The Countess Mathieu de Noailles

Gillouin, René, 1881-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 88K words
Chapters: 9

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.La Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles by René GillouinAuthor: Gillouin, René, 1881-,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Dec 8, 2013

Editor's review

This is René Gillouin's critical study, written in French, of the Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles, a work of French literary and biographical scholarship. The countess was a prominent figure in early twentieth-century French society and letters, and her salon and poetry were influential in their day. Written from the perspective of a contemporary, the book carries a distinct period tone and personal judgments, presenting both the subject's cultural image and a reflection of the personal networks and aesthetic tastes of the French literary world of the time. For readers studying early twentieth-century French literary history, salon culture, or women's writing, it offers a first-hand critical account with a sense of immediacy. The language is French and the style is critical rather than narrative, requiring some command of French and a background in French literary history. It is better suited as supplementary material for specialized research than as a standalone introductory biography.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars of early twentieth-century French literature and salon culture
Readers with French reading ability and an interest in the history of women's writing
Literary researchers seeking contemporary critical accounts as supporting evidence
Advanced readers interested in the genre of French literary biographical criticism

Not a good fit for

General readers without French who must rely on a Chinese translation
Beginners seeking a systematic biography or a full life narrative
Readers with little grounding in French literary history who want light reading

Reading tips

Before reading, familiarize yourself with the countess's life and era to follow the references and personal relationships in the commentary.
Read it as contemporary criticism rather than objective biography, and distinguish the author's judgments from factual statements.
Read alongside works on French literary history or salon culture to fill in context the book does not elaborate.
Note the people and works mentioned as leads for further reading of primary texts.

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 a biography of the Comtesse de Noailles?

According to the available information, it is a critical work by René Gillouin in the category of French literature, closer to a contemporary commentary and character study than a full, systematic biography. Readers should not treat it as a compilation of biographical data, but should consult it alongside other biographies and scholarly works.

Can I read this book without knowing French?

The book is in French and critical in style, with references to figures and works of the French literary world that are hard to follow without French. No Chinese translation is indicated in the available information; readers with some French, or with bilingual texts and reference works, will fare best.

What is the value of this book for studying French literary history?

Its value lies in offering a contemporary account of the countess and her literary circle, reflecting the aesthetic tastes, personal networks, and critical discourse of the time. As a first-hand critical source, it can be read against literary histories and the subject's own works to help researchers grasp the tone and positions of the early twentieth-century French literary field.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Gillouin, René, 1881- Author · French · 1881

René Gillouin (born 1881) was a French writer and critic whose works touch on political, literary and moral questions. He was concerned with the relationship between ideas and practical life, and in his essays and books he often discussed social order, individual responsibility and literary value, showing a marked moral concern and a critical temper. The library holds his book La Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles, a critical study of the poet and novelist Anna de Noailles that reviews her writing and literary standing and reflects Gillouin's approach as a literary critic, combining close attention to texts with an overall grasp of the person. Public information about his education, posts and activities is limited, so no speculation is offered here; his writings alone suggest a broad-minded French critic with a polemical streak.