The Time of Love

by Marcel Pagnol

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0241100097
• ISBN13: 9780241100097
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: David & Charles
• Length: 208 Pages

Customer Reviews

Provence d'antan...

There once was a Provence, of yesteryear, before the autoroutes which bring the month long vacationers from the North. It was also a time when Americans rarely visited. Marcel Pagnol captured this period, with dollops of nostalgia, in his writings. Two of his books, "Jean de Florette," and the sequel, "Manon des Sources," have been made into lovely, and heart-breaking movies. Water in Provence, as in many other parts of the world, was often a matter of anguish, considerable disputes, and even death, and these two books / movies certainly underscored the essential aspect of water to our lives. Pagnol is equally famous for his four volume "Souvenirs D'Enfance" (Memories of Childhood) with the first two volumes, "La Glorie de mon pere" (The Glory of my Father) and "Le Chateau de ma mere" (My mother's castle) being the most renowned. The books are set in the pre-World War I period of the Third Republic, when school teachers were a particular instrument of state policy in its fight against clericalism. Pagnol's father was such a school teacher in Marsaille, and during the summer they would retire to the Provencal countryside, the true setting of the stories. Pagnol only conceived of this writing project in the `50's, so there is the intervening 50 years of the softening and romanticizing that can occur. "Le Temps des Amours," (The Time of Loves) is the fourth volume in this series, written around 1960. Although Pagnol lived until 1974, this volume was not published until 1988. It is considered to be incomplete, or, at least, not "polished," like the earlier volumes. There was considerable discussion as to whether or not it should be published at all; the pro-publishing forces obviously won, citing Virgil's Aeneid; and Proust's "Time Refound" as two examples of incomplete or "unpolished" works that had been published posthumously. This volume is an eclectic collection of 10 stories, ranging from such quintessential Provençal pastimes as boules, as in "La partie de boules de Joseph" to the plague that devastated the port of Marsaille in the 1720's. Pagnol devotes a couple of stories to an engaging adolescent named Lagneau, and the final story is focused on his first love. Many of the natives of Provence, particularly those of a "certain age," believe that Pagnol has captured the essence of their lives in the days of yore, and there are guided hikes that cover the countryside where his stories are placed. Due to this volume's "unpolished" nature, it is not the equal to the earlier volumes, but still, I believe that it deserves the full 5-stars, since it is part of the series, and is an essential read to those Provencal wantabes.