Giving Up Travel

André Gide / Li YuminShanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaSep 2018

4.1

Word count: 28K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

A writer who truly put "read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles" into practice, Gide is represented here by a selection of his finest travel writing. In these pages he sharply criticizes French colonial policy and lays bare the inevitable evils of the colonial system. Gide's travel writing blends personal reflection with vigorous political engagement and earnest humanitarian spirit, occupying a very important place in his entire career. "Wenhua Huacai" (Literary Gems) is a new series from Shanghai Translation Publishing House: clearly themed, published in sets of five, with elegant covers in keeping with each theme, designed by the outstanding young designer Zhou Weiwei. The content draws on the press's extensive, widely acclaimed translation resources, gathering notable works into individual volumes. The first set, themed "Wandering," collects travel writing by five literary masters—Gide, Hemingway, Lawrence, Nagai Kafū, and Maugham: Gide's Travels Abandoned, Hemingway's Paris Never Ends, Lawrence's The Stranger Abroad, Nagai Kafū's Kafū's Quiet Murmur, and Maugham's His Majesty's Representative.

Editor's review

This book is a selected collection of Gide's travel writings, published in the "译文华彩" travel series. Gide lived by the maxim "read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles," and his travelogues are not mere scenic records but fuse personal reflection, political observation, and humanitarian concern. Particularly noteworthy is his sharp criticism of French colonial policy: writing from firsthand experience, Gide exposes the inevitable harm wrought by the colonial system, giving these texts an intellectual weight beyond the travelogue genre. Li Yumin's translation is fluent and reliable, and the uniform design of the series makes this a suitable entry point for understanding Gide's nonfiction. Readers might compare it with Gide's novels to see how the same writer shifts register between fiction and reportage, or treat it as one sidelight on early twentieth-century European intellectuals' reckoning with colonialism. Concise in length, it can be finished in a single commute or short holiday, then revisited for the passages on colonial experience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Gide's work who want to know his travel writing and intellectual profile
Nonfiction readers concerned with colonial history and European intellectuals' critical stance
Readers who enjoy concise travel essays that can be read in short segments
Teachers and students needing a foreign literature translation for classroom or book-club discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting conventional sightseeing guides with attraction descriptions
Readers seeking a systematic study of all Gide's works with full annotations
Readers who prefer tightly plotted novels and have limited patience for discursive essays

Reading tips

Start with the chapters on colonial experience, then return to the more personal, lyrical sections and compare the two registers.
While reading, jot down Gide's main criticisms of colonial policy for easy comparison with other travelogues of the period.
If you have read Gide's novels, try comparing their fictional narrative perspective with the observational stance in the travelogues.
Best read in several sittings, one or two pieces at a time, leaving time to digest the discursive passages.

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
放弃旅行
阿尔及尔（国家要塞）
布萨达
阿尔及尔（卜利达）
比斯克拉
回返
漫游土耳其

FAQ

Is this book Gide's complete travel writings or a selection?

According to the source materials, this is a selection drawn from representative works of Gide's travel writing, one volume in the "译文华彩" travel series; it does not collect all his travelogues. It concentrates on the hallmark of Gide's travel writing—personal reflection alongside political criticism—and serves as a concise introduction to this side of his work.

How does the book express criticism of colonial policy?

The materials state that Gide sharply criticizes French colonial policy in his travelogues and exposes the inevitable harm of the colonial system. This gives the writing full political passion and a humanitarian spirit. The specific arguments require reading the original text, but the criticism can be expected to rest on firsthand travel and observation.

Can I read this without having read other works by Gide?

Yes. This is a selection of travel writing that does not depend on the plots of Gide's novels, so it can be read on its own without difficulty. To appreciate his literary style further, you might turn to his novels afterward and then revisit the observations and reflections in the travelogues for a richer reading.

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About the author

André Gide Author · France · 1869–1951

André Gide was a French writer, born in Paris in 1869 and died in Paris in 1951. His work spans novels, essays, and literary criticism, with representative titles including The Immoralist, Strait Is the Gate, La Symphonie pastorale, The Counterfeiters, and The Fruits of the Earth. These works often trace the moral struggles of their characters, written in restrained yet reflective prose. In 1947 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, which brought his literary standing wider international recognition. Gide is regarded as an important figure in twentieth-century French literature and has had a lasting influence on the psychological depiction and narrative forms of the modern novel. The library holds 70 of his works, spanning categories such as foreign literature, classic works, and social fiction, showing that his writing has long circulated among Chinese readers.

Li Yumin Author · Chinese · 1938

Li Yumin (born 1938) is a renowned Chinese translator of French literature. A graduate of Peking University's French program, he later became a professor at Capital Normal University. In 1964, he went to France as one of the first publicly sponsored students of New China. He has devoted himself to translating French literature for decades, producing more than 200 translated works totaling over 30 million characters, about half of them first translations in China. His representative works include Notre-Dame de Paris, Les Misérables, The Three Musketeers, The Plague, The Stranger, and The Little Prince, spanning foreign literature, world classics, and Western philosophy. He has received the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Award. His translations are known for accuracy, fluency, and readability, offering Chinese readers an important window into classic French literature and thought.