have sufficient brains or soul to be the center of an emotional novel. Indiana is a colonial from the West Indies where the locals are known as Creole. The term will come much later to have distinct racial tones, but within the novel there is more than a little confusion of creole as a racial term and as a term for a mix of island population and white colonials. At the time it was known that Napoleon’s Josephine was a creole and because of that was thought to be among the most beautiful of the western worlds’ women.
Indiana as a novel was understood to be a protest about the helplessness of married women under existing laws. She had been married off to an older man and had no choice except to stay married or risk social economic and possible legal ruin. Ms. Sand chooses to keep this the center of the plot and does not add in the problems of a married women who endures loveless marriage in the name of her children.
Part of what makes the narrative more nuanced is that we get clear insights into the interior life of the main characters. The rich older husband, a military man is not merely afraid for his wife’s loyalties, but in his way, he cares for her health. While he is given to bad temper, he has enough soul to recognize, if too late that he has overreacted causing pain to people not deserving of his physical wrath.
The bad boy lover is more than a bad boy. His interior life is filled with self-justification and excuses linked to a good hearted but over indulgent mother. He is not evil for the sake of evil, but used to amorous adventures with willing women who are like him, are protective of their own reputations and emotions. It is only when his wander eye alights upon the more innocent that he lacks the soul to place anyone in front of his next feel good infatuation.
Indiana is my first George Sand, it will not be my last.
Indiana is perhaps too much of an innocent. She seems capable of killing herself by the self induced loneliness inside her much regretted marriage. She can invent a hundred reason why she cannot take opportunities to trade some innocence for happiness, but she is also thoughtful and able to stay true to herself even as events seem ready to crush her.
April 3, 2018
The Goodreads description suggests this is a feminist novel. We have moved so far from the context in which this could be considered such that it is hard to see it. However, there is one strong scene in which Indiana tells her despotic husband that he cannot tell her how or what to think. Such a radical position in 1832!
M. Delmare is not the most despicable of the male characters. That position must be reserved for Raymon de Ramiere.
I did enjoy this, but perhaps the best of it, for me, was the introduction where Naomi Schor helped me clearly understand the literary period.
M. Delmare is not the most despicable of the male characters. That position must be reserved for Raymon de Ramiere.
It was not the first time that Raymon saw a woman take love seriously, although, fortunately for society, such cases are rare; but he knew that promises of love are not binding on a man’s honour, again fortunately for society. Sometimes, too, the woman who had demanded these solemn pledges from him was the first to break them.I don't think this was intended to be funny (!), but I couldn't help but laugh. There were other passages of his wooing Indiana that were just over the top.
I did enjoy this, but perhaps the best of it, for me, was the introduction where Naomi Schor helped me clearly understand the literary period.
Sand came to writing at the very moment when, under the joint impetus of Stendhal and Balzac, the literary movement that has come to be known as realism was rising to the dominant position it was soon to achieve. Seeking to obtain the literary legitimation that being a realist writer bestows, Sand’s first edition of and first preface to Indiana are replete with protestations of her allegiance to the familiar ideology of realism, namely that it has no ideology: it is pure reproduction, a mirror without a curve, a machine that merely registers material phenomena and events without distorting them. ‘The writer is only a mirror which reflects them [society’s inequalities and fate’s whims], a machine which traces their outline, and he has nothing for which to apologize if the impressions are correct and the reflection is faithful.’As a fan of both Balzac and Stendahl (and I hope to get to each of them this challenge season), I was very glad to read this section. Indiana, Sand's first novel, comes in at the bottom of my 4-star group, and I might be a tad generous at that.
October 7, 2015
What a horribly tragic tale! Damn you, George Sand!!
August 30, 2019
Contrary to popular opinion the most melodramatic romance ever written is not Madame Bovary, but Indiana by George Sand. What did I just read?! My feelings in emoji:
1)🤔
2)😟
3)😩
4)😬
5)😒
6)🤮
7)😒
1)🤔
2)😟
3)😩
4)😬
5)😒
6)🤮
7)😒
January 28, 2015
Opening lines:
Par une soirée d’automne pluvieuse et fraîche, trois personnes rêveuses étaient gravement occupées, au fond d’un petit castel de la Brie, à regarder brûler les tisons du foyer et cheminer lentement l’aiguille de la pendule.
The original French text is available at La Bibliothèque électronique du Québec.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
The audio version in English is available at LibriVox.
