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I Doni Della Vita (1947)

by Irène Némirovsky(Favorite Author)

3.83 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

8845923614 (ISBN13: 9788845923616)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Adelphi

review 1: I like the message of the book of familial love is all that it takes to bring hope to war torn area where civilians are caught in the cross-fire. The book is great in that it allows people to see what war is like for civilians caught in the middle of the battle ground. It allows one to sympathize with what is happening in Syria for example. Nemirovsky is able to put a positive spin on the horrors of war in civilian lives a la "Life is Beautiful". She is able to state that a love of Agnes and Pierre is all a family needs despite the external horrors of war.Differing social classes and background separated Pierre and Agnes. The small town discriminated against Agnes' mother for working while she was younger and not having an extended family. This was an age when family's m... morearried into each other. Marriages were between families not people.While during the winter time they hardly spoke, the summer time was different in that they lived right next door to each other in a beach. Pierre was betrothed to marry Simone due to an arranged wedding while Agnes was in love with Pierre but their differing social class made a match impossible.Julien Hardelot had both wealth and respectability which were intertwined in his mind. He liked the continuity of stability that his riches gave him. For this reason, he expects his progeny to follow his will unconditionally. In a small town keeping up appearances is a full time job even though people actually know what is going on.It came to the parental units attention that Pierre and Agnes were meeting outside in the woods and the engagement to Agnes by the doctor has been broken off. When Pierre realized that Agnes had been disgraced, he suddenly wanted to marry her out of love for her which made Mrs. Hardelot both felt sadness as well as pride for her son being a man and deciding his own fate.During the wedding, Pierre was disowned by his grandfather and thus had no place in running the company empire. So while Mrs Hardelot thought her son got a bad deal by marrying under his station, Mrs. Florent thought her daughter got a bad deal for marrying someone without a job. Although they were both initially hesitant about touching one another, he warmed up and felt lucky to be married to someone he loved. With Pierre working as an engineer, he provided for his family and they both lived well in Spain.While Charles is concerned about keeping up appearances so not to piss off Julien, Marthe is more concerned about her son's well-being and his family. Pierre was saddened by the fact that he was leaving his family to fight in WWI. Pierre and Agnes said their goodbyes in their final night together as a couple.Nemirovsky states during times of war internal division disappear in favor of national common ground. Agnes welcomed the sounds of war as it brought her closer to what her husband experienced. Even though war was nipping at their heals, Julien insists that he and his male progeny stay in their chateau to lay claim to it despite the carnage that will be present to their village. Naively, Marthe thought that civilians were never targeted in war that building could crumble yet civilians would survive the carnage. Agnes was oppressed by the memories of the blooms of love that she shared with her husband now destroyed by the crushing blows of Germany's assault in their village. Like Marthe, Charles refused to believe that any civilians would be hurt in war. While on the road, Simone car bumped into Agnes' car and they started comparing each other. Agnes thought that Simone was too fat while Simone thought Agnes was too thin and their love child was too scrawny. Only their sense of vanity of being a successful bourgeois family kept the Hardelot's from giving up.War clouded Agnes' emotions so that it enveloped her in darkness. In WWI, there were brief respite in which her husband would come home making their bonds stronger. In war, Pierre had become immune to the scene of carnage that has become part of him but he had to have hope of seeing the end to struggle to live. Pierre did not keep his experiences of war from Agnes just as she did not keep her experiences of someone who is waiting for a lover that may never come home to her from him. He always thought of her during the ebbs of battle. During war, he felt the sense of individuality disappear towards the greater purpose of the army. His imminent death also crystallized what was truly important in life which was people one loves.To Charles, civic duty was to follow the orders of the government during times of war as well as being a practicing Catholic while his father Julien was a deist who believed in God but largely believed that men determined their own faith on earth without interference from the heavens. In praying for his son's deliverance from the battle and France's victory, Charles offered up his life which God took a covenant so his son and France would win the war and come back home.While Agnes ran, Simone obstinately stayed to prove that she does not fear the Germans. Behind the propriety of the arrange marriage, Simone loved Pierre with all her heart. The danger of war made her emotions more primed to accept the kiss from an anonymous soldier and to look forward to a love beyond Pierre. With Roland's kiss of her hand, she realized the sensual possibilities of physically loving a man.Differing social classes and background separated Pierre and Agnes. The small town discriminated against Agnes' mother for working while she was younger and not having an extended family. This was an