FRENCH LITERATURE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28896, 16 May 1959, Page 3

FRENCH LITERATURE

The Oxford Companion to French Literature. Compiled by Sir Paul Harvey and J. E. Heseltine. Oxford. 775 pp.

The latest Oxford Companion, it is explained, is first of all intended for those who desire to find an explanation of some reference or allusion, or who are anxious to recall a plot, or to fit a character to a book or an author to a title. This large and handsome volume will undoubtedly provide an answer to nearly all the questions put to it by an ordinary educated reader. It is obviously an admirable work of scholarship, worthy to stand alongside the other Oxford Companions. The whole range of French literature up to 1939 is covered here, and some developments are traced into the post-war period. The principle governing the choice of names at this point is not always easy to follow: there are articles on Vercors and Simone Weil; but Aveline and Cassou are never mentioned. No-one would expect to see the names of Francoise Sagan, or Vialar, or Peyrefitte; but it is odd not to find Joseph Kessel. There are, however, surprisingly few gaps, and in addition there are numbers of entries relating to French life and civilisation which might not have been expected in a book of this kind. For instance the notorious Stavisky is given six and a half lines; and* under the name Danican the artistic career of the celebrated chess master Philidor is outlined. In one or two cases the compilers have not caught up with fashion. The brevity of the reference to Maurice Sceve is unlikely to please enthusiasts for “Delie, object de plus haulte vertu.”

Reticence also prevails in other matters. Those writers who were thought to have collaborated with the Germans after 1940 have had a veil drawn across this part of their career, where that is possible. It is recorded that Charles Maurras was condemned to penal servitude for life in 1945; and from the text the cause for this appears to have been “bitter fanaticism.” Abel Hermant, like Sacha Guitry, is more fortunate still, for no reference at all is made to these matters

Of the prose writers Marcel Proust is perhaps more favourably treated than anyone else in this volume. His own life is described in 2 J columns; “A la Recherche du Temps Perdu” has 5-J columns to itself, and all the leading characters of this work have separate entries. Those specially mentioned include Marcel, the Verdurins, the Guermantes, Charlus, Swann, Gilberte, Odette, Saint-Loup, Bloch, Bergotte, Vinteuil, Mme. de Villeparisis, M. de Norpois, Elstir, and Francoise. but oddly enough not Morel. Balzac, and, among the poets, Victor Hugo turn up frequently, although the attention they receive seems hardly so detailed. Andre Gide on the other hand, is not particularly well treated, and the account of his “Counterfeiters” is unsympathetic in tone. It is true that his specialty, the “acte gratuit,” has a third of a column on its own; but this particular statement concludes with what may be the most unpolished sentence in the whole “Companion.” “As he reaches the number 10 he does spot one (a light), and thereupon with a couple of violent shoves sends his fellow traveller hurtling through the carriage-door.”

In addition to its use as a book of reference, “The Oxford Companion to French Literature” provides scope for desultory browsing. In this respect, however, the competition is severe. There are numbers of histories of French literature easily pro-

curable and radiating intelligence from every paragraph. Lanson’s famous work, for example, never opens at the wrong page, and Braunschvig’s three volumes make up what is really ’a brilliantly annotated anthology. Nevertheless, despite an occasional coldness of manner, this Oxford Companion will give many a pleasant half-hour to casual readers and collectors of miscellaneous information. Even those who have exhausted the thrills of “Indiana” may be amused to read that “this farrago of romantic passion punctuated by fainting fits, is typical of the early George Sand.” A somewhat unfriendly estimate of Marcel Prevost concludes with the dry remark that “ *Les Demi-vierges’ <1894), and a series called ‘Lettres a Francoise’ (1902-1928). are typical of his output.” The account of Vigny’s “Splendours and Miseries’’ appears to end in rather an eccentric way, and it is not quite accurate to say that the Prince Imperial "was killed in battle.” If anyone does not know “a coarse but characteristic French exclamation of defiant disgust,” he has but to turn to “Cambronne, Le Mot de.” Still on the field of battle, it is interesting to see that Sedan is the subject of a long and painful article based upon the events of September, 1871, and May. 1940. However, to conclude on a more cheerful note, the story of Martin Guerre would seem to open the way to almost endless speculation. Sir Paul Harvey, unfortunately, did not live to see the fruits of his work; but Janet Heseltine, his co-editor, and the Oxford University Press are to be congratulated on the quality of this splendid volume.