Book Description
In those days the hermits of the desert lived in huts on the banks of the Nile, where they lived abstemious lives, taking no food till after sunset, and eating nothing but bread with a little salt and hyssop.They lived in temperance and chastity; they wore a hair shirt and a hood, slept on the bare ground after long watching, prayed, sang psalms, and, in short, spent their days in works of penitence. As an atonement for original sin, they refused their body not only all pleasures and satisfactions, but even that care and attention which in this age are deemed indispensable. They believed that the diseases of our members purify our souls, and the flesh could put on no adornment more glorious than wounds and ulcers. It was a good and virtuous life. It was also fairly smelly. One day a desert hermit named Paphnutius was recalling the hours he had lived apart from God, and examining his sins one by one, that he might the better ponder on their enormity, he remembered that he had seen at the theatre at Alexandria a very beautiful actress named Thaïs. Repenting his bothood lust for her, he saw he countenance weeping, and resolved that the courtesan must necessarily be brought to salvation. It was a terrible mistake, and one that still haunts us all. THAÏS a dryly tongue-in cheek novel of spiritual enormity from Anatole France, winner of the Nobel Price for Literature ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Somber satire
Anatole France is best known as a satirist, including such pointed goofiness as his "Penguin Island." This story lacks the overt humor of PI, but lacks none of its thrust.

The story itself is simple enough. Paphnutius, an ascetic hermit, lives a desert life of fasting, flagellation, and isolation in the name of his God of Love. He recalls the dissipations of his mundane life before donning the sack-cloth, most especially his dissipations with seductress Thaïs. In a twisted infatuation, he determines to become the pander who will deliver her body and spirit to the exclusive service of that god, "for her own good" of course. France's story allows Thaïs a relatively gentle passing from this plane. Paphnutius, however suffers the agonies in himself of all the contradiction that he imposed onto those around him, without ever discovering the source of his self-inflicted injury.

As with a dinner of many courses, France's writing delivers its substance in the main dishes but its piquancy in the little bits on the sides. He introduces a minor character to baffle the self-righteous Paphnutius, an anchorite who practices austerities like his own but not for a god like his own - a neat jab at religious extremists who can't understand that they don't have a monopoly on morality. He also introduces the effete philosopher who reads about morality, when no other entertainment presents itself. Then he offers us Thaïs herself. She beguiles men's minds on stage, and amasses a fortune of love-offerings in her harlotry. But she returns good value for value given, and those who have lost the most to her seem to think it a fair trade. France may not propose any clear code of upright behavior, but he's energetic in tweaking the bluenoses who claim to have all the answers.

Despite being a century old or more, this has a lot to say about today's religious loudmouths, the ones who live in the black-and-white world of obedience or opposition. France doesn't single them out, though. He also sees and describes lots of others, both the elevated and the debased. Without providing any clear answers or even clear questions, he offers an interesting and contrasting set of case studies. The interaction of those characters is their comparison, and France leaves any conclusion to the reader. Which, of course, is where it belongs.

//wiredweird

PS: I'm reviewing a different edition of this book than the ISBN on this page would indicate. This is a 1920s or 1930s volume from the "Illustrated Editions Company" with no attribution for the translator. It's a beautiful object, though, with rough-cut and un-cut pages, archaic illustration, and paper so thick and soft that it makes me think of flannel sheets. If I find a product listing for this specific edition, I'll move my review there.

A good book
This is the first book I've ever read of Anatole France and I was expecting some sort of laugh out loud satire but this book is quite serious.

The basic plot of the story is as follows. It is set in the early centuries after the death of Christ, in Egypt. The hero is Phaphnutuis a fanatical ascetic monk living in a desert monastary, who pleasures himself by subjecting his person to as much bodily deprivaiton as possibly, which he thinks is pleasing to god. He gets a vision that tells him to go toAlexandria and Cairo to seek out the actress Thais, a lady of incomporable beauty and sensuality who lives a life of extreme luxury and gets favors from powerful men by fornicating with them. Phaphnutius with single minded zeal hopes to rescue Thais from this life of sin and bring her to Jesus.

