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André Suarès, Moralist
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
André Suarès, following in the tradition of the great French moralists of the past, is an acute and profound contemporary observer of the universe and of himself. Yet, except for an occasional passing remark by a critic identifying him as a moralist, he is generally not given such recognition, a failure partly due, no doubt, to the fact that his observations and intellectual reflections are not conveniently and systematically placed at the disposal of his reader. Instead of offering in one or two handy volumes the fruits of his survey of the universe, as do such moralistic ancestors as Montaigne, Pascal, La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère and Vauvenargues, Suarès keeps adding to or amplifying his repertoire of observations from volume to volume. Everywhere, even in his studies or portraits, whether they be of Baudelaire or Pascal, Ibsen or Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky or Goethe, he intersperses his reflections on life and human behavior. Nor are these observations always put in an epigrammatic or sententious form. Despite discouragement, however, the reader upon closer study soon sees that Suarès has the gift and capacity for extracting even from the most insignificant matter “tout le suc humain.” This he is able to do because he probes deeply into human behavior and because in every one of man's relationships he glimpses the stream of life.
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- Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1955
References
1 However, among his prolific writings the most basic to our discussion are the following: Sur la Vie (Paris: Emile-Paul; Vols. I and II, 1925, Vol. ni, 1928) : Variables (Paris: Emile-Paul, 1929); Valeurs (Paris: Bernard Grasset, 1936); Voici l'Homme (Paris: Albin Michel, 1948). Although Voici l'Homme first appeared in 1905 and Sur la Vie between 1909 and 1912, all page references are to the later editions.
2 Suarès, to be sure, frequently enough uses, and with much success, the aphorism and the maxim, wherein he displays his ability to be witty, humorous, cynical, profound, and wise in turn.
3 Georges Rigassi, “André Suarès,” Bibliothèque Universelle et Revue Suisse, Lxxvn (1915), 402.
4 VH, p. 106. Women, in their relationships with each other, do not fare much better: “Une femme croit s'ôter autant d'années qu'elle en ajoute à une autre femme” (Var., p. 81).
5 In the following passage one can see how bitter Suarès feels toward the hail-fellow-well-met who, though without talent, is successful: “On voit des hommes sans talent et presque sans esprit, hommes d'une bassesse insigne, puits à promesses et dès le premier mot taris, des hommes qui ne sont que mains à tout venant, mains moites et salées, à leur insu, de l'urine seconde que leur sueur excrète: des hommes sans goût, sans cœur, pleureurs à gages, suiveurs d'enterrements et parrains de tout baptème; hommes qui sont des voies publiques, foulées en tous sens et qui mènent à tout, en collant à la semelle de ceux qui se poussent : de tels hommes tiennent toutes les avenues qui vont à la Rome du succès” (VII, p. 84).
6 “Un Lyrique du Nihilisme: Suarès,” L'Occident, vin (1905), 226–232.
7 Rigrassi (see n. 3), p. 411.
8 Maurice Martin du Gard, Harmonies Critiques (Paris: Sagittaire, 1936), p. 138.
9 André Maurel, “André Suarès,” Bibliothèque Universelle et Revue Suisse, LXXXVI (1917), 107.
10 Gérard de Lacaze-Duthiers, “André Suarès ou le triomphe du lyrisme,” L'Age Nouveau, No. 32 (1948), p. 69.