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Andre Maurois

Letters to a stranger

LETTRES A L'INCONNUE

Letters to a stranger

You exist, and at the same time you are not. When one of my friends suggested that I write to you once a week, I mentally drew an image of you. I created you beautiful - both in face and in mind. I knew: you will not be slow to emerge alive from my dreams and will begin to read my messages, and answer them, and tell me everything that the author wants to hear.

From the very first day I gave you a certain appearance - the appearance of an extremely beautiful and young woman whom I saw in the theater. No, not on stage - in the hall. None of those who were next to me knew her. Since then, you have found eyes and lips, a voice and to become, but, as befits, you still remain a Stranger.

Two or three of my letters appeared in print, and, as expected, I began to receive replies from you. Here “you” is a collective person. There are many different strangers of you: one is naive, the other is absurd, and the third is a minx and a mocker. I was impatient to start a correspondence with you, but I resisted: you had to remain all of you, it was impossible for you to become one.

You reproach me for my restraint, for my constant sentimental moralism. But what can you do? And the most patient of people will remain faithful to a stranger only on the condition that one day she will open up to him. Merimee quickly learned that his stranger's name was Jenny Daquin, and soon he was allowed to kiss her lovely feet. Yes, our idol must have legs and everything else, because we get tired of contemplating the incorporeal goddess.

I promised that I would continue this game as long as I found pleasure in it. More than a year passed, I put an end to our correspondence, and there were no objections. An imaginary break is not at all difficult. I will keep a wonderful, unclouded memory of you. Farewell.

A. M.

About one meeting

That evening I was not alone at the Comédie Française. “They only gave Moliere,” but with great success. The Lady of Iran laughed heartily; Robert Kemp seemed to be in bliss; Paul Leautaud attracted everyone's attention.

The lady sitting next to us whispered to her husband: “I’ll tell Aunt Clemence on the phone that I saw Leoto, she’ll be happy.”

You sat in front, wrapped in arctic fox furs, and, as in the time of Musset, your chosen “black braid on a marvelous flexible neck” swayed in front of me. During intermission, you leaned over to your friend and asked animatedly: “How to become loved?” I, in turn, wanted to lean over to you and answer with the words of one of Moliere’s contemporaries: “To please others, you need to talk to them about what pleases them and what interests them, avoid arguing about unimportant subjects, rarely ask questions and in no way if you don’t let them suspect that you can be smarter than them.”

Here are the tips of someone who knew people! Yes, if we want to be loved, we need to talk to others about something other than what is important to us. us, but about what takes their. What keeps them busy? They are themselves. We will never bore a woman if we talk to her about her character and beauty, if we ask her about her childhood, her tastes, and what makes her sad. You will also never bore a man if you ask him to talk about himself. How many women have gained fame as skilled listeners! However, there is no need to listen, it is enough just to pretend that you are listening.

“Avoid arguing about unimportant subjects.” Arguments presented in a harsh tone infuriate the interlocutor. Especially when the truth is on your side. “Every sensible remark hurts,” said Stendhal. Your interlocutor may have to admit the irrefutability of your arguments, but he will not forgive you for this forever. In love, a man strives not for war, but for peace. Blessed are the gentle and meek women, they will be loved more. Nothing pisses off a man more than a woman's aggressiveness. The Amazons are deified, but not adored.

Another, quite worthy way to be liked is to speak flatteringly about people. If you tell them this, it will give them pleasure and they will feel good towards you in return.

I don’t like Madame de... - someone said.

What a pity! But she finds you simply charming and tells everyone she meets about it.

Really?.. It turns out that I was mistaken about her.

The opposite is also true. One caustic phrase, moreover, retold unkindly, gives rise to the worst enemies. “If we all knew everything that is said about all of us, no one would talk to anyone.” The trouble is that sooner or later everyone will find out what everyone is saying about everyone.

Let us return to La Rochefoucauld: “Under no circumstances should you let them suspect that you can be more intelligent than they are.” Isn't it possible to both love and admire someone at the same time? Of course, it is possible, but only if he does not express his superiority with arrogance and it is balanced by small weaknesses that allow others, in turn, to patronize him. The smartest man I knew, Paul Valery, showed his intelligence very easily. He put deep thoughts into a humorous form; He was characterized by both childishness and cute pranks, which made him unusually charming. Another the smartest person he is both serious and important, but still amuses his friends with his unconscious arrogance, absent-mindedness or quirks. They forgive him for being talented because he can be funny; and you will be forgiven for being beautiful because you keep it simple. A woman will never tire of even a great man if she remembers that he is also a man.

