It is April 1793 and the final power struggle of the French Revolution is taking hold: the aristocrats are dead and the poor are fighting for bread in the streets. In a Paris swept by fear and hunger lives Gamelin, a revolutionary young artist appointed magistrate, and given the power of life and death over the citizens of France. But his intense idealism and unbridled single-mindedness drive him inexorably towards catastrophe. Published in 1912, The Gods Will Have Blood is a breathtaking story of the dangers of fanaticism, while its depiction of the violence and devastation of the Reign of Terror is strangely prophetic of the sweeping political changes in Russia and across Europe.
The Gods Will Have Blood: (Les Dieux Ont Soif) (Classics)
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
About the Author
Anatole France (Jacques-Anatole-Francois Thibault) was born in Paris in 1844, the only son of a book dealer. Working throughout his life in the publishing industry, he also contributed to various reviews and from 1873 was beginning to focus on his own creative writing. In 1897 he was elected to the Academic Francaise. The decisive shift in his career came in his participation in the Dreyfus affair, on behalf of the convicted Jewish officer. It marked the first stage of his emergence as one of the 'representative men' of his epoch, and brought about his conversion to socialism. Subsequent works reflect thsi sharpened humane concern. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921. He died in 1924.
Frederick Davies is widely known as the translator of the plays of Carlo Goldini. He is a Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
VERY early one morning, Évariste Gamelin - artist, pupil of David,* member of the Section du Pont-Neuf, formerly Section Henri IV - was to be seen approaching the ancient church of the Barnabites, which had served for three years, since the 21st May, 1790, as the meeting-place for the general assembly of the Section.* Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
VERY early one morning, Évariste Gamelin - artist, pupil of David,* member of the Section du Pont-Neuf, formerly Section Henri IV - was to be seen approaching the ancient church of the Barnabites, which had served for three years, since the 21st May, 1790, as the meeting-place for the general assembly of the Section.* Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I once challenged myself to read all the Penguin Classics in the Viking catalogue. I think I've made it through about 70% of the listings and feel rewarded for the effort. I couldn't recall much about this one, so I re-read it recently. Its not a work that I would wholeheartedly recommend. Anatole France, like Flaubert, is known for "le mot juste," however Flaubert was a greater craftsman than France (whose real name was Jacques Thilbault). Perhaps there is need of a better translation. Even the title in this Penguin edition is misleading. There is no reference to "Blood" in the original (Les Dieux ont soif).
The story follows the upwardly mobile path of Evariste Gamelin, a young Parisian painter and student of the reknowned Jacques Louis David (whose famous portrait of Marat lying assassinated in his bathtub adorns the cover of the Peguin edition). Gamelin is one of those single-minded idealists who show up wherever and whenever there is a revolution to be fought. His hero is Robespierre, and while Robespierre's star is in the ascendent, during the Reign of Terror, Gamelin's star shines too. He is transformed from struggling artist to magistrate on the Revolutionary Tribunal. He also passes from a rather meek lover of humanity, who engages in such altruistic acts of kindness as giving half his last loaf of bread to a hungry mother and her child, to a monstrous, indiscriminate killing machine, sending innocent victims by the droves to their deaths. He settles scores with most of the characters in the novel, sending them to the guillotine sometimes for personal reasons, at other times simply as a matter of implimenting his messianic impulses. Eventually the bloody excesses of Gamelin and his ilk serve to inflame the populace, who turn on Robespierre and his Jacobin followers, Gamelin included.... Read more ›
The story follows the upwardly mobile path of Evariste Gamelin, a young Parisian painter and student of the reknowned Jacques Louis David (whose famous portrait of Marat lying assassinated in his bathtub adorns the cover of the Peguin edition). Gamelin is one of those single-minded idealists who show up wherever and whenever there is a revolution to be fought. His hero is Robespierre, and while Robespierre's star is in the ascendent, during the Reign of Terror, Gamelin's star shines too. He is transformed from struggling artist to magistrate on the Revolutionary Tribunal. He also passes from a rather meek lover of humanity, who engages in such altruistic acts of kindness as giving half his last loaf of bread to a hungry mother and her child, to a monstrous, indiscriminate killing machine, sending innocent victims by the droves to their deaths. He settles scores with most of the characters in the novel, sending them to the guillotine sometimes for personal reasons, at other times simply as a matter of implimenting his messianic impulses. Eventually the bloody excesses of Gamelin and his ilk serve to inflame the populace, who turn on Robespierre and his Jacobin followers, Gamelin included.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Firstly, if you even know only a smattering of Frnech you will notice that blood is not mentioned in the title. A more correct translation is The Gods Are Athirst, or even The Gods Are Thirsty. Despite this the title as it stands is still apt, as what the gods are thirsty for is blood. This novel is about the French Revolution, or more specifically that part of it known as the Terror.
