Counterfeiters

the Counterfeiters is the title of a novel written by André Gide, published in 1925 in the Nouvelle French Review (NRF). The author will say EC work that it is the only novel which he ever wrote.

Built with meticulousness, this novel multiplies the characters, narrative points of sights and various secondary intrigues around a central history. By the freedom of the writing, the multiplicity of the visual angles and the ruptures in the chronological narration, Gide is detached from the literary tradition of the linear novel. Through the character of Edouard, in whom it projects his own person, it shows the limits of the claim of the novel to reproduce the real-world and thus opens the way in the broader search of a creative writing.

This novel today is regarded as one of most important 20th century, precursor of literary movements to come as will be the Nouveau Novel.

In addition, Gide illustrates in this work the ideas on the Homosexualité and the Pédérastie which it theorizes in various tests like the Corydon .

Summary

This novel is difficult to summarize because the intrigues and characters are multiple and enchevètrent the ones the others. However, it is possible to release a central history around three characters, and several secondary intrigues which leave there or return there.

Central history

The central history is that of three characters, two young boys high-school pupils and a 38 year old man, during the few months of a summer and of autumn.

Bernard, high-school pupil Parisian of 17 or 18 years about to pass his baccalaureat, discovers that it is the fruit of a love prohibited between his mother and a passing lover. He conceives of them a deep contempt for the man who however raised it, but which is not his/her father and that he then thinks never of not having liked. He decides to flee the house - but not knowing where to spend his first night, he takes refuge at one of his friends and classmate, Olivier. This last is a timid boy in lack of affection, which he seeks to fill near his close friends or of his uncle Edouard with which he is in love - reciprocal love, but that neither one nor the other manage to express. However, following a combination of circumstance, Bernard finds itself committed by Edouard, who exerts the trade of writer, as a secretary and they from go away both for a stay in the mountains.

By spite and jealousy, Olivier lets himself allure by the count of Passavant, writer to the mode, rich person, dandy and also cynical pederast but and manipulator, which coveted the boy since one moment and benefits from its states of heart to monopolize it. The influence of the count on the boy is pernicious: Olivier becomes bad, brutal, hateful even with the eyes of his best friends. He ends up realizing it and dark in a black depression, without knowing how to make back machine. During one evening fashionable, he drunk and ridicules himself in front of everyone then dark in an ethyl torpor. He is caught up with and looked after by the uncle Edouard, in the arms of which he will complete the night. In the morning, it tries to commit suicide, not by despair will say he, but on the contrary because it knew such a happiness this night that it felt not to have more anything to await life. It will end up remaining to live in his uncle, thanks to the benevolence of his mother who guesses the relations well binding her brother to her son, but does not want to destroy them.

Secondary intrigues

Around this central history several secondary intrigues revolve:

that of the big brother of Olivier, Vincent, who knows with a distant cousin a passing fancy with the bitter fruit since it makes it pregnant. Loosely, it gives up its responsibilities to be lost near lady Griffith, friend of the more cynical count de Passavant but still, then ends up assassinating the latter with the right in the middle of a voyage hallucinated in Africa.
that of the little brother of Olivier, Georges, young boy calculator who does not have cold with the eyes and transfers with the delinquency, handled by an underling of the count de Passavant.
that of a friend of Olivier, Armand, disillusioned and depressive, who transfers with the absolute nihilism in his attitudes and his ideas. It ends up finding its way near the cynicism of the count de Passavant.
the adults of the novel have also their stories: the father of Bernard, examining magistrate which follows a business where Georges finds mixed; the father of Olivier, pulled about between his wife, her family and her mistress; an old organist who dreams to find his lost grandson but finds disappointed terribly when it meets it; etc
finally, Boris, the grandson of the organist, fragile young child met in a sanatorium in mountain by Edouard and Bernard is brought back to Paris in order to move away it from the disease of Bronja, girl of its lady doctor, whom he venerates, but also its inclinations with the masturbation with his/her boyfriends, attitude considered to be ashamed and morbid at that time. Lost, despaired, given up of all including Edouard who had however sworn himself to occupy himself some, had maltreated by Georges and his buddies, it will be the expiatory victim of a terrible drama which closes the novel on an extremely dark note.

In addition, the novel is built on a Mise in abyme since the uncle Edouard, writer, is introduced writing a novel entitled " The Falseones;.

Genesis of the novel

Novel analyzes

The novel is simple to read, amongst other things thanks to the writing and with the fluid style of the author. The narration is held in time and space, without logical ruptures, although it derives regularly in additional stories with the principal account. The characters firmly are camped, consistent and studied well and their plausible reactions in the context where the author makes them evolve/move.

However, the construction of the novel is very complex and far from the traditional linear narration. The various stories tangle up the ones with the others, the points of view are multiple and variable, the narrator himself changes regularly.

Through this work, the author shows the limits of the traditional novel and his failure in his claim to describe the complexity of the real-world. It wishes to thus release the literature of its narrative yoke to make novel a creative work of art to whole share, rather than the simple receptacle of a told history.

Characters

Bernard Profitendieu is one of the three main characters of the history. Difficult and impulsive teenager, it does not love his father and does not support education that it gave him. When he learns that it is not his/her true father, he breaks any fastener with his family and flees to live his life. He is the best friend of Olivier and becomes the secretary of Edouard for a time. Proud and generous boy, it seeks to help those which have problems even if it is not always very skilful.

Olivier Molinier is the central figure of the history, even if it is not the main thing, all the novel or almost revolves around him, as well as the characters who are dependant for him either by blood, or by a history relating to it. Timid and sensitive boy, in lack of affection, it seeks the latter in his friends. Admiring and in love with his uncle Edouard, he despairs of being able to express to him, and its awkwardness wants to be some when he is in his presence. When he sees Bernard and Edouard together without him, he feels betrayed and jealous - of spite, he will let himself allure by the cynical count de Passavant.

Edouard X… is the third main character of the history. He maintains a personal newspaper in which he reports the various events of his life and in which he notes the projection of his literary project. It is in that it makes it possible Gide to show the difficulty for a novel of escaping reality, and even its impossibility. Edouard will not manage to write his novel as he wanted it. It is also this character who will involve Bernard with the adventure, will bring Boris, the small-child of Mister of Perugia, with his grandfather.

A complex construction

Here the relations which the characters at the beginning maintain (chronological) the novel:

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