In a way this story is one of awesome power, not just for the stretches of excellent writing it contains, but for the staggering tragedy of how Phaphnutius's life turns out, how he is overwhelmed by demons. But the story itself suffers I think, by how France's structures his dialogue. In the Dostoyevsky style, he has his characters talking to each other in the form of lengthy speeches. Unlike Dostoyevsky's dialogue, the prose of the dialogue in this book is in ornate style. However this prose is still beautiful. Nonetheless, these long speeches interrupt the power of the narration. This is particularly the case where about two thirds of the way through, France afflicts the reader with 15 or so pages of tedious rambling philosophical discourses from the mouths of the politicians and generals at the drunken party to which Phaphnutius accompanies Thais. There is a certain sloppiness in the narration in this part but following it, is the best writing of the book. This writing indeed is really first rate.

I get the feeling that the book could have been better if it had had more editing to it, but I really don't know anything.

Touches on themes relevant to our times
Although written in 1890, Thais is quite topical in 2006 insofar as it uses irony to explore the hypocrisy inherent in religious zealotry. Paphnutius is the ascetic monk (who might also be described as ignorant, arrogant, and intolerant) who breaks his long desert hermitage to return to the city to "save" the courtesan, Thais, reputedly the most beautiful woman in the world, as well as a woman with a generous heart and, we ultimately learn, a pure spirit. Paphnutius's fanaticism is both a source of humor and censure, and it thinly veils his own sinfulness and false motives. Paphnutius is the most fully drawn character in the novel,the other characters are largely broad archetypes. Nevertheless, the exploration of the consequences of shutting oneself off from society, from new ideas and worldviews, even from oneself is powerful and relevant today.

Anatole France won the 1921 Nobel Prize for his body of work.

Absolutely Charming!
I loved how characters are colorfully and lively portrayed. I can almost see their parallel today in the Coptic Church. Humor is mingled with philosphy in the character of Paphnutius, Paul the Simple is seen as a man with supernatural feats and his slowness of mind is taken for "sacred" in a praiseworthy sense. Palemon is so colorful and amusing in his prayers as he has unique relationships to lettuces and sweet peas and talks to them as a true monk is in full communion with nature. So hilarious!

A tragedy with a clear moral message
This book tells the tragic story of Paphnutius, a self-righteous monk who temporarily abandons his isolated desert life to save a famous courtesan and actress, Thais, from a life of sin. As the rescue of Thais unfolds it becomes clear that the main drive of Paphnutius is not virtue but, greatest sin of all, his own vanity. Thais is his trophy for God. A witness to his own spiritual breakdown, he tries more and more extravagant acts of penitence that, to his despair, deepen his moral crisis. Ultimately his efforts are condemned by Paul, the saintly fool, as nothing more than Pride, Lust and Doubt.

The moral message, about the dangers of self-righteousness, is clear and well delivered. Some consider the book anti-religious or anti-christian. It obviously isn't either. What it criticizes is the danger to have one's common sense blinded by religious zeal in a way which ends up being ultimately self-defeating.

The spiritually confused Paphnutius is portraid kindly by Anatole France, which makes his tragedy even more poignant. One cannot but sympathise with his intense, yet misguided, efforts. ... Read more

Book Description
1890. Translations by A.W. Evans, Lafcadio Hearn, and Mrs. Wilfrid Jackson. Anatole France is the pen name of Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault, French novelist, poet, critic and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921. This volume contains three of his novels: Penguin Island, The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard and The Revolt of the Angels. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

Product Description
Beautiful edition in French - Calf Spine, marbled paper - Le lys rouge published in 1926, Thais has 1923 for copyright date and no printing date (seems to have been published in 1923 ... Read more

Product Description
Cloth. Book Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Pape, Austen and Nachshen (illustrator). Fleur De Lis Edition. 7¾" - 9¾". Literature of 1800's. Clean and tigh. t 966 pp. PENGUIN ISLAND, CRIM OF SYLVESTRE, BONNARD, REVOLT OF THE ANGELS, GODS ARE ATHIRST, THAIS, RED LILY. ... Read more

Product Description
editors write in English, France wrote in French ... Read more

Book Description
"God, conquered, will become Satan; Satan, conquering, will become God. May the fates spare me this terrible lot; I love the Hell which formed my genius. I love the Earth where I have done some good, if it be possible to do any good in this fearful world where beings live but by rapine. Now, thanks to us, the god of old is dispossessed of his terrestrial empire, and every thinking being on this globe disdains him or knows him not.Download Description
God, conquered, will become Satan; Satan, conquering, will become God. May the fates spare me this terrible lot; I love the Hell which formed my genius. I love the Earth where I have done some good, if it be possible to do any good in this fearful world where beings live but by rapine. Now, thanks to us, the god of old is dispossessed of his terrestrial empire, and every thinking being on this globe disdains him or knows him not. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Heavenly Coup
Yes, Anatole France was a Nobel Prize laureate; No, that is partreason enough to read him (Who can name six laureates). If you need to be convinced, try The Revolt of the Angels.

