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MADAME CHRYSANTHEME - ENTIRE
MADAME CHRYSANTHEME - ENTIRE PIERRE LOTI Loti has no immediate literary ancestor and no pupil worthy of the name.
He indulges in a dainty pessimism and is most of all an impressionist
not of the vogue of Zola--although he can be on occasion as brutally
plain as he--but more in the manner of Victor Hugo his predecessor or
Alphonse Daudet his lifelong friend. In Loti's works however
pessimism is softened to a musical melancholy; the style is direct; the
vocabulary exquisite; the moral situations familiar; the characters not
complex. In short his place is unique apart from the normal lines of
novelistic development.
The vein of Loti is not absolutely new but is certainly novel. In him
it first revealed itself in a receptive sympathy for the rare flood of
experiences that his naval life brought on him experiences which had not
fallen to the lot of Bernardin de St. Pierre or Chateaubriand both of
whom he resembles. But neither of those writers possessed Loti's
delicate sensitiveness to exotic nature as it is reflected in the foreign
mind and heart. Strange but real worlds he has conjured up for us in
most of his works and with means that are as with all great artists
extremely simple. He may be compared to Kipling and to Stevenson: to
Kipling because he has done for the French seaman something that the
Englishman has done for "Tommy Atkins" although their methods are often
more opposed than similar; like Stevenson he has gone searching for
romance in the ends of the earth; like Stevenson too he has put into
all of his works a style that is never less than dominant and often
irresistible. Charm indeed is the one fine quality that all his
critics whether friendly or not acknowledge and it is one well able to
cover if need be a multitude of literary sins.
Pierre Loti was elected a member of the French Academy in 1891
succeeding to the chair of Octave Feuillet. Some of his writings are:
'Aziyade' written in 1879; the scene is laid in Constantinople. This
was followed by 'Rarahu' a Polynesian idyl (1880; again published under
the title 'Le Mariage de Loti' 1882). 'Roman d'un Spahi' (1881) deals
with Algiers. Taton-gaye is a true bete-humaine sunk in moral slumber or
quivering with ferocious joys. It is in this book that Loti has eclipsed
Zola. One of his masterpieces is 'Mon Freye Yves' (ocean and Brittany)
together with 'Pecheur d'Islande' (1886); both translated into German by
Elizabeth Queen of Roumania (Carmen Sylva). In 1884 was published 'Les
trois Dames de la Kasbah' relating also to Algiers and then came
'Madame Chrysantheme' (1887) crowned by the Academy. 'Japoneries
d'automne' (1889) Japanese scenes; then 'Au Maroc' (Morocco; 1890).
Partly autobiographical are 'Le Roman d'un Enfant' (1890) and 'Le Livre
de la Pitie et de la Mort' (1891). Then followed 'Fantomes d'Orient'
(1892) 'L'Exilee' (1893) 'Le Desert' (Syria; 1895) 'Jerusalem
La Galilee'(Palestine; 1895) 'Pages choisies' (1896) 'Ramuntcho' (1897)
'Reflets sur la Sombre Route' (1898) and finally 'Derniers Jours de Pekin'
(1903). Many exquisite pages are to be found in Loti's work. His
composition is now and then somewhat disconnected; the impressions are
vague almost illusory and the mirage is a little obscure but the intense
and abiding charm of Nature remains. Loti has not again reached the level
of 'Madame Chrysantheme' and English critics at least will have to suspend
their judgment for a while. In any event he has given to the world many
great books and is shrined with the Forty "Immortals."
ALBERT SOREL
de l'Academie Francaise.
DEDICATION
To Madame la Duchesse de Richelieu
MADAME LA DUCHESSE
Permit me to beg your acceptance of this work as a respectful tribute of
my friendship.
I feel some hesitation in offering it for its theme can not be deemed
altogether correct; but I have endeavored to make its expression at
least in harmony with good taste and I trust that my endeavors have
been successful.
This record is the journal of a summer of my life in which I have
changed nothing not even the dates thinking that in our efforts to
arrange matters we succeed often only in disarranging them. Although the
most important role may appear to devolve on Madame Chrysantheme it is
very certain that the three principal points of interest are myself
Japan and the effect produced on me by that country.
Do you recollect a certain photograph--rather absurd I must admit--
representing that great fellow Yves a Japanese girl and myself grouped
as we were posed by a Nagasaki artist? You smiled when I assured you
that the carefully attired little damsel placed between us had been one
of our neighbors. Kindly receive my book with the same indulgent smile
without seeking therein a meaning either good or bad in the same spirit
in which you would receive some quaint bit of pottery some grotesquely
carved ivory idol or some fantastic trifle brought to you from this
singular fatherland of all fantasy.
Believe me with the deepest respect
Madame la Duchesse
Your affectionate
PIERRE LOTI.
INTRODUCTION
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