Léon Hennique Novel
Complete Novel 'A Character' & Rare French Literary Translations
Category: Octave Mirbeau – Les Écrivains
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Octave Mirbeau’s searing 1895 essay on Oscar Wilde’s brutal imprisonment and hard labour sentence. A powerful critique of Victorian England’s barbaric justice system and the hypocrisy of civilised society’s treatment of prisoners. A few days ago, Le Gaulois published an account of the horrifying daily torment that poor Oscar Wilde endures in his prison. The…
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Octave Mirbeau’s fierce 1895 defense of Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray. A passionate essay on art, morality, and society’s hypocrisy, written during Wilde’s imprisonment. Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, I have never felt more keenly the horror of society’s repressions, that “dangerous madness for punishment” that possesses mankind. The Picture of…
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A caustic and witty satire by Octave Mirbeau, mocking the vanity of literary fame and the spectacle of writers turned public exhibits at the 1900 Exhibition. This piece skewers the cult of notoriety over talent. M. René Barjeau has just had, in Le Gaulois, a miraculous idea. This idea, which Barnum will regret for the…
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Octave Mirbeau’s moving 1896 tribute to Edmond de Goncourt following his sudden death. A personal memoir exploring Goncourt’s revolutionary impact on French literature, his controversial Journal, and his dedication to artistic integrity. Edmond de Goncourt’s death came so suddenly, it’s left me so utterly shattered, so deeply stricken, that I honestly can’t summon the calm…
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A biting satirical portrait by Octave Mirbeau (1896) of the pompous Vicomte Melchior de Voguë, self-proclaimed ‘sublime thinker’ of French letters. Mirbeau’s wit skewers literary pretension with devastating irony in this classic piece of Belle Époque satire. After six months of unheard-of scheming, repeated overtures, and negotiations broken off and resumed a hundred times over,…
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A biting satirical piece by Octave Mirbeau (1896) mocking Henry Houssaye’s election to the French Academy. Mirbeau’s sharp wit exposes how mediocrity, self-abasement, and a carefully cultivated ‘medallion head’ trumped actual talent in Belle Époque literary circles. “Perfect timing,” said M. Henry Houssaye, offering me a seat. “I’ve just got back from my travels this…
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Octave Mirbeau’s penetrating 1896 critical essay on Léon Daudet, exploring the young writer’s passionate, intellectual style and his major works including Les Morticoles and Suzanne. A masterpiece of Belle Époque literary criticism. Of all the young writers who have made names for themselves in recent years, M. Léon Daudet—along with M. Paul Claudel, the latter…
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A biting satirical essay by Octave Mirbeau (1897) on the literary discovery of Ernest La Jeunesse, skewering critics, academia, and the state of French letters with characteristic wit and irony. Well, well! It seems I have discovered Ernest La Jeunesse! Bold thinkers assure me of this, Paul Brulat confirms it, and here is yet another…
Léon Hennique Novel 