This is the first novel of Anatole France's that I have read so I cannot comment on what Frederick Davies says in the introduction, tha this is his masterpiece. Like most people I hardly ever read the introductions, but I would strongly suggest that you read the historical note at the end of the introduction as it will help you place the following novel in it's correct historical time and place.
M. Gamelin is a mediocre artist with strong idealistic views and seems to have found his niche when he becomes a magistrate. As the Terror takes hold Gamelin goes along with it feeling that he is contributing to the Glorious Revolution. People are being beheaded for shouting 'Vive le Roi!' and generals are executed for losing battles, as this must surely be a sign that they are incompetent or in league with the enemy. More and more people are denounced and the prisons become overcrowded, so to speed up matters the 'criminals' are sentenced in groups without a proper defence. Gamelin with his strong ideals can see no problem with this and is more and more determined to take the high ground and condemn these people to the guillotine. Gradually apathy sets in with the general populace, eventually leading to boredom, there are just too many executions. But Madame Guillotine has taken on a life of her own demanding more blood, with the inevitable consequence that she turns on those who feed her.... Read more ›
This is the first novel of Anatole France's that I have read so I cannot comment on what Frederick Davies says in the introduction, tha this is his masterpiece. Like most people I hardly ever read the introductions, but I would strongly suggest that you read the historical note at the end of the introduction as it will help you place the following novel in it's correct historical time and place.
M. Gamelin is a mediocre artist with strong idealistic views and seems to have found his niche when he becomes a magistrate. As the Terror takes hold Gamelin goes along with it feeling that he is contributing to the Glorious Revolution. People are being beheaded for shouting 'Vive le Roi!' and generals are executed for losing battles, as this must surely be a sign that they are incompetent or in league with the enemy. More and more people are denounced and the prisons become overcrowded, so to speed up matters the 'criminals' are sentenced in groups without a proper defence. Gamelin with his strong ideals can see no problem with this and is more and more determined to take the high ground and condemn these people to the guillotine. Gradually apathy sets in with the general populace, eventually leading to boredom, there are just too many executions. But Madame Guillotine has taken on a life of her own demanding more blood, with the inevitable consequence that she turns on those who feed her.... Read more ›
By rob crawford
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
This is Anatole France's cautionary tale about ideological fanaticism during the "terror" of the French revolution. It is doubly remarkable in that it was published in the decade prior to the Soviet seizure of power, which imposed decades of political terror in Russia as we know, and in that France was a well-known member of the left. Thus, academics rightfully proclaim it as a symbol of the horrors to follow in the 20C.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book very much. Not only is its tone self-important with ponderous and ever-present references to classical mythology - the myth of Orestes as well as the bacchantes - but its innumerable references to obscure figures of the French Revolution, in all their historical accuracy, make it, well, just plain boring. Moreover, the characters appear more like symbols of abstract ideas than flesh-and-blood creatures, and so are both unrealistic psychologically as well as put in situations in which they can carry out long and improbably philosophic discussions.
The plot follows the impoverished members of an apartment building during a time of grave threat to the revolution. There is a fervent young man (a painter and revolutionary fanatic), his missing sister (shacked up with an aristocrat), his simple mother, and an older cynic atheist (an ex-courtier and libertine), who gives refuge to a persecuted priest and innocent peasant girl. As the revolution takes an increasingly murderous turn, they become ever more intimately involved with each other as vehicles to portray historical events.
As such, the book seems to be written for the French high school student, all of whom memorize survey literature from secondary sources to pass rigorous examinations.... Read more ›
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book very much. Not only is its tone self-important with ponderous and ever-present references to classical mythology - the myth of Orestes as well as the bacchantes - but its innumerable references to obscure figures of the French Revolution, in all their historical accuracy, make it, well, just plain boring. Moreover, the characters appear more like symbols of abstract ideas than flesh-and-blood creatures, and so are both unrealistic psychologically as well as put in situations in which they can carry out long and improbably philosophic discussions.
The plot follows the impoverished members of an apartment building during a time of grave threat to the revolution. There is a fervent young man (a painter and revolutionary fanatic), his missing sister (shacked up with an aristocrat), his simple mother, and an older cynic atheist (an ex-courtier and libertine), who gives refuge to a persecuted priest and innocent peasant girl. As the revolution takes an increasingly murderous turn, they become ever more intimately involved with each other as vehicles to portray historical events.
As such, the book seems to be written for the French high school student, all of whom memorize survey literature from secondary sources to pass rigorous examinations.... Read more ›
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 11 reviews
3.4 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