How to become loved? Giving those you want to captivate good reasons to be pleased with themselves. Love begins with a joyful feeling own strength, combined with the happiness of another person. To please means both to give and to receive. This is what, stranger of my soul (as the Spaniards say), I would like to answer you. I’ll add one more - the last - advice, it was given by Merimee his to a stranger: “Never say anything bad about yourself. Your friends will do it." Farewell.

About the limits of tenderness

Paul Valéry spoke excellently about many things, and in particular about love; he liked to talk about passions in mathematical terms: he quite reasonably believed that the contrast between the precision of expression and the elusiveness of feelings gave rise to a disturbing incongruity. I especially liked one of his formulas, which I dubbed Valerie’s theorem: “The amount of tenderness emitted and absorbed every day has a limit.”

In other words, no person is capable of living all day, much less weeks or years, in an atmosphere of tender passion. Everything tires you out, even being loved. It is useful to be reminded of this truth, because many young people, as well as old people, apparently are not aware of it. A woman revels in the first delights of love; she is overwhelmed with joy when she is told from morning to evening how beautiful she is, how witty, what a blessing it is to have her, how wonderful her speeches are; she echoes these praises and assures her partner that he is the best and smartest man in the world, an incomparable lover, a wonderful interlocutor. It’s much nicer for both. But what next? The possibilities of the language are not limitless. “At first it’s easy for lovers to talk to each other...” noted the Englishman Stevenson. “I am me, you are you, and everyone else is of no interest.”

You can repeat in a hundred ways: “I am me, you are you.” But not a hundred thousand! And there is an endless string of days ahead.

What is the name of such a marriage when a man is content with one woman? - an examiner asked an American student.

Monotonous,” she answered.

So that monogamy does not turn into monotony, you need to vigilantly ensure that tenderness and forms of its expression alternate with something else. A loving couple should be refreshed by “winds from the sea”: communication with other people, common work, spectacles. Praise touches, born as if by chance, involuntarily - from mutual understanding, shared pleasure; becoming an indispensable ritual, it becomes boring.

Octave Mirbeau has a short story written in the form of a dialogue between two lovers who meet every evening in the park by moonlight. A sensitive lover whispers in a voice even more tender than moonlit night: “Look... That bench, oh dear bench!” The beloved sighs in despair: “That bench again!” Let us beware of pews that have become places of worship. Tender words that appear and pour out at the very moment of manifestation of feelings are charming. Tenderness in rigid expressions is annoying.

Bernard Quesnet, the hero of the novel of the same name, having become the director of a textile factory, subordinates his life to concerns about production. His fiancee, unable to withstand the rivalry with the plant, breaks off the engagement.

André Maurois (1885-1967) - classicist French literature XX century, author of many brilliant biographical works, novels and stories. He traveled a lot and gladly shared his travel impressions with readers. The story about Holland is full of the most unexpected observations, interesting excursions into the distant past, reflections on how it was formed national character residents of the Netherlands.

The collection “For solo piano” (1960) is an invaluable collection of masterpieces of short prose by the great Andre Maurois, combining short stories created by the writer throughout his life. Laconically and succinctly, with truly Gallic humor - refined and evil - the author writes about human vices and weaknesses.
And at the same time, following the favorite principle of paradox, the writer finds in his soul a place for benevolence and sympathy for his heroes and heroines, eager to take the best places in the sun.

It can be said without exaggeration about A. Fleming, who discovered penicillin: he conquered not only disease, he conquered death. Few medical scientists have achieved such great historical fame.

The fascinating biographical novel by Andre Maurois is dedicated to the life of the French writer Aurore Dudevant (1804-1876), whose works were published under the pseudonym George Sand. Her work was widely known to Russian readers back in the century before last; Belinsky and Chernyshevsky gave it high praise.

Andre Maurois, a classic of French literature of the 20th century, author of famous novelized biographies of Dumas, Balzac, Victor Hugo and others, is considered a true master psychological prose.
For the first time in Russian, his novel “The Promised Land” is published.

Andre Maurois, a classic of French literature of the 20th century, the author of famous novelized biographies of Dumas, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Shelley and Byron, is considered a true master of psychological prose. However, a significant part of the writer’s heritage consists of historical works.