And the audio version in French is available at Literature audio.com.
Par une soirée d’automne pluvieuse et fraîche, trois personnes rêveuses étaient gravement occupées, au fond d’un petit castel de la Brie, à regarder brûler les tisons du foyer et cheminer lentement l’aiguille de la pendule.
The original French text is available at La Bibliothèque électronique du Québec.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
The audio version in English is available at LibriVox.
And the audio version in French is available at Literature audio.com.
September 8, 2021
Incredibe. To link to Mrs Bovary. But better. More deeper, more sarcastic. The meeting with George Sand was a success.
Incroyable. A lier à Madame Bovary mieux encore. Plus profond, plus sarcastique. Cette rencontre avec George Sand était une réussite.
Incroyable. A lier à Madame Bovary mieux encore. Plus profond, plus sarcastique. Cette rencontre avec George Sand était une réussite.
June 17, 2017
I picked up this book at a library book sale because I recognized the author’s name. I know of George Sand because of the 1991 movie “Impromptu” starring Hugh Grant. From that (historically dubious) movie I learned that Sand was a pre-feminist feminist, who in the 1800’s wore pants and had an affair with Chopin. That was enough to pique my interest. It was a good instinct, because “Indiana” is a passionate feminist treaty, wrapped up in a gothic romance. Indiana herself is a typical lovely, pale heroine. She’s living an unbearable life, passed from the care of an abusive father to a domineering husband, with no friends, interests or reason to live. What makes her different than most 1800’s heroines is that instead of treating her passive resignation as a womanly virtue, Sand treats it as an affront to her human nature. She makes the same radical argument the Simone de Beauvoir makes 100 years later in “The Second Sex”; that women are people too. If you’re looking for a traditional 19th century romance with a feminist twist, this is your book.
March 16, 2019
As long as he religiously respects the lives and the money of his fellow citizens, nothing more is asked of him. He may beat his wife, mistreat his servants, ruin his children, and it is no one's business. Society condemns only those acts that do it harm; it is not concerned with private life.I baffle myself sometimes with what I end up liking. First The Coquette, now this. It's not like this work isn't horrendously dramatic or that the resulting ending is rather squick in a period when the marriage of first cousins aren't nearly as encouraged and the age of consent is no longer seven, but this work reminds me that, if Hugo hadn't digressed as much as he did in Les Misérables, I honestly wouldn't have liked this as much. Yes, the sudden switches to political discourse don't seem like much of a break in between dramatic declarations of love and self-annihilation, but if author truly takes seriously, the question of how one builds up a society that doesn't just aid but also necessitates human sacrifice, that is my bread and butter, however long ago the story is set. Yes, Dupin says some ridiculous shit with regards to gender essentialism, but I'll take what I can get, and the balance between good and bad tipped over to the good before the conclusion settled in and the characters coalesced. In summary, I'm not surprised this work has a shit rating, but I've seen other works be forgiven for a lot more than it commits here, so I'm glad that I ignored the community reviews enough to sail on through as much as I did, tedious as it may have gotten at times.
At all times and under all regimes, moreover, some critics have so little faith in their own literary talent that they feel they must curry official by denigrating that of other writers—a strange function to fulfill vis-à-vis their fellows! They have never found the government's harsh measures against the press sufficiently savage: they would like to see those measures enforced not only against the works but also against their creators, and if they had their way, some of us would be forbidden to write anything at all.Dupin's an author whose life is admittedly more fascinating than this particular work of hers, so while some may do a double take at the fact that this particular edition has no less than four introductions, three composed by the author herself for various editions released during her lifetime, I was rather thrilled to get a partial (auto)/bio along with the narrative for the price of a single paperback fiction. Afterwards, the going was rather slow, but I did appreciate Dupin's talent at setting a scene, because as I said previously, I do like a good digression on more aesthetic descriptions if it's done well. This didn't last so long, and while the beginning third or so was replete with racialized nonsense as occurred whenever the mulatto character Noel appeared, the rest of the novel was able to delve into some interesting analysis of what happens when human beings who had the potential to not be nitwits and/or assholes are thrust into a social spectrum that only accepts one and/or the other type in its "honorable" citizenship. If you don't like history or political theory in your fiction, this isn't the novel for you. In my case, once I filled in some of the knowledge blanks that commonly fill in a gaps between the French Revolution, Napoleon, and the barricades of the 1840's, I had a good enough grasp on the negotiations and exasperations and exultations and, ultimately, conflagrations that are common side effects of the communications between those who have bread and those who have not. Indiana's travails were in some ways gendered extensions of this conflict, and as the introduction describes, the three men in her life serve well as alternative governments: all of them suck, but one admittedly offers succor until a better system can be developed. I also have a morbid fascination with authors who are able to display characters at their lowest points without devolving into sensationalist or voyeuristic bullshit, and I have to say, if Dupin never had any experience with reasoning through suicidal urges, I'll eat my hat. Her writing about the self-manipulations characters undergo as a combination of nature, nurture, and societal pressure is, for the most part, deeply incisive and brutally honest, and all the hysterics and giving into stereotypes that happen in parts can't hide that. As such, I'm not surprised Flaubert and others loved her so much. The only shame is that the modern world has good reasons for not affording the same.