age when family's married into each other. Marriages were between families not people.While during the winter time they hardly spoke, the summer time was different in that they lived right next door to each other in a beach. Pierre was betrothed to marry Simone due to an arranged wedding while Agnes was in love with Pierre but their differing social class made a match impossible.Julien Hardelot had both wealth and respectability which were intertwined in his mind. He liked the continuity of stability that his riches gave him. For this reason, he expects his progeny to follow his will unconditionally. In a small town keeping up appearances is a full time job even though people actually know what is going on.It came to the parental units attention that Pierre and Agnes were meeting outside in the woods and the engagement to Agnes by the doctor has been broken off. When Pierre realized that Agnes had been disgraced, he suddenly wanted to marry her out of love for her which made Mrs. Hardelot both felt sadness as well as pride for her son being a man and deciding his own fate.During the wedding, Pierre was disowned by his grandfather and thus had no place in running the company empire. So while Mrs Hardelot thought her son got a bad deal by marrying under his station, Mrs. Florent thought her daughter got a bad deal for marrying someone without a job. Although they were both initially hesitant about touching one another, he warmed up and felt lucky to be married to someone he loved. With Pierre working as an engineer, he provided for his family and they both lived well in Spain.While Charles is concerned about keeping up appearances so not to piss off Julien, Marthe is more concerned about her son's well-being and his family. Pierre was saddened by the fact that he was leaving his family to fight in WWI. Pierre and Agnes said their goodbyes in their final night together as a couple.Nemirovsky states during times of war internal division disappear in favor of national common ground. Agnes welcomed the sounds of war as it brought her closer to what her husband experienced. Even though war was nipping at their heals, Julien insists that he and his male progeny stay in their chateau to lay claim to it despite the carnage that will be present to their village. Naively, Marthe thought that civilians were never targeted in war that building could crumble yet civilians would survive the carnage. Agnes was oppressed by the memories of the blooms of love that she shared with her husband now destroyed by the crushing blows of Germany's assault in their village. Like Marthe, Charles refused to believe that any civilians would be hurt in war. While on the road, Simone car bumped into Agnes' car and they started comparing each other. Agnes thought that Simone was too fat while Simone thought Agnes was too thin and their love child was too scrawny. Only their sense of vanity of being a successful bourgeois family kept the Hardelot's from giving up.War clouded Agnes' emotions so that it enveloped her in darkness. In WWI, there were brief respite in which her husband would come home making their bonds stronger. In war, Pierre had become immune to the scene of carnage that has become part of him but he had to have hope of seeing the end to struggle to live. Pierre did not keep his experiences of war from Agnes just as she did not keep her experiences of someone who is waiting for a lover that may never come home to her from him. He always thought of her during the ebbs of battle. During war, he felt the sense of individuality disappear towards the greater purpose of the army. His imminent death also crystallized what was truly important in life which was people one loves.To Charles, civic duty was to follow the orders of the government during times of war as well as being a practicing Catholic while his father Julien was a deist who believed in God but largely believed that men determined their own faith on earth without interference from the heavens. In praying for his son's deliverance from the battle and France's victory, Charles offered up his life which God took a covenant so his son and France would win the war and come back home.While Agnes ran, Simone obstinately stayed to prove that she does not fear the Germans. Behind the propriety of the arrange marriage, Simone loved Pierre with all her heart. The danger of war made her emotions more primed to accept the kiss from an anonymous soldier and to look forward to a love beyond Pierre. With Roland's kiss of her hand, she realized the sensual possibilities of physically loving a man.Although the war was over, Pierre was taken prisoner and Saint-Elme was destroyed while Julien lived through the German destruction and became the symbol of the indestructible land. Julien became the town's dictator and would rebuild the town as it was before the occupation.Even though buildings would be rebuilt, the old order of things would disappear as Simone would partially inherit Julien's empire while he forgave Pierre due to the war he would not receive Agnes as part of their family. For Julien, it was a business decision b/c Simone would sink her capital into rebuilding the factory while she gets her husband away from the Parisien temptaitions. Julien wanted to create his own empire so that he could have the power to control again while he saw that Rolan Burgeres was useless he would see to it that he would follow Julien's orders at work while Simone would him into shap at home.The 20's represented war fatigue with the only thing that people had in their minds was to have a good time and enjoy their lives. B/c it made them feel uncomfortable the disabled were treated with not being noticed. As far as work, Pierre who was disabled felt he was useless to the old place where he worked.In 1920, Agnes and Pierre had a baby girl