Andre Maurois, a classic of French literature of the 20th century, the author of famous novelized biographies of Dumas, Balzac, Victor Hugo and others, is considered a true master of psychological prose. However, a significant part of the writer’s heritage consists of historical works. He owns a whole series of books dedicated to the history of England, the USA, Germany, and Holland.

Andre Maurois - Literary Portraits

TO THE READER
Reader, true friend my, my brother, you will find here several sketches about books that have given me joy all my life. I would like to hope that my choice coincides with yours. Not all great works will be discussed here, but the ones I have chosen seem great to me in some way.

The real name of the person whom readers around the world know as Andre Maurois, – Emil Salomon Wilhelm Erzog. This is famous French writer, literary critic, historian; he is recognized consummate master writing biographies famous people in the form of a novel. After some time, the creative pseudonym turned into his official name.

Maurois was born in Elphebe, a place near Rouen, on July 26, 1885. His family were Alsatian Jews who converted to the Catholic religion, moved to Normandy after 1871 and became French subjects. In 1897, Andre was a student at the Rouen Lyceum, and at the age of 16 he received a licentiate degree. After completing his studies at the Lyceum, he entered the University of Cannes. Almost simultaneously, his career begins: the young man gets a job at his father’s factory and works there as an administrator during 1903-1911.

When did the first one break out? world war, André Maurois took part in hostilities as a liaison officer and military translator. The impressions he received during the war helped Maurois try his hand at literary field and became the basis for his first novel, The Silent Colonel Bramble. After its publication in 1918, Maurois learned what success was, and his fame immediately went beyond home country, the work was warmly received in Great Britain and America.

After the end of the war, Andre Maurois’s place of work was the editorial office of the magazine “Croix de Fé”. Inspired by the success of his first novel, the aspiring writer dreamed not of a career in a magazine, but of a professional literary career. Already in 1921 it saw the light new novel"Dr. O'Grady's Speeches." When his father died, Maurois, having sold production, from 1925 devoted all his energy to creating literary works. Over the course of 20-30 years. he wrote a trilogy about the lives of famous English representatives of romanticism - Shelley, Disraeli and Byron. He also wrote a number of other novels. June 23, 1938 occurs significant event in the life of Maurois: his literary merits were recognized by election to the French Academy.

When World War II began, the writer volunteered to join the active French army, serving with the rank of captain; he was 54 years old at the time. When France was occupied by Nazi troops, Maurois moved to the United States, where he worked as a teacher at the University of Kansas. 1943 was marked by departure to North Africa; returning to his homeland took place in 1946. During this period, Maurois wrote the book “In Search of Marcel Proust” (1949), a collection of short stories.

The writer worked until a very old age. In the year of his 80th anniversary, he wrote a novel, which became the last in a series of biographical works - “Prometheus, or the Life of Balzac” (1965). Literally a few days before his death, the last point was put in his memoirs.

André Maurois's contribution to national literature truly great - two hundred books, as well as more than a thousand articles. He was a multi-genre writer, from his pen came not only the biographies of great people that made him famous, but also fantastic short stories, psychological stories, novels, philosophical essays, historical works, and popular science works. Maurois was elected honorary doctor of the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, and was a Knight of the Legion of Honor (1937). Led by a writer and quite active social life, was part of several public organizations, collaborated with democratic publications.

Death overtook Andre Maurois in his own home, located in one of the suburbs of Paris, October 9, 1967.

Biography from Wikipedia

Andre Maurois(French André Maurois, real name Emil Salomon Wilhelm Erzog, Émile-Salomon-Wilhelm Herzog, 1885-1967), French writer and member of the French Academy. Subsequently, the pseudonym became his official name.

Master of the genre of novelized biography (books about Shelley, Byron, Balzac, Turgenev, George Sand, Dumas the father and Dumas the son, Hugo) and short ironic psychological stories. Among Maurois's main works are psychological novels"The Vicissitudes of Love" (1928), " Family circle”(1932), the book “Memoirs” (published in 1970) and “Letters à l’inconnue” (“Lettres à l’inconnue”, 1956), which embodied all the charm of the writer’s subtle, ironic talent.

