Customer Reviews

Lafcadio's Adventures

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4 star:		(1)
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Gide's _Lafacdio's Adventures_ is much more than a book about a young man who commits a senseless crime. It is also far more than just a couple of mascarading crooks who concoct a story of the kidnapping of a high church official as a means of bilking a naive gentleman of his money. Gide has written a marvelously twisty-even slightly twisted-and often hillariously funny crime novel. What places _Lafcadio's Adventures_ far above that genre is its emphasis on the meaning of friendship, loyalty, genuine caring and a real sense of responsibility for another human being that can and often does transform people. Gide takes an interesting look at a social outsider in a fresh and humane way. The result is a truer and far more complex and sympathetic picture of such an individual. Even if I could not quite make out his motivations there is still much to think about in Gide's brilliant study of saints and sinners.

A warning to those who want to buy this book: It is laid out as if one were reading it on-line, with each block paragraph separated by a full line. Longer spaces between paragraphs in the original edition are not marked as such. Much of the rhythm of the original book (or its original translation, at any rate) is lost in this format.

I came to this after reading, and loving, The Immoralist, and I was not disappointed. In this novel, Gide seems to be continuing the examination of personal responsibility to others and oneself--there's very little logical reason to avoid that which society considers "bad," (murder, stealing) so long as there is a good chance of anonymity. This sort of question has continued relevance to a modern audience, and Gide offers some interesting outcomes.
As for the translation, admittedly never having read the French, it seemed a bit wordy compared to the economy of version The Immoralist I'm familiar with. However as I have not compared the styles of the novels in their original tongue I can't say if this discrepancy lies there or with the different translators.

the writing was wonderful, it flowed beautifully between characters and the plots, you didn;t have to go back 20 pages to remember who was whom, (i think thats correct english) it was funny and the characters were believable,i thoroughly enjoyed the book....

Anything but common place writing ... so original in thinking. I also loved the hop-scotching through all the European cities and meeting all the characters he ran into. Find it interesting that his books at the time became banned by the Vatican, but werent so many. Great read.

Gide, the novelist's novelist, tends to his wicked garden of amoral flowers in this multi-leveled satire. Defying the formulaic strictures of his day, Gide skewers the pomposity of the French and Italian gentry while soaring above them with gleeful snobbery. My parents forbade me to read Gide, and so of course I did, in secret, only to have "Lafcadio" snatched from my precocious twelve-year-old hands before I could finish the novel--but memories of Lafcadio lay buried for years until they ultimately emerged to flower anew in the mystery/ adventure: "Into the Deep--The Haven" . . . both a companion and handshake to Gide's examination of the motiveless crime. V.E. Rosswell.

I am used to the fact that whenever I pick up a book by a Nobel laureate, it's usually a pretty safe bet. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Andre Gide's LAFCADIO'S ADVENTURES. To be quite frank, I had a very hard time finishisng the novel.

Lafcadio, the main character, has had a very hard life. His mother went through a series of lovers, whom she made him call "uncle" every single time. These men marked Lafcadio's life each in a different manner. He turns out to be a poor man, both economically and emotionally. All of a sudden he finds out he is the [illegal] son of a very rich man, and his life suddenly changes. Combining his new situation with wit, imagination and a few perverse ideas, provides enough for what could have been an excellent plot and novel.

Together with a close friend, he designs a scam, involving the supposed kidnapping of the Pope, to swindle rich people out of their money. Although the book is supposed to be funny and very witty, I must admit I simply did not get it. Boring is the first word that comes to mind.

As I mentioned before, even the not-so-good books by Nobel laureates are usually above average. In my opinion, not the case with LAFCADIO'S ADVENTURES