Opinions sur le roman by René Boylesve
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"Opinions sur le roman" by René Boylesve is a collection of literary essays and criticism written in the early 20th century. It gathers the author’s reflections on what the novel should be—its aesthetics, truthfulness, and relation to society—alongside broader views on criticism, theater, and the cult of nature. Expect a defense of the French realist tradition (Balzac–Flaubert), skepticism toward moralizing or programmatic fiction, and a consistent call for clarity, discipline, and beauty
in prose. The opening of this collection presents an editorial preface explaining that scattered papers—articles, survey replies, notes, and letters spanning about a quarter-century—were assembled posthumously and arranged roughly chronologically, with some omissions. It begins with Boylesve’s preference for art over nature, then argues for “decentralization” in art (true works arising from rooted provincial milieus rather than chaotic Paris). He diagnoses modern literary “confusion” (blurring art with politics, science, and morality), urges discipline and schools, distinguishes serious novels from feuilleton sensationalism, and champions the novel of mores grounded in psychological and social truth that charms through exactness and style. He rejects making moral instruction the aim of fiction, critiques the state of criticism (calling for informed, situating reviews), questions the vague cult of nature fed by music, and rates reading above theater for deep intellectual nourishment. He restates his allegiance to the Balzac–Flaubert line, explains he writes to fix characteristic states of manners without courting popularity or overt pathos, debates books “for young girls” (truth over edifying falsification), and sketches a poetics of comedy where “nothing happens” yet character and milieu reveal themselves. The section closes as he invokes Molière’s centrality despite contemporary indifference. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Boylesve, René, 1867-1926 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 30008920 |
| Title | Opinions sur le roman |
| Original Publication | Paris: Plon, 1929. |
| Credits | Laurent Vogel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Polona digital library) |
| Language | French |
| LoC Class | PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese |
| Subject | French literature -- History and criticism |
| Subject | French fiction -- History and criticism |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 77899 |
| Release Date | Feb 9, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 201 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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