Notes on Andre Gide

André Gide is a revered figure in the pantheon of French literature and winner of the Nobel Prize in 1947. But the fascinating, quirky, and intimate portrait drawn in this volume can be relished by someone who has never read or perhaps never even heard of him. He continually surprises us by the extent of his humanity. The book brings up his conflicted sexuality and his fight for the acceptance of homosexuality in an era of stigma and condemnation.

His close friendship with Roger Martin du Gard, who was at his bedside when he died, lasted over 38 years. Gide writes of his friend in his journal in 1931: “With (him) I can let myself go and be perfectly natural. There is nobody whose presence now brings me greater comfort.” For his part, Roger Martin du Gard was a substantial writer, best known for a nine-volume family saga, Les Thibault. The notes on Gide are taken from his journal.

We eavesdrop on these two remarkable men, both Nobel Prize winners, as they trudge across the countryside on long walks or sit by the fire with a glass of wine after dinner, always probing everything under the sun: their lives and their work, mythology, death. It is honest and revealing. We listen and we learn, and our perceptions shift and deepen. While not a biography, this small but perfect gem of a book written with masterful artistry illuminates our understanding of a great man of genius and the very nature of life.

John Russell, former New York Times art critic, translated this book and wrote a new introduction for this volume. He notes du Gard’s “‘golden good humor’: his effortless combination of honesty and generosity. This is a portrait of an artist by an artist—and of a great man by a great man.”