Léon Hennique Novel
Complete Novel 'A Character' & Rare French Literary Translations
Category: Octave Mirbeau – Les Écrivains
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Octave Mirbeau’s scathing 1900 critique of Vielé-Griffin’s The Ride of Yeldis – a masterclass in literary demolition. The French satirist dismantles the celebrated symbolist poem with biting wit, questioning what passes for poetry in the free verse movement. In La Plume, M. Edmond Pilon — with an ironic benevolence for which I thank him —…
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Octave Mirbeau’s witty 1901 satire on political vanity and academic ambitions. The French writer skewers his ‘friend’ Georges Leygues, a perpetual minister with no qualifications beyond his office, who dreams of joining the Académie française despite having written no books. It had been ages since I had run into my friend Georges Leygues, and I…
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Octave Mirbeau’s devastating satire on academic institutions and literary prizes. A conversation exposing how the French Academy rewards connections over merit, stifles genius, and betrays the public good. The other evening I had a rare stroke of luck, rare enough that I’m tempted to record it… I met a man of free and fair mind,…
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Mirbeau’s fierce satire on the desecration of literary masterpieces in the public domain. From Balzac’s Droll Stories ‘translated into modern French’ to school editions that butcher classics—a timeless warning about cultural vandalism. Here is yet another document—and not the least curious—to add to the misdeeds inspired in unscrupulous but inventive industrialists by that splendid conception…
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Octave Mirbeau’s passionate 1902 tribute to Maurice Maeterlinck, celebrating the Belgian playwright’s genius through reviews of The Buried Temple, Pelléas et Mélisande (with Debussy’s music), and Monna Vanna. A masterpiece of Belle Époque theatrical criticism. This week belongs to Maurice Maeterlinck. And the noble ferment his name shall stir in minds and souls will soon…
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Octave Mirbeau’s sharp and witty 1910 preface to Marie-Claire, celebrating Marguerite Audoux’s remarkable novel. A seamstress turned writer, Audoux created a masterpiece that impressed even France’s literary elite with its natural genius and profound simplicity. One evening, Francis Jourdain told me about the painful life of a woman he was very close to. A seamstress,…
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Octave Mirbeau’s defiant 1910 preface defending Le Calvaire against patriotic attacks. The French author’s sharp response to critics who condemned his honest portrayal of war, invoking Stendhal and Tolstoy while skewering jingoistic nationalism. The Calvary has been thoroughly roughed up by the patriots—those people don’t joke about—as badly mauled as a barrel of German beer…
Léon Hennique Novel 