Down with Hearts!

Georges Darien (Georges Hippolyte Adrien)Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 334K words
Chapters: 34

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Bas les coeurs! by Georges DarienAuthor: Darien, Georges, 1862-1921,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jul 27, 2006

Editor's review

Bas les coeurs! is a French novel by Georges Darien, and this Project Gutenberg electronic edition gives readers free access to the original text. Darien is known for sharp social critique and satire, and this work continues his exposure of hypocritical morality and institutional ills, with a narrative marked by a strong personal style and argumentative force. As a public-domain eBook, its value lies in the primacy of the text and its ease of searching and citation, making it suitable for readers studying late nineteenth-century French literature and social thought. While reading, pay attention to shifts in the narrator's tone and the targets of satire, and consider how the author expresses his stance through the arrangement of plot. Because it is the original French text and was written long ago, it is recommended for readers with some French reading ability, who may use it alongside literary-historical materials to understand its context. Overall, this is a work suited to focused study rather than casual quick reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with some French reading ability and an interest in French literature
Students and scholars studying late nineteenth-century French literature of social critique
Researchers who need free access to public-domain French source texts for textual analysis
Advanced readers who enjoy satire and argumentative narrative

Not a good fit for

Beginners with weak French who find long original sentences difficult
Readers seeking light entertainment and fast-paced plots
Readers who need a teaching edition with detailed notes and a complete introduction

Reading tips

First learn about Darien's life and creative tendencies, then approach the text, to better grasp the targets of satire.
While reading, mark the narrator's passages of commentary and distinguish plot development from authorial comment.
Read alongside materials on late nineteenth-century French social history to understand the critical context.
If the language is difficult, read chapter summaries first, then return to the original for close reading of key passages.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book the original French edition, and what language level is needed?

The book is an original French-language eBook published by Project Gutenberg. The text was written long ago, and its sentence patterns and vocabulary bear the marks of its era. Intermediate or higher French reading ability is recommended; otherwise readers may lose the thread in long sentences and passages of argument.

Why does the recommendation not mention specific plot details?

The available material provides only bibliographic information and the publication source, with no plot summary. To avoid inventing details not present in the book, the recommendation focuses on the work's positioning, language features, and ways of reading; readers must consult the original text for specific plot details.

Is this eBook suitable for academic citation?

As a public-domain electronic text, it is convenient for searching and citing the original, but for academic writing it is advisable to check paper editions or authoritative scholarly editions and to note the source and access date of the electronic version to ensure accuracy of quotations.

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About the author

Georges Darien (Georges Hippolyte Adrien) Author · French · 1862–1921

Georges Darien (1862–1921) was a French writer, born Georges Hippolyte Adrien in Paris, where he also died. He held firm anarchist and anti-militarist views, and his confinement in the North African penal colony known as "Biribi" gave rise to the novel of the same name. His other major works include Bas les coeurs!, L'épaulette and Le voleur, the last a bandit novel that satirizes society. Poor and neglected during his lifetime, he was rediscovered after the 1950s. Public information on his life and work is limited, yet his critique of militarism and social hypocrisy has earned him a place in French literary history.