An angel, Arcade, leaves heaven, comes to earth, uses his invisibility to steal books from a library, after which he joins a host of fallen brethren with plans to overthrow god. Fantastic? Think again. In the hands of France, the plot is a mere jot; he is more interested in expressing his contrarian view of the universe.

His knowledge of history and religious texts is amply demonstrated; however the main draw is his cynical philosophy and his virtuosity in descriptions. When one of the angels delivers a tirade, the lifespan of the universe is captured in paragraphs: Original sin is a fable concocted by god, the Reformation was started Luther "all swollen with beer and theology," and god's thunderbolt was stolen by Franklin. According to France, god foresees everything, yet is surprised by the most probable event. France is not interested in orthodoxy, this is notreligious satire to make you laugh; this is one that causes you to painfully shake your head and smile.

The conclusion is obvious, but it brings us back to reality - nothing will change. By the end of this impressive work of literature we discover only one angel is in revolt and it is not Arcade. It is Anatole France.

Revolt of the French?
There's a lot to work with in this idea. Angels exist on earth, lots of them, including many assigned duties as guardian angels. God's in his heaven, and all's right with the world.

But, at the hands of master satirist France, all is not right with the world. The god in this story is a petty, tinhorn tyrant. He has arrogated himself power of life and death over this world's little beings, but with no true understanding of the clockwork perfection of even his assigned corner of this universe. Many of those angels on earth have defected, and are plotting an insurrection against that god's dictatorial rule. They secure funding, they stockpile bombs of horrific power, and they brace themselves for the struggle ahead.

I'm no scholar of the French revolution, but one point of similarity leaps out: the rebels' near-total lack of plan for what happens after the current in-crowd is outed. And, once the angels take on some features of earthly flesh, they fall victim to many of the ills that human flesh is heir to. Those include love of money, love of women, and love of the anarchic plotting in itself.

There's a lot to like in this novel by Nobel winner France, but also a few things that didn't work for me. France move his plot forward using an alternation of many viewpoints - a technique that works poorly for maintaining cohesion in a story. This translation, from 1914, is generally readable and enjoyable, but a few of its phrases seemed stilted by today's standards. And, although I enjoyed the narrative, I was not always sure how the family story of the d'Esparvieus matched the larger story around it. France makes up for any failings, of course, in his repartee, including some well-place barbs at America and Americans.

//wiredweird

one of my favorite novels
Hilarious and silly. A perfectly ironic retelling of "Paradise Lost."

Not your ordinary plot
The book tells the story of an archbishop's guardian angel who starts reading the bishop's books on Theology and becomes an atheist. The angel moves to Paris, meets a woman, has his wings fall off & takes up the harp to make a living, since he can't handle harmony. Then he meets the Devil.This is a very funny book, by the world's greatest ironist. A wonderful read for those who smile at people who pray on TV while squinting. Elegant prose even in English, better in French; a quintessential skeptic at his best. ... Read more

Book Description
Anatole France (1844-1924), born François-Anatole Thibault, was a French author. He studied at the Collège Stanislas and after graduation he helped his father by working at his bookstore. After several years he secured the position of a cataloguer at Bacheline- Deflorenne and at Lemerre, and in 1876 he was appointed a librarian for the French Senate. He became known after the publication of The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881). Along with Emile Zola, he became involved in the Alfred Dreyfus affair. He signed Zola's manifesto, publicly condemning the indictment of treason against Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain, who was being scapegoated to protect corrupt officials in the army. In 1901, France wrote about the affair in his book Monsieur Bergeret. He was elected to the French Academy in 1896 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921. His later works include The Procurator of Judea (1902), Penguin Island (1908) and The Revolt of the Angels (1914). ... Read more