Ich las es zum ersten Mal in meiner Jugend, dieses ‘Zauberbuch’, ein traumhaft verklärter, melancholischer Blick auf abenteuerliche, ferne Jahre der Freundschaft und ersten Liebe. Es ist ein gutes Alter es zu lesen; doch auch jetzt steigen dem alten Muffel, ein wenig wehmütige Bilder aus seiner Jugend auf. Die Menschen sind eingesponnen in die weite, winterlich regennass-windige Landschaft; wie entfernt erscheint sie doch, diese Zeit mit Pferdekutschen und ohne Telefon!
Meine französische Ausgabe (Hachette 1988) kommt mit einer Einführung zum Autor und seiner Zeit (die ersten Jahre des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts), zu dem Text und mit einem Anhang für den Schulunterricht: klärende Fragen zum Text mit möglichen Antworten.
Diese deutsche Übersetzung halte ich für sehr gut gelungen; sogar die beiden Verslein (I/16) sind dem Original durchaus ebenbürtig. (VIII-23)

Siehe auch mein Kommentar zur französischen Ausgabe https://www.librarything.com/review/249158420 ( )

Ich las es zum ersten Mal in meiner Jugend, dieses ‘Zauberbuch’, ein traumhaft verklärter, melancholischer Blick auf abenteuerliche, ferne Jahre der Freundschaft und ersten Liebe. Es ist ein gutes Alter es zu lesen; doch auch jetzt steigen dem alten Muffel, ein wenig wehmütige Bilder aus seiner Jugend auf. Die Menschen sind eingesponnen in die weite, winterlich regennass-windige Landschaft, dies sehr schön im Umschlagbild dieser französische Ausgabe (Hachette 1988) angedeutet; wie entfernt erscheint sie doch, diese Zeit mit Pferdekutschen und ohne Telefon!
Diese französische Ausgabe kommt mit einer Einführung zum Autor und seiner Zeit (die ersten Jahre des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts), zu dem Text und mit einem Anhang für den Schulunterricht: klärende Fragen zum Text mit möglichen Antworten. (VIII-23)
Zwei audio Versionen:
https://www.litteratureaudio.com/livre-audio-gratuit-mp3/alain-fournier-le-grand...
https://www.litteratureaudio.com/livre-audio-gratuit-mp3/alain-fournier-le-grand... ( )

Going to start splitting my reviews of French lit into two sections, first part for the book itself and second for my reading experience.

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Le Grand Meaulnes is the first and really the only major work of Alain-Fournier, a young French writer who died in the early days of WW1 thus cutting short a promising talent who showed a panache for combining and contrasting romanticist eloquence and realist portraiture of French life that put him in the lineage of greats like Balzac and Flaubert. It's not a particularly well known French classic in the Anglosphere but it still enjoys important place in the French canon and its influence is wider outside there than seems to often be acknowledged (that F. Scott Fitzgerald called his masterpiece on lost love and shattered illusions The Great Gatsby, a title with the same resonance as the French language title of this book, is no coincidence).

It seems to be something of a love-it-or-hate-it online with many people proclaiming their love for it and many saying they don't see the fuss - my rating and description so far probably gives away that I'm much closer to the first camp. You probably do have to have some affinity with the Meaulnes of the title in this intensely mysterious and evocative depiction of bygone youth, longing after the dreams, places and people of our distant and possibly imagined pasts. At the same time it's equally an early kind of coming-of-age novel, potentially attractive to those in their own adolescence as well as those looking back on it. My favourite sections were probably those of the Domain itself which is really where the novel kicks into full gear after a slow-ish start, though the third part picks up serious steam even if I'd argue it emotionally climaxes a little too early and the last few chapters feel like an after-note to how devastating that moment is. Some gorgeous writing in here that often inspired my own wistful feelings as well as leaving me in suspense enough that I devoured the last 10 chapters at breakneck speed and felt the full emotional impact of a certain vivid event even through the barrier of my still incomplete understanding of French.

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Speaking of which, my experience with the language itself - this was a huge step up in difficulty from Le Petit Prince as I expected and my Kindle dictionary got a regular workout for the first five or so chapters. The uses of the conditional and subjunctive still gave me occasional trouble though this might be the first time I really understood a few uses of the latter fully - otherwise once the basic vocabulary had been laid out I found my reading speed picking up throughout until I practically did extensive reading for the last 4-5 chapters and still felt like I didn't miss out on too much. My first time seeing a lot of words here, and this feels like my gateway into more formal, classical French - but it was a gentle one and the vocabulary remained fairly set after the first part which meant I felt like I'd learned a lot by the end. I'll vividly remember the experience and though my sometimes tricky understanding may have made an already dreamy and hazy novel even more so it's one I look forward to returning to one day when I'm more at ease. ( )

Indeholder "Første del", " Kosteleven", " Efter klokke fire", " 'Jeg gæstede en kurvemagers værksted'", " Flugten", " Vognen, der vendte tilbage", " Det banker på ruden", " Silke vesten", " Eventyret", " En rast", " Fårestalden", " Det gådefulde slot", " Wellingtons værelse", " Den mærkelige fest", " Den mærkelige fest (fortsættelse)", " Mødet", " Frantz de Galais", " Den mærkelige fest (slutning)", "Anden del", " Den store leg", " Vi falder i et baghold", " 'Sigøjneren'", " Forsoning", " Tyverierne", " Et skænderi i kulissen", " 'Sigøjneren' fjerner sin forbinding", " Politiet!", " På sporet af den tabte sti", " Storvask", " Jeg forråder", " Tre breve fra Meaulnes", "Tredje del", " Udflugten", " Hos Florentin", " Et spøgelse", " Den store nyhed", " Lystturen", " Lystturen (slutning)", " Bryllupsdagen", " Frantz kalder", " De lykkelige", " 'Frantz' hus'", " Samtale i regnen", " Byrden", " Stilehæftet", " Hemmeligheden", " Hemmeligheden (fortsættelse)", " Hemmeligheden (slutning)", " Epilog", "Efterskrift af Hakon Stangerup", "Indtryk fra Fournier's barndomsegn".

??? ( )

... l'opera simbolica procede per irradiazioni e, diciamo cosi', per effusioni; in essa lo scrittore vuol rendere sensibile non una cosa ma la vibrazione che la cosa comunica all'anima. (copertina)

Ah, fratello mio, compagno di vagabondaggi, come eravamo convinti, tutti e due, che la felicita' era a portata di mano e che bastava mettersi in cammino per raggiungerla!... (124)

Uscendo dal bosco, sostammo a scrostarci sulla strada secca il fango delle scarpe, mentre il sole cominciava a picchiare sodo. Quel mattino di primavera, cosi' fresco e brillante, era svanito, eran cominciati i soliti rumori del pomeriggio, nelle masserie deserte nei pressi della strada, echeggiava, ogni tanto, il grido desolato di un gallo. (141) ( )