Joy of Man's Desiring by Jean Giono

Joy of Man's Desiring by Jean Giono

Peasant civilization possesses as a gift human qualities which philosophical civilizations spend centuries first defining, then desiring, and finally losing. --Jean Giono
A true forebear of magical realism, French author Jean Giono created men and women rooted in the folklore of provincial France. In this beautiful new edition of the original Que Ma Joie Demeure--literally, That My Joy Remain--he tells the tale of a farmer couple in Haute Provence who find that the spark has somehow gone missing from their lives. One day, a stranger arrives who helps them discover how to rekindle their connection. The stranger tells them, Youth is neither strength, nor a supple body, nor even youth as you conceive of it. Rather, youth is the passion for the impractical, the useless. The couple, with this guidance from the stranger, include friends and neighbors on their journey back to individual and collective happiness. They plant fields of flowers, a meadow of grain just for the birds, and they set their horses free. With a poet's grace and imagination, Giono weaves a grand story of the earth and of passion, of men and women, animals and weather, of the magic we now call the laws of nature.

Jean Giono (1895-1970) was a novelist, essayist, and playwright, and one of the most prolific and respected French writers of the 20th Century. Born to a modest family in Provence, he was conscripted to the French Army in the First World War, and the horrors he experienced cemented his lifelong commitment to pacifism. His first major literary success came with Colline (1929) which won him the Prix Brentano. He continued to publish novels and political writings during the 1930s, and his strict pacifism led him to be briefly imprisoned for collaboration before and after the Nazi occupation of France. After the Second World War Giono continued to gain success as a novelist, and many of his books were adapted into films. He received the Prince Rainier of Monaco Prize for lifetime achievement in 1953, was elected to the Academie Goncourt in 1954, and became a member of the Literary Council of Monaco in 1963. About the translator: Jody Gladding is a translator and poet. She has published four poetry collections, Translations from Bark Beetle, Rooms and Their Airs, and Stone Crop, which was the winner of the 1992 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. Her translations from the French include Jean Giono's Serpent of Stars and Pierre Michon's The Eleven.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781582435657
ISBN 10	1582435650
Title	Joy of Man's Desiring
Author	Jean Giono
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Counterpoint
Year published	2010-03-16
Number of pages	472
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable