Count d'Orgel

by Raymond Radiguet, Violet Schiff (Translator)

Overview

Set in Parisian society after the First World War, this is the study of a three-sided relationship between Count Anne d'Orgel, his wife Mahaut and a young man they befriend, Francois de Seryeuse. The couple then find that their marriage is qualified and confirmed by the feelings thus released.

Pushkin Collection editions feature a spare, elegant series style and superior, durable components. The Collection is typeset in Monotype Baskerville, litho-printed on Munken Premium White Paper and notch-bound by the independently owned printer TJ International in Padstow. The covers, with French flaps, are printed on Colorplan Pristine White Paper. Both paper and cover board are acid-free and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781901285031
Publisher:	Steerforth Press
Publication date:	03/01/2000
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	4.78(w) x 6.51(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Raymond Radiguet was born in 1903 and died tragically young in 1923, having writen only two short but celebrated novels and a volume of poetry. After leaving, school, Radiguet entered Parisian literary circles, becoming the protege of Jean Cocteau. Count d'Orgel was published posthumously by Cocteau whose afterword appears in this edition.

Editorial Reviews

"An extraordinary achievement ... well caught in Violet Schiff's brilliant translation." - Gilbert Adair, Evening Standard

"The tale is definitely a masterpiece, one attempted and achieved by a young man of nineteen who was on his deathbed before it was published." - John Bayley, Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher

Cocteau identifies Radiguet (1903-1923) as ``the ageless author of a dateless book,'' but this French novel, first published in the U.S. in 1954 in another translation, is all the more remarkable in that Radiguet completed it at the age of 20. Envisioned as ``a novel in which psychology alone is `novelistic,' '' the brief work scrutinizes the mechanisms of passion as it operates among a count, his wife and a young family friend who fancies himself in love with the countess. Radiguet uses this triangle--and the illicit attractions that are never played out--to critique romantic love as a theme in legend and literature, alluding, variously, to Tristan and Isolde, Sleeping Beauty, The Scarlet Letter , the oeuvre of Flaubert and more. Radiguet displays both the arresting insight and the easy cynicism of the young, conveying his tale through gnomic prose: `` `Besides, she is a saint,' people would inevitably conclude. Which simply meant that nature had not been too kind to her.'' A decidedly inferior story, ``Denise,'' is appended here, published for the first time in English, and occasionally murky diction impedes an otherwise superior book. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly