- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New impression edition (Mar 1969)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140014047
- ISBN-13: 978-0140014044
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 642,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This charming novel is more of a romp than some of Gide’s other work. A group of scammers known as the Millipede dupe some wealthy people into believing that the real Pope has been kidnapped and replaced with a tame substitute, and that a large amount of money is needed to buy his freedom. One man takes this too much to heart, however, and goes in person to try to find out more information. Coincidentally, however, he is pushed out of a train to his death, thus leading the other dupes into believing even more strongly in the conspiracy.
The motive for the murder is the novel’s true philosophical core: Lafadio Wluiki (pronounced Looki) is an indolent, rather philosophical young man, who takes it into his mind to commit the perfect motiveless murder. The repercussions of this, and his feelings about what he has done, allow Gide to address important philosophical questions about morality and social responsibility.
This shouldn’t make it sound as though the book is dry and wordy. Far from it: Gide takes us on a romp around France and Italy, presenting a diverse and rich variety of characters with subtle shadings of character. Rather than just good or bad, black or white, his characters are richly drawn and act from a variety of complex motives.
Format:Paperback
The Vatican Cellars by Nobel Prize winner Andre Gide is an odd and somewhat disorientating tale that attempts too many things at once. In essence there are five loosely related chapters that come together for a conclusion that relies far too heavily on coincidence and pseudo philosophy to ever be entirely satisfactory.
The plot (as such) revolves around an erstwhile Catholic (Julius), his sceptic turned believer brother-in-law (Anthime), a step brother (Lafcadio) and a somewhat ridiculous plot about a false pope. Although written in the early twentieth century, the style is much more reminiscent of a late eighteenth-century French romp - characters are introduced at a dizzying rate and discarded almost immediately before re-surfacing much later on to fulfill a tiny plot development. There is a lot of soul wrenching and trepidation in the face of religion and social conformity. Whilst Gide certainly deserves credit for writing in a consistent manner and emulating the epics of a similar nature, the fact is that, at just a shade over 200 pages, this book is not epic enough to let the rhythm settle down and develop into a more enjoyable read. The introduction to my copy stated that the book was "The Da Vinci Code" of its time. Whilst I would rather chop off my own legs than be subjected to another sentence of Dan Brown's bungled prose, he at least allowed his book to breathe and develop at a logical pace.
In short this text is well written but suffers from being neither one thing nor the other. Posted somewhere between the Three Musketeers, The Monk and the aforementioned Tom Hanks vehicle - it is ultimately the schizophrenic offspring of all three - interesting but you don't want to spend too much time with it.
Style: 7/10
Structure: 5/10
Originality: 5/10
Depth: 4/10
Unputdownability: 5/10
The plot (as such) revolves around an erstwhile Catholic (Julius), his sceptic turned believer brother-in-law (Anthime), a step brother (Lafcadio) and a somewhat ridiculous plot about a false pope. Although written in the early twentieth century, the style is much more reminiscent of a late eighteenth-century French romp - characters are introduced at a dizzying rate and discarded almost immediately before re-surfacing much later on to fulfill a tiny plot development. There is a lot of soul wrenching and trepidation in the face of religion and social conformity. Whilst Gide certainly deserves credit for writing in a consistent manner and emulating the epics of a similar nature, the fact is that, at just a shade over 200 pages, this book is not epic enough to let the rhythm settle down and develop into a more enjoyable read. The introduction to my copy stated that the book was "The Da Vinci Code" of its time. Whilst I would rather chop off my own legs than be subjected to another sentence of Dan Brown's bungled prose, he at least allowed his book to breathe and develop at a logical pace.
In short this text is well written but suffers from being neither one thing nor the other. Posted somewhere between the Three Musketeers, The Monk and the aforementioned Tom Hanks vehicle - it is ultimately the schizophrenic offspring of all three - interesting but you don't want to spend too much time with it.
Style: 7/10
Structure: 5/10
Originality: 5/10
Depth: 4/10
Unputdownability: 5/10
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The previous reviewer ("Paul") encapsulates the plot of 'The Vatican Cellars' beautifully. So I won't add to it, except to benignly point out that he has mis-spelt Lafcadio Wluiki's name. Gide's renown has perhaps faded at a time when the advocacy of homosexuality and attacks on the Catholic church have become mundane currency; and if they were the mainspring of his works this would be understandable. But they are not. Straightforwardly written, charming and accessible (thanks in no small part to Bussey's evergreen, informed translation) he deserves a wider readership. TVC is a curious book because the whimsical treatment is very much at odds with the moral content; but that's arguably why it has remained so consistently in print. With only a nominal regard for 'realism', it's a book written for the joy of writing by a man whose mind was ever-active and ever-honest. Lafcadio Wluiki is a major personality in the literary canon - up there with Sidney Carton or Pechorin or (I suppose) Luke Rhinehart; he embodies what seems to me the book's central enquiry into the empathic basis of morality. How do we know we're not just conning each other? How do we know we're not just conning ourselves? Why have I written such a pompous review, when I'd personally reject any recommendation couched in such language? Maybe I'm hoping to be part of an elite. Maybe I'm hoping that no one else WILL read it...
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