Léon Hennique Novel
Complete Novel 'A Character' & Rare French Literary Translations
Category: Octave Mirbeau – Les Écrivains
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Octave Mirbeau’s scathing reflection on journalism exposes the degradation of truth in Parisian media—cronyism, sensationalism, and lost integrity—calling for a radical rebirth of sincerity, bold criticism, and moral courage. I spent eight months away from Paris, living in a Breton village amongst farmers and fishermen, somehow absorbed into their hardy existence and rough labour. It…
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Mirbeau delivers a biting satire of Parisian spectacle, where fleeting fame, media frenzy, and Sarah Bernhardt’s cult collide in a dazzling parade of playthings. A scornful portrait of a city enamored with noise, novelty, and narcissism. It takes remarkably little to amuse that gawper we call Paris: an overturned carriage or a woman getting splashed…
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Mirbeau champions the poetic dream against naturalist precision, celebrating Émile Bergerat’s Enguerrande as a bold stand for artistic imagination, idealism, and lyrical revolt in an age of soulless documentation. At a time when all literature syndicates itself into a commercial enterprise under the company name Document & Co., we must be grateful to M. Émile…
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Mirbeau denounces publicity as literature’s ruin—mocking its grotesque theatrics, cynical self-promotion, and cronyism—while celebrating silent artistic integrity, forgotten virtues, and the enduring honour of true creators. As soon as the news of M. Jean Richepin’s madness spread along the boulevard, everyone exclaimed with a knowing smile: “That Richepin, what a sly one.” It didn’t occur…
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Mirbeau skewers the Académie Française for rewarding mediocrity over genius, lamenting Leconte de Lisle’s neglect while mocking Halévy’s ascent—an immortal triumph of charm and connections over literary greatness. God forbid I should speak ill of the Académie Française which, at heart, despite its prejudices and old-lady quirks, is a most respectable personage. But still, one…
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Mirbeau tears into literary obscenity and naturalist vice, scorning sensationalists like Mendès while defending sincerity, dignity, and the moral imperative to separate art from filth. There exists, courtesy of naturalism, one M. Desprez, who has just been sentenced to a month in prison and a thousand-franc fine for writing an obscene book. Whereupon several right-thinking…
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Mirbeau contrasts cowardice rewarded and heroism forgotten: while Maginard earns the Legion of Honour through flattery and petty courtisanship, a mutilated war hero begs for dignity and is denied, wandering France with only hope and burnt wounds. Maginard never leaves the ministerial antechambers; all the ushers know him and treat him with a familiarity that…
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Mirbeau laments the pomp and godlessness of M. About’s civil burial, casting satire on patriotic spectacle and atheist pride while invoking the dignity of humble death, faith, and forgotten consolation. Murger was dying. A friend informed him that a priest was there asking to see him for a moment. The poet slowly raised himself on…
Léon Hennique Novel 