He came from a wealthy family of Jews from Alsace who converted to Catholicism, who chose French citizenship after 1871 and moved to Normandy. In 1897, Emil Erzog entered the Rouen Lyceum. At the age of sixteen he was awarded a licentiate degree. On the advice of one of his teachers, Emile Chartier, after completing the course, instead of continuing his studies at Ecole Normale, he became an employee at his father's cloth factory. During World War I he served as a military translator and liaison officer. In 1918, Maurois published the novel “The Silent Colonel Bramble” (French: Les Silences du colonel Bramble), which was successfully received both in France and in Great Britain and the USA. In 1921, the novel “The Speeches of Doctor O’Grady” (French: Discours du docteur O’Grady) was published. After the war, he worked as an employee of the editorial office of the magazine Croix de Feux. On June 23, 1938, he was elected to the French Academy.

Member of the French Resistance.

During the outbreak of World War II, Maurois serves as a captain in the French army. After the occupation of France by German troops, he left for the United States. He worked as a teacher at the University of Kansas. During this time he wrote biographies of Frédéric Chopin (1942), General Eisenhower (1945), Franklin (1945) and Washington (1946). In 1943, Maurois left for North Africa, and in 1946 he returned to France.

Maurois argued that “time spent with a woman cannot be called lost.”

Family

Was married twice. First marriage - Jeanne-Marie Wanda Szymkevich, from whom three children were born - Gerald (1920), Olivier and daughter Michelle (1914). Soon after early death first wife (1924) from sepsis, he entered into a second marriage with Simone Caillave, granddaughter of Leontine Armand de Caillave (née Lippmann), the mistress of Anatole France. Relations with his second wife were relatively free, Maurois lived separately from her for some time, and his wife knew that he had other mistresses.

Editions in Russian

Maurois A. Three Dumas. - M.: Young Guard, 1962. - 544 p. 1965 (“ZhZL”).
Maurois A. The Life of Alexander Fleming. Per. from fr. I. Ehrenburg, afterword. I. Kassirsky M.: Young Guard, 1964. - 336 p. (“ZhZL”).
Maurois A. Prometheus, or the Life of Balzac. - M.: Progress, 1967. - 640 p.
Maurois A. George Sand. - M.: Young Guard, 1968. - 416 p. (“ZhZL”).
Maurois A. Paris. - M.: Art, 1970. - (“Cities and museums of the world”).
Maurois A. From Montaigne to Aragon / Per. from fr. Comp. and preface F. S. Narkiriera. Comm. S. N. Zenkina. Ed. Z. V. Fedotova. - M.: Raduga, 1983. - 678 p.
Maurois A. The vicissitudes of love. Three short stories. Letters to a stranger. - Mn.: Mastatskaya literature, 1988. - 351 p.
Maurois A. Byron. - M.: Young Guard, 2000. - 422 p. (“ZhZL”).
Maurois A. France. - St. Petersburg: B.S.G.-Press, 2007. - 272 p.
Maurois A. Holland. - St. Petersburg: B.S.G.-Press, 2007. - 224 p.-7.
Maurois A. History of France. - St. Petersburg: Humanitarian Academy, 2008. - 352 p.
Maurois A. Three Dumas. - M.: AST, AST Moscow, VKT, 2010. - 512 p.-6-2.
Maurois A. Olympio, or the Life of Victor Hugo. - M.: Russia-Cyrillic, 1992. - 528 p.
Maurois A. Prometheus, or the Life of Balzac. - M.: Raduga, 1983. - 672 p.
Maurois A. Open letter young man about the science of living
Maurois A. Life of Disraeli. - M.: Politizdat, 1991. - 254 p.
Maurois A. September roses. - SPb.: ABC. 2015 - 220 p.

A participant in the First and Second World Wars, Andre Maurois, before whose eyes the tragic events of the first half of the twentieth century passed, inexplicably managed to preserve a spark of good irony in his work. The subtle humor and psychological nature of his stories attract readers to this day.

Second business card French author - biographical prose. While contemporaries wrote about the lost generation and the tragedy of existence, Maurois was looking for the origins inner strength, capable of overcoming the catastrophes of the 20th century, in the life stories of writers and thinkers of the past.

Childhood and youth

Future author of biographies and books about national history born in 1885 in the small French town of Elbeuf in Normandy. His parents, a Jewish couple named Erzog who converted to Catholicism, moved to northwestern France a decade and a half before their son was born. Before this, the family lived in Alsace, but after Germany annexed the land following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, it was decided to remain French subjects and move to the West.

Emil's father, Ernest Erzog, and paternal grandfather owned a textile factory in Alsace. Thanks to their efforts, not only the family of the owner of the enterprise, but also most of the workers moved to Normandy. The government awarded the writer's grandfather the Order of the French Legion for saving national industry.

