Jean-Christophe, Volume I

About This Book

Presenting Jean-Christophe by Romain Rolland (The Complete 10-Volume Novel), Translated by Gilbert Cannan with an Introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn and Illustrations by Katherine Eglund. This complete 10-volume novel is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books. The ten volumes of Romain Rolland's Jean-Christophe were published between 1904 and 1912, first in the Paris journal Les Cahiers de la Quinzaine. Depicting the life, from beginning to end, of a great artist, few books set out to achieve so much, and then succeed; it places Jean-Christophe in a rare company. Romain Rolland received the Prix Femina for the first four volumes in 1905, and then for both the completed novel and his pamphlet Au-dessus de la mêlée (Above the Battle, 1915)—a call for France and Germany to respect humanity and truth during the fighting of World War I—he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1915. A classic of French literature, and one of the truly epic philosophical novels (and epic novels in general), Jean-Christophe has a rare place among French classics, what might be termed (with several meanings) "musical novels," and European literature as well as broader world literature. Like other vastly long works—such as the literary masterpieces of Tolstoy and Proust—it has the power to intimidate the most patient of readers, but, once embarked upon, also has the power to greatly enrich one's understanding of art and music, history and philosophy, and of Europe and the wider world. Other subjects the novel explores include public censure and criticism, personal integrity, pacifism, feminism, and (in one of its most famous passages) animal rights. Rolland's views may be called ahead of his time, and form the heart of his long, impassioned, and thoughtful humanist novel, which, rare among Nobel Prize winning books, has so much scope that translator Gilbert Cannan wrote at the conclusion of his preface: "By its truth and its absolute integrity—since Tolstoy I know of no writing so crystal clear—'Jean-Christophe' is the first great book of the twentieth century. In a sense it begins the twentieth century." The detailed contents of this complete 10-volume edition of Jean-Christophe are: Introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn Part I: Jean-Christophe Preface by Gilbert Cannan Volume I—The Dawn Volume II—Morning Volume III—Youth Volume IV—Revolt Part II: Jean-Christophe in Paris Volume V—The Marketplace Volume VI—Antoinette Volume VII—The House Part III: Journey's End Volume VIII—Love and Friendship Volume IX—The Burning Bush Volume X—The New Dawn (including Rolland's preface to the last volume) Romain Rolland was born in the commune of Clamecy, Nièvre in central France in 1866. He studied philosophy, but then focussed on history and graduated from the École normale supérieure in 1889. He spent two years in Rome, where he discovered various old and new masterpieces, and when he returned to France he received his doctoral degree (the subject of his thesis being the history of opera in Europe before Lully and Scarlatti), and then taught at various lycées in Paris for the next two decades. From 1902 to 1911, he directed the newly established music school École des Hautes Études Sociales, and in 1903 he was appointed first chair of music history at the Sorbonne. Rolland’s most celebrated work is his ten-volume roman-fleuve Jean-Christophe (1904-1912), and his other novels are Colas Breugnon (1919), Clérambault (1920), Pierre et Luce (1920) and his second roman-fleuve, the seven-volume