Aurelia & Other Writings

by Gérard de Nerval

Book Overview

A harrowing document of a descent into madness, by France's defining poet of bohemian romanticism

Aurelia is French poet and novelist G rard de Nerval's account of his descent into madness--a condition provoked in part by his unrequited passion for an actress named Jenny Colon. One of the original self-styled "bohemians," Nerval was best known in his own day for parading a lobster on a pale blue ribbon through the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 187897209X
• ISBN13: 9781878972095
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Exact Change
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Good Introduction to Artaud

This was the first book I read by Antonin Artaud. I was really moved by this man and he helped me realize that one could an outsider yet still remain in centricity of culture. I don't know alot of it went over my head I guess but the man is extremely interesting and offers neat challenges to his time and to the reader.

Concentrated Romanticism

I love Nerval's voice and his lush dreamy nostalgia. Many of these pieces are like looking at a Rococo painting and there's many of the classic Romantic themes, love of nature, nostalgia for a lost idyllic past and lost youth. I love literary surrealism so Aurelia was right up my alley but it has a more spiritual vibe which seems lacking in more modern surrealist works. After reading Nerval I can see why the surrealists considered themselves the prehensile tail of Romanticism.

tragic search for the infinite

simultaneously one of the saddest and most hopeful books i have ever read, this is an account of gerard de nerval's descent into insanity and his frantic search for something beyond what the positivists offer, a "spirit world". nerval obsesses over an actress who barely knew he existed, idealizing her to a seriously nutty point--but during all this he visits funerals, graveyards other places, apparently believing he is in touch with something metaphysical. i read this book awhile ago but i do remember his reference to his rejection by the woman, aurelia:"one's only option after these kinds of events is whether to die or go on living." touching, mystical, and sad.

like Proust condensed

that's the best way to put it: like condensed Proust. De Nerval's stories of place, love, and memory have found a permanent place in my heart. As other reviewers have noted, these stories seem the very definition of romanticism-- an unexpected quality in a writer often remembered most for his madness, eccentricity, and ultimately, suicide. this edition by Exact Change Press is also worth remarking upon: the paper feels great, the design is perfect... hmm, running out of synonyms for "good."all in all, a great volume by a lesser-known master.

Best explanation of a Romantic

Because this book shows what a real romantic means beyond the common meaning of "being in love". Because De Narval is a Romantic, he behaves trying to be the center of everything, no matter the price or the pride. He loves as a tool to make women move around him. His dreams are an extension of his life, so he can live any dream as real because the memorie of the real is the same as the memorie of the dream.