No Tomorrow

Denon, Vivant, 1747-1825Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 52K words
Chapters: 6

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.Point de lendemain by Vivant DenonAuthor: Denon, Vivant, 1747-1825,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 24, 2008

Editor's review

This is one of Vivant Denon's most widely circulated short stories: brief in length yet exquisitely structured, its narrative core formed by a single night's encounter and a look back the following morning, making it distinctive in eighteenth-century French literature. Denon was both an artist and a diplomat, and his prose combines Rococo lightness and elegance with a cool, hidden observation of emotion and desire. The portrayal of the characters' psychology is restrained and delicate; the narrator moves back and forth between memory and the present, making it difficult for readers to judge simply which layer is real. This is the French-language original e-book released by Project Gutenberg, suitable for readers who wish to engage directly with the original text, and also as an introductory text for understanding eighteenth-century French short narrative art. While reading, note the shifts in narrative perspective and changes in tone, and appreciate how the author accomplishes a reversal of emotion and judgment within an extremely short space. For students learning French or studying French literature, this is a friendly-length text worth reading repeatedly.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate and above learners of French who wish to read original short stories
Literary readers interested in eighteenth-century French literature and Rococo culture
Writing enthusiasts studying short narrative technique and narrative perspective
General readers who wish to complete a classic reading in a relatively short space

Not a good fit for

Readers with no French reading ability who do not intend to use a translation
Readers expecting strong plot conflict and the capacity of a long novel
Readers who prefer modern vernacular expression and have little patience for classical style

Reading tips

First read through once to grasp the narrative outline, then go back and trace the narrator's changes in tone at different points in time.
Can be read alongside a Chinese translation; when encountering long sentences, first divide them into sense groups and avoid word-for-word translation.
After one reading, try retelling the story to check whether you have accurately grasped the reversal of attitude at the end.
If used for classroom discussion, focus on the inconsistencies in the narrator's descriptions of the same night's experience before and after.

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 French original, and what language level is required?

This edition is the French-language original e-book released by Project Gutenberg. It is suitable for readers with intermediate or higher French reading ability who can handle long sentences with the help of a dictionary; beginners are advised to read alongside a Chinese translation, first understanding the plot and then returning to the original.

Is it long? Is it suitable for reading in one sitting?

This is a short work of modest length, usually completable in one or two readings. Precisely because it is short, it is well suited to repeated rereading, paying attention to changes in narrative perspective and tone in the details.

What is most worth noting while reading?

Pay attention to the narrator's shifts in perspective between memory and the present, and the subtle differences in his attitude toward the same experience before and after. These details are key to understanding the work's meaning and are also why it is often discussed.

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About the author

Denon, Vivant, 1747-1825 Author · French · 1747–1825

Vivant Denon (1747–1825) was a French artist, archaeologist and writer who accompanied Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt. He is best known for Voyages dans la basse et la haute Egypte, a travel account with plates recording Egyptian landscapes and antiquities; produced before Egyptology took shape as a discipline, it preserves a document of both artistic sensibility and observation, and such illustrated travel writing shaped later European imaginings of Egypt. He also wrote Point de lendemain, a short narrative work of light, restrained tone. Public information on Denon's life is limited; his works range from Egyptian travel reportage to short narrative, combining artistic observation with literary interest.