Do you men have no courage except the physical courage that can confront death? Are you incapable of the moral courage that can accept unhappiness?At long last, I can add "George Sand" to "George Eliot" in the list of women writers known by oddly similar remnants of fundamentally puerile societies that insist on creeping in on the corners of today. I don't love her nearly as much as I do Evans, but neither do I think she deserves the abysmal ratings and low amounts of ratings in comparison to her contemporaneous male cohorts. Despite the do-gooder overtones of the ending, this work does not at all handle race well, and the ending male character's soliloquy was more skeevy than touching, but Dupin demonstrates a political awareness that modern authors could learn from, and there should be no fear of digressions if one values holistic narratives over one shot climaxes. As such, if another so-termed 'George Sand' work floats my way, I wouldn't have any real reason to not acquire it. I'm also dead set on acquiring a good biography of Dupin, as it shows more than one nauseatingly familiar historical figure in an astonishingly new light, and gender ambiguity with a feminine touch has always been my jam. All in all, this has been a valuable trek back into the past. I won't deny that this isn't most readers' cup of tea, but it's enough that it happened to be mine.
The most honest man is the one who is the best thinker and doer; the most powerful man, the one who is the best speaker and writer.
Tell me how you feel and think, and I will tell you your political opinions.
November 21, 2018
Indiana es la primera novela que publicó Amatine Aurore Lucile Dupin, más conocida por el pseudónimo de George Sand. Este también ha sido el primer libro que leo de la autora y tenía muchas ganas de leer algo suyo, pues es una de las escritoras que más resuena cuando hablamos de novelistas de los siglos XVIII y XIX. Es, además, conocida por su vida alejada de la moral de la época, se separó de su marido, vivió de la escritura y solía pasearse por la calle vestida como un chico, es decir, con pantalones ¡qué escándalo!
George Sand es una figura que despierta mucho interés y después de leer novelas y ensayos en los que era mencionada siempre supe que tendría que leer algo suyo. Ahora, editorial d'Época nos devuelve esta novela, descatalogada en español durante muchísimos años, alrededor de cien, creo, y ha sido una estupenda oportunidad.
No sabía muy bien que me iba a encontrar en la historia pero tengo que admitir que no fue lo que esperaba, tanto en el desarrollo del tema como en el estilo. de Jane Austen se decía que plasmaba la realidad misma, George Sand apuesta por un estilo más romántico con personajes no tan realistas, aunque sus situaciones sí puedan serlo en cierta medida, y le añade mucho drama. Realmente no he disfrutado esta lectura tanto como hubiera querido, no es un libro que me haya enganchando porque para mí es demasiado dramático.
La trama gira en torno a Indiana, Raymond y Ralph, realmente. Raymond es un hombrecillo que, debido a la indulgencia de su madre, se ha convertido en un egoísta consentido que solo vive para conquistar. Se enamora mucho y rápido, pero también se le pasa enseguida y espera que todas las mujeres estén al tanto de ese juego, es un tanto extraña su forma de pensar, siempre está autoconvenciéndose de que lo que hace está bien… Y eso provocará varias desgracias, e Indiana estará involucrada en ellas.
Diría que el estilo de los personajes está lejos de lo realista y se centra más en ser prototipos románticos con cierto patetismo, desde el marido mayor, violento y celoso a la joven Indiana, enferma, frágil, ignorante y dispuesta a todo por un amor que nunca ha demostrado que la quería. También está Raymond, un don Juan de segundas que es un tanto ridículo y que parece que entiende la vida como un juego; y por último está Ralph, es personaje más extraño de todos por lo que se descubre al final, en cierta medida predecible. Todos ellos forman un enredo bastante melancólico, al que se une Noun y un poco la madre de Raymond.
