Novel
The Thibaults
Les Thibault
Roger Martin du Gard · 1922
Synopsis
Paris, around 1904. Oscar Thibault, a widower, rigid Catholic and authoritarian notable, has two sons: Antoine, the elder, who is studying medicine, and Jacques, the younger, a rebel. When it is discovered that Jacques is corresponding with a Protestant schoolmate, Daniel de Fontanin, the boy runs away as far as Marseille. Brought back home, he is sent by his father to a reformatory at Crouy, from which Antoine tries to get him out.
Context
The cycle has eight parts: Le Cahier gris and Le Pénitencier in 1922, La Belle Saison in 1923, La Consultation and La Sorellina in 1928, La Mort du père in 1929, L'Été 1914 in 1936 and Épilogue in 1940. It follows the two brothers from their youth, in a Catholic bourgeois family, up to the First World War, and makes their opposing choices a reflection of the questions that divided the French bourgeoisie of that time.
Who it is for
A roman-fleuve in eight parts, to be read in order; the language is clear and the pace deliberately slow.
Prizes and reception
For the most part, it is this cycle that the Nobel jury honoured in 1937; it has been published in English under the title The Thibaults.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.