By the time the boy was born, the family's well-being had strengthened. At baptism the child received the name Emil Salomon Wilhelm. With the beginning writing activity The pseudonym Andre Maurois became his real name. Primary education received at the Elbeuf gymnasium, and at the age of 12 he entered the Rouen Lyceum of Pierre Corneille. After 4 years, he was awarded a licentiate degree.

Despite his potential, Emil got a job as an administrator at his father's factory. According to some reports, the advice to leave his studies was given to him by the lyceum teacher Emile Chartier, who published philosophical works under the pseudonym Allen. Chartier's views influenced the student's worldview. However, Erzog entered the University of Cannes.

Emil was 29 years old when the First World War began. Three years earlier, he left his job at the factory and tried to decide on a profession. During the battles, Erzog served as a liaison officer at the British headquarters in France and provided interpreter services to the British Expeditionary Force. The experience he gained is later reflected in his debut work, the novel “The Silence of Colonel Bramble.”

Literature

The hero of the first novel, Andre Maurois, turns out to be close to the inhabitants of all countries that fought with Germany. The book brings recognition to the debutant not only in France, but also in the USA and Great Britain. In 1922, the second novel, “The Speeches of Doctor O’Grady,” was published, which also turned out to be successful. Maurois is convinced of his choice literary activity.

The author gets a job at the Croix-de-Feu magazine, and after his father passes away, he sells the enterprise. During these years, he collected material for the first biographical trilogy. In 1923, “Ariel, or the Life of Shelley” was published, four years later - a book about British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, and in 1930 - a biography. This series, later published under the title Romantic England, cemented the author's popularity in Britain.

In parallel with his work on biographies, Maurois publishes novels. Published in 1926, Bernard Quesnet tells the story of a young World War I veteran who, although gifted in the arts, is forced to work against his will in his family's factory. It is not difficult to trace the autobiographical nature of the plot.

In 1938, 53-year-old Maurois received special recognition - he was elected to the French Academy. The institution studies the national language and takes care of preserving its literary norm, including through the presentation of about 60 annual awards to writers.

The literary work of Andre Maurois was interrupted by the tragedy of World War II. The writer again signs up as a volunteer and serves with the rank of captain. When the Nazis managed to occupy France, he left for the United States and taught for some time at the University of Kansas. However, in 1943, Maurois, together with soldiers of the Allied forces, ends up in North Africa. Here and earlier in exile, he meets his friend, military pilot, writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Maurois returned to his homeland in 1946. Here he publishes collections of short stories, which include “Hotel Thanatos,” and writes new biography– “In Search of Marcel Proust.” During this period, he changes his documents, and the pseudonym becomes his real name. In 1947, “History of France” appeared - the first in a series of books about the history of states. He also turned to the history of Great Britain, the USA and other countries.

In the early 50s, a collection of his works was published: the texts occupy 16 volumes. During these same years, the graceful, humorous “Letters to a Stranger” were published. Maurois continues to work on biographies. He is interested, and even Alexander Fleming, who created penicillin. This block was completed by a book about. The author created it at the age of 79.

IN last decade During Maurois's life, his articles were often published in Soviet newspapers. According to RIA Novosti, the writer was friends with many writers of the USSR. In France, he collaborated with various democratic publications. It is known that Morua left a signature on the protest of social activists against the detention of the painter from Mexico David Siqueiros.

Maurois’s own biography was published in 1970, after the author’s death, under the simple title “Memoirs.” It contains everything behind the scenes creative life, scenes of meetings and informal conversations with politicians, philosophers, writers. Literary heritage The French author brings together two hundred books and over a thousand articles. Maurois's aphorisms and sayings are widely known, for example:

“Time spent with a woman cannot be called lost.”

Personal life

Maurois's biography includes two marriages. At the age of 28, he married Jeanne-Marie Szymkevich. His wife gave him two sons, Gerald and Olivier, and a daughter, Michelle. When the writer was 39 years old, his wife died. The cause of death was sepsis.

The second marriage was with Simon Kayawe, a relative. For some time the couple lived separately from each other, while Simon was aware that her husband had extramarital affairs. Morua and Kayawe had no children.

Death

Andre Maurois passed away on October 9, 1967. At this time, he lived on the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine, a commune adjacent to the capital of France in the west.

The writer's grave is located in the local cemetery. The body of Anatole France, cinematographer Rene Clair, and symbolist artist Puvis de Chavannes also rests here.