One of the iconic works of the French surrealist movement, Nadja is a novel published by André Breton, in 1928.
Quotes:
"Don't I love her? When I am near her I am nearer things which are near her."
“Beauty is like a train that ceaselessly roars out of the Gare de Lyon and which I know will never leave, which has not left. It consists of jolts and shocks, many of which do not have much importance, but which we know are destined to produce one Shock, which does...The human heart, beautiful as a seismograph...Beauty will be convulsive or will not be at all.”
"You could never see this star as I do. You don't understand: It's like the heart of a heartless flower."
“A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name. Like this (she closes her eyes): Two, two what? Two women. What do they look like? Wearing black. Where are they? In a park. . . . And then, what are they doing? Try it, it's so easy, why don't you want to play? You know, that's how I talk to myself when I'm alone, I tell myself all kinds of stories. And not only silly stories: actually, I live this way altogether.”
“Perhaps my life is nothing but an image of this kind; perhaps I am doomed to retrace my steps under the illusion that I am exploring, doomed to try and learn what I simply should recognize, learning a mere fraction of what I have forgotten.”
“with the end of my breath, which is the beginning of yours.”
3 comments:
Another great novel in Papier de liberte and my favorite literary school, surrealism :)
Let me share some part of a book named ‘Literary Schools’ by M.Haghighi.Ph.D, seventh chapter, page 247-250, Surrealism:
“… for the surrealists, the essential elements of both dream and the child’s world was the free imagination. The imagination gives vitality and a sense of unlimited possibility to both, and it is what is most threatened-if not destroyed by the adult, waking life.”
“…surrealists want to go “beyond” realism (normal perception of the outer world) deep into the inner world of the unconscious mind. They believed that the world of the unconscious mind-as expressed by fantasies and dreams has a reality superior to that of the phenomenal world.”
Well, I quote these two paragraph to show that Andre Breton him self as a surrealist author write these sentences with unconscious mind:
“A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name ….. You know, that's how I talk to myself when I'm alone, I tell myself all kinds of stories. And not only silly stories: actually, I live this way altogether.”
Or this one : “Perhaps my life is nothing but an image of this kind; perhaps I am doomed to retrace my steps under the illusion that I am exploring, doomed to try and learn what I simply should recognize, learning a mere fraction of what I have forgotten.”
He wants to show the power of imagination and its superiority to that of the phenomenal world; as Manoochehr Haghighi mention in his book: “The conformity modern life imposes on man practically does not let man seek refuge in the world his imagination creates for him.”
Oh, another point! I want to tell you about an interesting discovery of mine which I found in this novel. You know what?
The novel starts with the question "Who am I?" and the name of protagonist is ‘Nadja’ (whose is named so “because in Russian it’s the beginning of the word hope, and because it’s only the beginning,” but which might also evoke the Spanish ‘Nadie,’ which means ‘No one’).
Who am I? … Only the beginning of the word hope … Spanish meaning No one …
Who am I? Who are you Nadja? I am no one with just the beginning of the word hope! And you know about the rest of the story. You can see the roots of absurdity here; you know surrealism is the base of Absurdity!
Finally, I love this sentence: "You could never see this star as I do. You don't understand: It's like the heart of a heartless flower."
I think it’s a hidden message of André Breton to his readers. Do you know anything about Decoding? I hope so :)
Thanks for this great comment. I am wondering if I can publish your comment as a separate post in Papier, it really worth to be on page.
Please let me know?
Certainly, It would be my pleasure! :)
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