Se dice que la novela critica el sistema que dejaba a las mujeres muy desprotegidas. Indiana es infeliz, su padre la ha tratado mal, ha tenido que casarse por obligación, su marido no la trata bien y no lo quiere; su amigo Ralph no la ayuda en nada y tampoco siente un gran cariño por él y su amor, Raymond, resulta que no hace más que empeorar su vida. Es ignorante, porque jamás ha tenido la oportunidad de ser otra cosa, incluso las otras mujeres de su vida no hacen nada por ayudarla más que empujarla al abismo, cada uno de los personajes está pendiente de sus satisfacciones personales y no les importa que ella sea el precio.
En un momento dado se queda sola en la calle, sin dinero, sin papeles que atestigüen quien es, sin ningún tipo de oportunidad porque las mujeres no tenían esos derechos, y además ella era criolla. Contrasta la actitud de esta protagonista, que está dispuesta a destruir su vida social, su honor, su matrimonio y su seguridad por ende, con tal de poder estar cerca de Raymond, en contraposición de su actitud hacia su esposo, al que sí le reprocha claramente que el sistema lo favorece a él y que ella no es más que un objeto que no le importa a nadie. Hay un fragmento que sin duda es lo más reinvindicativo y claro de la novela en cuanto a la ideología feminista de la autora, que abogaba por la libertad y criticaba lo limitada que era la vida de las mujeres en la época que le tocó vivir.
Indiana busca, a lo largo de la novela, su libertad, y es el amor lo que la motiva a ello, pero el sistema no la favorece en nada, así que esa libertad no pasa únicamente por alejarse de su marido porque continúa estando atrapada, siempre a merced de un hombre o la miseria, puesto que además Indiana no es una persona de carácter, fuerte que sepa moverse en el mundo, así que su vulnerabilidad es muy grande.
Estos aspectos me han parecido muy interesantes, pero en general la historia tiene un tono y un enfoque que he encontrado algo difícil, no la he disfrutado como a otras autoras. Sin embargo, como es su primera novela y la introducción de la historia nos dice que la autora escribió muchas otras, espero darle alguna oportunidad más. Es cierto que George Sand siempre ha sido un personaje más nombrado por su estilo de vida, sus amores y su feminismo que por sus obras, pero me gustaría conocerla más como autora a pesar de que este título haya sido diferente a lo esperado.
Esta edición, además de una introducción cuenta con diversas ilustraciones que son una gozada. Es un libro en tapa dura, con papel de calidad y un lazo como marcador, la portada además me parece que refleja bien la relación de Indiana y su hermana de leche Noun.
George Sand es una figura que despierta mucho interés y después de leer novelas y ensayos en los que era mencionada siempre supe que tendría que leer algo suyo. Ahora, editorial d'Época nos devuelve esta novela, descatalogada en español durante muchísimos años, alrededor de cien, creo, y ha sido una estupenda oportunidad.
No sabía muy bien que me iba a encontrar en la historia pero tengo que admitir que no fue lo que esperaba, tanto en el desarrollo del tema como en el estilo. de Jane Austen se decía que plasmaba la realidad misma, George Sand apuesta por un estilo más romántico con personajes no tan realistas, aunque sus situaciones sí puedan serlo en cierta medida, y le añade mucho drama. Realmente no he disfrutado esta lectura tanto como hubiera querido, no es un libro que me haya enganchando porque para mí es demasiado dramático.
La trama gira en torno a Indiana, Raymond y Ralph, realmente. Raymond es un hombrecillo que, debido a la indulgencia de su madre, se ha convertido en un egoísta consentido que solo vive para conquistar. Se enamora mucho y rápido, pero también se le pasa enseguida y espera que todas las mujeres estén al tanto de ese juego, es un tanto extraña su forma de pensar, siempre está autoconvenciéndose de que lo que hace está bien… Y eso provocará varias desgracias, e Indiana estará involucrada en ellas.
Diría que el estilo de los personajes está lejos de lo realista y se centra más en ser prototipos románticos con cierto patetismo, desde el marido mayor, violento y celoso a la joven Indiana, enferma, frágil, ignorante y dispuesta a todo por un amor que nunca ha demostrado que la quería. También está Raymond, un don Juan de segundas que es un tanto ridículo y que parece que entiende la vida como un juego; y por último está Ralph, es personaje más extraño de todos por lo que se descubre al final, en cierta medida predecible. Todos ellos forman un enredo bastante melancólico, al que se une Noun y un poco la madre de Raymond.
