Putois

France, Anatole, 1844-1924Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 27K words
Chapters: 3

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.Putois by Anatole FranceAuthor: France, Anatole, 1844-1924,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 27, 2007

Editor's review

Putois is a short work by the French writer Anatole France, available as a public-domain e-book. France is known for his gentle irony and humanistic concern; this piece centers on an invented figure, Putois, and uses an absurd everyday premise to explore the blurred line between truth and fiction, rumor and fact. It is brief and finely written, a good introduction to France's narrative style and a useful sample of the short satirical story for comparative literature classes. Watch how the narrator gradually gives a nonexistent person a social existence—a device that illuminates how public opinion and collective imagination take shape. The electronic edition is easy to search and excerpt, suitable for reading in one commute or odd moments, then revisiting key passages to appreciate its layered satirical structure.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy French literature and short satirical fiction
Those wanting a short introduction to Anatole France
Readers interested in fiction versus reality and the mechanics of rumor
Teachers and students needing a short text for literature-class discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a long plot and a complex cast of characters
Readers who prefer fast modern narrative and are insensitive to satire
Readers who only want a Chinese translation and will not read the English original

Reading tips

Read through once for the story, then reread key dialogue to see how rumor is gradually established as fact.
Consider the era in which France lived and how the satire relates to the social climate of the time.
After reading, compare the text with real cases of opinion spreading and write a short analytical note.

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 a long work or a short one?

It is a short work by France, not long, and the electronic edition can be read in one or two sittings. It relies less on complex plot than on narrative technique and irony, so it rewards rereading and close attention to structure.

What language level does it require?

The electronic edition is in English and is a public-domain resource. Readers with basic English reading ability can attempt it, using a dictionary for unfamiliar expressions. If you are more comfortable in Chinese, read alongside a Chinese translation to catch the ironic tone.

Why is this short piece worth reading?

It uses the premise of an invented person treated as real to show how rumor and collective imagination shape reality. Short and cleverly constructed, it is a good introduction to France's satirical style and to thinking about the relation between truth and fiction.

Comments

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About the author

France, Anatole, 1844-1924 Author

Anatole France (France, Anatole, 1844-1924) was a French writer whose real name was Anatole François Thibault. Because the available material is limited, the details of his life cannot be set out here, but it is clear that he produced a large body of work, of which 57 titles are held in this collection. His representative works include Penguin Island, Les Dieux ont soif (The Gods Are Athirst), The Revolt of the Angels, Vie de Jeanne d'Arc (The Life of Joan of Arc), and La rôtisserie de la Reine Pédauque (At the Sign of the Reine Pédauque), spanning novels, historical biography, and satirical fable. France's prose is elegant and unhurried, and he often examines society and history with urbane irony and a skeptical spirit, weaving philosophical reflection into his narratives. He had a lasting influence on French literature and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921.