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"La Symphonie Pastorale" is the tale of a country priest who takes into his home a blind orphan with the purpose of educating her, but develops a deep love for her - with tragic consequences. "Isabelle" explores the nature of a different kind of love - a passion based on pure fantasy.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
La Symphonie Pastorale is a beautiful story of a blind and innocent girl who fell in love with her mentor. She finally opens her eyes to see the pain and suffering she has caused. Unforgettable!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
These two tales together in one volume are a real joy to read. Each is short and sweet with no waste of words. They recount the many dilemmas of being caught up in different kinds of love either forbidden as in La Symphonie Pastoral or fantasised in Isabelle. The first is the tale of a country Priest set in the French part of Switzerland. It tells how he takes into his care an orphaned blind girl, and teaches her about the wonders of God's world through nature and music. The Priest moves between his charitable deeds, love for his wife and family and the beautiful blind girl Gertrude. Time is a very important element within this narrative and something that made the book even more thought provoking. The story ends on a moving tragic note, and it keeps the reader attentive to the final page, as we see the priest's story unfold through his journal. I enjoyed the descriptions of the countryside, which are sparse but beautiful. Isabelle relates another thwarted and inaccessible love, as a young man dreams and visualises love for a woman represented by a photograph he sees at a Chateau where he is researching for a thesis. The family at the Chateau and their relationship to the girl in the photograph are gradually revealed, and the mystery is resolved to the surprise of the young man. Once again this is a first person narrative that reflects the strength of the writing. I highly recommend these novellas as delicately told portraits of affairs of the heart and consequences of falling in love and it's many complications. Both the stories are concerned with the psychology of their narrator. They acknowledge humanity and it's frailties, the fragile tendencies and waywardness of the heart, mind and spirituality of the main protagonists. The reader is able to relate to those involved and become caught up in their emotions. I very much like this when reading a book. However, my favourite of the two is La Symphonie Pastoral because of the depth of the story and its interesting if somewhat complex structure. It is the kind of novella I will always remember and requires re-reading to absorb its many facets and subtleties.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This was a book club choice, and although always happy to discover new works (new to me) it was not my "cup of tea". The first novella was a very good example of the unreliable narrator, however. The second novella, "Isabelle" seemed rather predictable and generally melodramatic. Even allowing for translation and the historical context it is difficult to see why it is termed a "classic"
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
love and self-annihilation
This is a senstive tale of destroying oneself through love and good intention. What made the French so pessimistic? So bitter? Read more
Published 11 months ago by rob crawford
Gide in French.
Of course, it's Andre Gide, and it's is a gem of a story. I ordered it because I wanted to revisit one of those wonderful books, along with Nausea, Intimacy, Thief's Journal and... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by Mr. Peter Gage
Tensions and tradegy
Gide's two novellas on unrequited love are ideal companions in this single volume. In style, pace, and in their tragic denouement, the two stories are similar, but the direction of... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by Robert Cordner
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