Se dice que la novela critica el sistema que dejaba a las mujeres muy desprotegidas. Indiana es infeliz, su padre la ha tratado mal, ha tenido que casarse por obligación, su marido no la trata bien y no lo quiere; su amigo Ralph no la ayuda en nada y tampoco siente un gran cariño por él y su amor, Raymond, resulta que no hace más que empeorar su vida. Es ignorante, porque jamás ha tenido la oportunidad de ser otra cosa, incluso las otras mujeres de su vida no hacen nada por ayudarla más que empujarla al abismo, cada uno de los personajes está pendiente de sus satisfacciones personales y no les importa que ella sea el precio.
En un momento dado se queda sola en la calle, sin dinero, sin papeles que atestigüen quien es, sin ningún tipo de oportunidad porque las mujeres no tenían esos derechos, y además ella era criolla. Contrasta la actitud de esta protagonista, que está dispuesta a destruir su vida social, su honor, su matrimonio y su seguridad por ende, con tal de poder estar cerca de Raymond, en contraposición de su actitud hacia su esposo, al que sí le reprocha claramente que el sistema lo favorece a él y que ella no es más que un objeto que no le importa a nadie. Hay un fragmento que sin duda es lo más reinvindicativo y claro de la novela en cuanto a la ideología feminista de la autora, que abogaba por la libertad y criticaba lo limitada que era la vida de las mujeres en la época que le tocó vivir.
Indiana busca, a lo largo de la novela, su libertad, y es el amor lo que la motiva a ello, pero el sistema no la favorece en nada, así que esa libertad no pasa únicamente por alejarse de su marido porque continúa estando atrapada, siempre a merced de un hombre o la miseria, puesto que además Indiana no es una persona de carácter, fuerte que sepa moverse en el mundo, así que su vulnerabilidad es muy grande.
Estos aspectos me han parecido muy interesantes, pero en general la historia tiene un tono y un enfoque que he encontrado algo difícil, no la he disfrutado como a otras autoras. Sin embargo, como es su primera novela y la introducción de la historia nos dice que la autora escribió muchas otras, espero darle alguna oportunidad más. Es cierto que George Sand siempre ha sido un personaje más nombrado por su estilo de vida, sus amores y su feminismo que por sus obras, pero me gustaría conocerla más como autora a pesar de que este título haya sido diferente a lo esperado.
Esta edición, además de una introducción cuenta con diversas ilustraciones que son una gozada. Es un libro en tapa dura, con papel de calidad y un lazo como marcador, la portada además me parece que refleja bien la relación de Indiana y su hermana de leche Noun.
October 8, 2008
I had never read George Sand, and when I found Indiana in a used bookstore I thought it was time to remedy that. It turned out to be a lot of fun, although I can see why Sand is not read as much today as the Brontes or Jane Austen.
Indiana opens with a fantastic first chapter, in which several of our main characters are huddled around a fire in a dreary, chilly chateau on a drizzly fall night. I've never read another 19th-century novel that gave me such a vivid sense of how oppressive night must have been before electric lighting. Good company no doubt allieviated that for some people, but there's no good company here -- just sickly, depressed young bride Indiana, her cranky old husband, and her stiff, boring cousin Ralph, all making each other uncomfortable. The scene ends with a violent domestic calamity that introduces Indiana's handsome (and trespassing) young neighbor Raymon, who has CAD written all over him. Soon we have a heady stew of attempted seduction, successful seduction, suicide, suspicion and lying -- which all sometimes comes to a halt for a few pages so Sand can discuss politics.
It's quite the potboiler, which makes it a lot of fun. But to keep the pot boiling, Sand sometimes has to make her shrewdly observed and very human characters sometimes do and say very implausible things - especially naive-yet-virtuous Indiana and poor cousin Ralph. The ending is downright silly. I don't think the silliness and sensationalism would be a problem if Sand weren't so spot-on in understanding how people think and act in other parts of the book. Still, it's a fun read and I'm sure it raised eyebrows -- and pulserates -- when it was published.
