The dapper fellow above is our 95th hero of the day, and his name is Andre Gide, born this day 1869 in Paris, France. He was born in Paris, but was brought up in Normandy and began writing at an early age. His first novel was published at the age of 22. I suppose the time before ESPN, and Internet porn gave a young fellow a lot more free time to write than today's fast paced world. Sad to think that at 22 he had published a novel, while at 22 I could probably barely sign my full name correctly. It would appear that M. Gide lived a very messy personal life, after an encounter in North Africa with a boy prostitute, he decided that he was a homosexual. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but he then decided to marry a woman, but not consummate the marriage. I guess it was a form of "show" marriage, which are probably the best type. He then decided to take a 16 year old boy as a lover, again to each his own, but the boy was the son of the best man at his wedding! He then decided to adopt his lover, not sure how that would go over in today's society, but back then they just eloped to London. In the early 1920's he decided to take a ride on the wild side, and conceived a daughter with a much younger woman, who just happened to be the daughter of one of his oldest friends. Seems M. Gide liked them young. It was probably his only trip onto the wild side, and the daughter was to his only descendant by blood. Perhaps all of this personal conflict is why Gide's work is seen as exposing to public view the two sides of his personality. He was rounded condemned for defending homosexuality in one of his works, but he still considered that work one of his best. The one book that lifts Gide to hero status is The Counterfeiters, and I highly recommend it. But for all those other works in which his main goal is to achieve intellectual honesty (that is what we should try to achieve in any of our endeavours), Andre Gide (November 22nd, 1869- February 19th, 1951, at the age of 81), you are my hero of the day.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The Counterfeiters
The dapper fellow above is our 95th hero of the day, and his name is Andre Gide, born this day 1869 in Paris, France. He was born in Paris, but was brought up in Normandy and began writing at an early age. His first novel was published at the age of 22. I suppose the time before ESPN, and Internet porn gave a young fellow a lot more free time to write than today's fast paced world. Sad to think that at 22 he had published a novel, while at 22 I could probably barely sign my full name correctly. It would appear that M. Gide lived a very messy personal life, after an encounter in North Africa with a boy prostitute, he decided that he was a homosexual. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but he then decided to marry a woman, but not consummate the marriage. I guess it was a form of "show" marriage, which are probably the best type. He then decided to take a 16 year old boy as a lover, again to each his own, but the boy was the son of the best man at his wedding! He then decided to adopt his lover, not sure how that would go over in today's society, but back then they just eloped to London. In the early 1920's he decided to take a ride on the wild side, and conceived a daughter with a much younger woman, who just happened to be the daughter of one of his oldest friends. Seems M. Gide liked them young. It was probably his only trip onto the wild side, and the daughter was to his only descendant by blood. Perhaps all of this personal conflict is why Gide's work is seen as exposing to public view the two sides of his personality. He was rounded condemned for defending homosexuality in one of his works, but he still considered that work one of his best. The one book that lifts Gide to hero status is The Counterfeiters, and I highly recommend it. But for all those other works in which his main goal is to achieve intellectual honesty (that is what we should try to achieve in any of our endeavours), Andre Gide (November 22nd, 1869- February 19th, 1951, at the age of 81), you are my hero of the day.
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