Customer Reviews

Madeleine

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It's hard to review Madeleine. On one level it breaks one's heart to see what Gide is missing in his wife's married loneliness. He has a way of his ego coming in--and of selfishly giving way to his own grief and needs. As usual, he's honest; he can't seem to help himself, he must worm into even the most painful recesses of his own soul. The "but" for me is that I feel a reticence in this book--out of respect for Madeleine, Gide keeps certain doors locked, and even sweeps the curtains shut right before one.

Gide is caught between an idealized love for his wife and the reality of his homosexuality--and thanks to his Puritanical upbringing, he doesn't realize his wife has needs for him to meet in marriage, and that he is stinting her emotionally by not being a true husband to her. Gide does his duty by her, as far as he recognizes it, but he is also brutally and blindly (or so he insists) himself, following his own star even when it trammels over her. It was Gide who said once that it is better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not. But oh the pain to his wife! They were not a good match.

Later in life, perhaps, chastened by what he's wrought on her life, Gide writes "As a general rule, it is better to sacrifice oneself than to sacrifice another person to oneself. But all that is theory; in practice it happens that one becomes aware of the sacrifice only long after it is accomplished."

Painful, but best read after The Immoralist--not as one's first Gide. Reading The Immoralist (which is VERY Gide), allows all the punches of this marriage to settle into you.

Enjoy the read :)

I hate it. This was a French book translated to English. More like the authors memoires.
Teaches you nothing but a sick relation between a married woman and another man.

I needed this for research for a play about Gide's wife. It's a very valuable resource. Fast delivery, good price.