Indiana opens with a fantastic first chapter, in which several of our main characters are huddled around a fire in a dreary, chilly chateau on a drizzly fall night. I've never read another 19th-century novel that gave me such a vivid sense of how oppressive night must have been before electric lighting. Good company no doubt allieviated that for some people, but there's no good company here -- just sickly, depressed young bride Indiana, her cranky old husband, and her stiff, boring cousin Ralph, all making each other uncomfortable. The scene ends with a violent domestic calamity that introduces Indiana's handsome (and trespassing) young neighbor Raymon, who has CAD written all over him. Soon we have a heady stew of attempted seduction, successful seduction, suicide, suspicion and lying -- which all sometimes comes to a halt for a few pages so Sand can discuss politics.
It's quite the potboiler, which makes it a lot of fun. But to keep the pot boiling, Sand sometimes has to make her shrewdly observed and very human characters sometimes do and say very implausible things - especially naive-yet-virtuous Indiana and poor cousin Ralph. The ending is downright silly. I don't think the silliness and sensationalism would be a problem if Sand weren't so spot-on in understanding how people think and act in other parts of the book. Still, it's a fun read and I'm sure it raised eyebrows -- and pulserates -- when it was published.
May 31, 2008
On one level, Indiana is about the numerous attempts of Raymon, a debauched aristocrat, to seduce Indiana Delmare, a simple and innocent girl just returned from Reúnion (called Ile Borboun in the novel, its then name), a French colony in the Indian Ocean. On a deeper level, however, Sand clearly is concerned with that preoccupation of so many in the decades after the Enlightenment--does "civilization" necessarily corrupt? Are those raised away from the artificiality of metropolitan culture closer to the ideal of a good and just humanity? Judging by this novel, Sand would answer both questions with an enthusiastic yes. Indiana only truly achieves happiness when she returns to her colonial home for the last time, turning her back on France and its temptations; the lovely, isolated valley that she and Ralph end up sharing, filled with fragrant fruit trees, tropical birds, and an awe-inspiring waterfall, becomes a type of Eden, a promise on the part of Sand that we as humans can return to paradise if we are only brave enough to renounce the world. Of course, it is interesting to note that Sand herself never visited Reúnion, instead relying on a friend's memoirs.
Having previously read both Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, I also couldn't help but compare Indiana to Antoinette/Bertha, another simple Creole whose complex colonial identity couldn't prepare her to deal with the (of course) twisted, selfish ways of Europe.
Having previously read both Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, I also couldn't help but compare Indiana to Antoinette/Bertha, another simple Creole whose complex colonial identity couldn't prepare her to deal with the (of course) twisted, selfish ways of Europe.
Shelved as 'dnf'
April 2, 2019DNF @ ~ 50%
Pocas veces me ha pasado esto con un libro: empezar enganchadísima –el primer capítulo es realmente una delicia, lleno de ironía y profunda crítica sobre la posición de la mujer (joven) casada por obligación con un marido 40 años mayor que ella– y desinflarme poco después. Creía que iba a haber más misterio, pero la historia de 'pasión' que se crea entre algunos personajes me pareció aburridísima y dejé de estar interesada en el argumento general a partir del cuarto o quinto capítulo. Además, el estilo, el ritmo lento y el intercalar ideas políticas y filosóficas de la autora, hizo que me sentía obligada a seguir leyendo y no estaba disfrutando esta lectura. Eso sí, la edición es cuidadísima y una delicia para 'hacer bonito' en la estantería.
Pocas veces me ha pasado esto con un libro: empezar enganchadísima –el primer capítulo es realmente una delicia, lleno de ironía y profunda crítica sobre la posición de la mujer (joven) casada por obligación con un marido 40 años mayor que ella– y desinflarme poco después. Creía que iba a haber más misterio, pero la historia de 'pasión' que se crea entre algunos personajes me pareció aburridísima y dejé de estar interesada en el argumento general a partir del cuarto o quinto capítulo. Además, el estilo, el ritmo lento y el intercalar ideas políticas y filosóficas de la autora, hizo que me sentía obligada a seguir leyendo y no estaba disfrutando esta lectura. Eso sí, la edición es cuidadísima y una delicia para 'hacer bonito' en la estantería.
October 3, 2016
I spent most of the book wanting to slap Indiana. Although an infuriating character who didn't conform to my own wishes, I was rooting for her throughout the story. It's not exactly a happy ending though.
March 20, 2023
Long winded, but sooooo much drama (apparently Sand was payed by the word, and it shows). Obsessed. 3 love interests, location changes, melancholia, the works. Love to see a sad, pale protagonist in a gothic setting. The end was bizarre, but the plot twists and characters were thrilling.
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