Published in 1909
André Gide
1947 Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature
After reading The Immoralist (L'Immoraliste) a few years ago and seeing Strait as the Gate referenced in the novel Like, I was eager to get my hands on a copy. For various reasons, it took me awhile and then I could never make the time to sit down and read it (although the book is very short).
Now that I've finished this book I waited so long to read... I'm not really sure what I think of it. Of course I thought it was terribly sad. And I think I understood that Gide was trying to show how the things that damage you in childhood can truly ruin your life (and even kill you). However, I don't think I really "got" what made the two sisters react the way they did, both making seemingly extreme sacrifices. To what end? Why? What was so special about the relationship between Juliette and Allisa (and Jerome)?
Maybe part of the problem (my problem) is that this is a short novel. It isn't meant to explicitly express each character's trauma and motivation.
Against the snare of virtue I was defenceless. All heroism attracted and dazzled me, for I could not separate it from love. Allisa's letter inspired me with a rash and intoxicating enthusiasm. God knows that I strove after more virtue only for her sake. Any path, provided it climbed upwards, would lead me to her. Ah! the ground could not too soon narrow enough to hold only her and me! Alas! I did not suspect the subtlety of her feint, and little imagined that it would be by a height where there was only room for one, that she might escape me once more.I definitely need to read this one again...
