Coming of age: the hard way to maturity
Books like these are often reunited as a genre: the Bildungsroman: novels about education and self-realisation.
Goethe (b. 1749) This great romantic was a mandatory reading when I was young, maybe too young, because I do not remember much of Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, except that it was very long and complex, but certainly not boring. A lot of things escaped me at the time; symbolism, and specially the symbolism of color. I am afraid that Mignon's secret escaped me too: I did not understand incest. This book is important if you like music, because many songs of Goethe became songs of Shubert. An excellent CD is Schubert: Goethe-Lieder***, and maybe it is where you should start.
If you buy the book, try Carlyle's translation. If you don't, at least listen to Schubert.
Dickens (b. 1812) Great Expectations There is a class system in every country, but it is nowhere as difficult to go up as it was in Victorian times. The British still recognize higher classes by their accent, the French by their culture, so in both countries, it is more difficult to join the successful than it is in America, where you mainly need talent. Indeed the number of rich people who inherit their money is still smaller than the number of people who make it by themselves. Moreover, our society defines success in much diverse ways than it did in Victorian times. On DVD: Great Expectations with Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow: more love and less class.
Sigrid Undsett (b. 1882) Her beautiful book Spring seems forgotten by publishers.
Alain-Fournier (b. 1886) was a brillant young French author who was killed in 1914. He was born in Sologne, a beautiful region of swamps and marshes less than two hours from Paris. Tourists ignore it and usually gather a bit more south along the medieval castles of the Loire, but Sologne has great charm with its low farm buildings and good hunting. The region plays a major role in The Wanderer, the major work of Alain-Fournier. The story mixes mystery (the hero was lost when he fell in love and cannot find back the place where he met the girl of his dreams) and friendship (the hero must leave everythig at the call of his friend).
Betty Smith (b. 1896) I can think of no excuse for people who do not read this American classic: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn There is an old worthy DVD(1945) Director: Elia Kazan
Gottfried Keller (b.1897) was Swiss, not German. Why I was so fond of Keller, I cannot explain now: it was long ago. but Green Henry made such an impression on me that I went to Zurich for the pleasure to sit in the Grune Heinrich cafe, enjoy the murals and visit Keller's tomb. The book is about a young man who wants to become a painter and has to renounce his vocation (which Keller did, before becoming a great writer).
Alexandre Vialatte (b.1901) one of my preferred French writer. I am very unhappy that i cannot find it in English. Vialatte seems prophetic in this regard, he used to say that he was "notoriously unrenowned". Les fruits du Congo (Fruits of the Congo) was written in 1951. It is about a bunch of high school students, their dreams and loves and adventures. The novel is situated between the wars, WWII ending the dreams of all this generation. Characters of the novel are unforgettable, specially Mr Panado, who represents evil fate and is a fish scaler. The kids use to say: It is good thing we have seen Mr Panado, so we know we are untroubled, but Mr Panado wins at the end.
John Connolly (b. 1968) A famous author of crime stories, Connolly shows a lot of feelings and a good amount of despondency in The Book of Lost Things It is about the hard journey of a little boy through fairy tale books. A great book.
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