and lived in his mother's rebuilt home. While in the woods, she found the ring that Pierre gave her while she was still single and she pondered how one event changed her life forever and she married Pierre instead of the doctor. She wondered how it is that when they got married they ceased to be individuals a merged into one entity. But returning to Saint-Elme, they lost their privacy.Julien Hardelot was slowing down while he still had outburst of anger no one particularly was scared of it any longer instead a sad pity took its place. Julien invited Agnes into his home while Guy realized that the disagreement between Julien and Agnes was just part of small town life and jealousies. In the house, Agnes and Simone sized each other up for their defects and realized that the country aged people more than the cities. Poor Simone, her husband went to Paris to see his mistress while both Simone and Agnes knew what he was up to.Julien treated his workers as part of his extended family but in return he demanded complete loyalty in that the bright children would be given a complete education in exchange for serving in his factories without going anywhere else. He even treated Pierre like all his other workers. Although Pierre felt bored around his family, he felt it was his obligation to go to these gatherings as a sign that the universe was stabilizing towards its past wealth and glory.When Julien finally died, Pierre along with Ronald became partners in the factory that his grandfather built. It seems all parents think their children's generation is spoiled, unstable, and immoral. Although Pierre admits that Guy is smarter and more diligent student than he was at a similar age and says that Guy was too good for his own good. Guy was in love with someone but his parents does not know who it is. Pierre and Agnes are now experiencing the difficulty of parenting an adolescent. Guy states that he could feel along with other boys in his generation an uncertainty of another war or revolution brewing and thus he wanted to enjoy the time left to him when he would be drafted into war.Pierre was producing things that no one was buying and only Simone's fortune was the only thing keeping the factory afloat. Simone wanted to control Pierre with her share of the money and possibly buy him out of the business. He held on for Guy's future b/c he believed that they were living in a world where intelligence, knowledge, and education did not count for anything. Pierre thinks the period of uncertainty is hell compared to knowing that one is in hell so one can make plans to get out of it. Guy counseled Pierre not to worry himself on the factories fate as it was the economy that was in a funk and there is nothing he could do to prevent the factories from collapsing if it was destined to collapse. Later that night, Roland died in a car accident while with his mistress. Apparently, Roland and Guy were sharing a lover.It turns out Guy's girlfriend had an affair with Roland and so after attending his funeral, he tried to commit suicide by shooting herself twice in the chest. During their son's convalescence, Pierre and Agnes remembered the jealousies of the past in trying to understand their son trying to take his own life. While Pierre said he was jealous by Agnes' engagement to the doctor and later of what might his wife do when he was on the war front like other wives soldiers do to their husband, Agnes admitted her continuous jealousy of Simone presence in their life and the many women that attracts Pierre's eyes.Whereas Simone would always make an excuse that her husband did not want her to make certain purchases, Rose haughty and intelligent clashed with her mother considering things of propriety. Simone and the teenage Rose constantly battled with each other. For Pierre, Simone only brought misery to him including the rejection of Agnes by her family, her husband's death cause the attempted suicide of his son, and now she is stripping him of his fortune. Even though Simone is asking his departure from his inheritance, she does it in a submissive way as she was raised to be submissive to men. Although initially resistant to the idea of selling the factory to Simone, Pierre eventually thought it was a good idea since it would mean the end of a headache and era where the factory took precedence over his family, wife, and children; while Simone would have to think of marrying Rose off to the right man in order to replenish the "capital".While Agnes and Pierre lived in relative contentment with their lives, Guy was depressed engineer and man who dawdled at home and Colette who is studying law. Even though Guy thought that Rose was beautiful, she belonged to the enemy so was an untouchable as far as he was concerned. The Hardelot children were invited to the Burgeres for dinner. In the village, thriftiness was as valued as wealth. During dinner, Guy fell for Rose b/c of her je ne sais qua quality to her. Although Colette swears that nothing in the world could make her come back to Saint-Elme, Guy was circumspect meaning he would come back if Rose was there waiting for him.In 1938, death was stalking everyone with the murmurs of war just around the corner while everyone went about their lives as though nothing unusual was happening. During her visit to Paris, Rose visited Guy everyday and fell in love with him accepting his proposal immediately. Both the Hardelots and the Burgeres were ambivalent with their feelings towards the union. The Hardelot's were weary to Guy's real motivation in marrying Rose was it out of love or money. While Simone, did not want the town's gossip destroy her. Meanwhile Mme Florent is re-writing history making it seem as if she was cupid's emissary in advocating her daughter marrying Pierre. She was willing to do the same for Rose and her betrothed Guy. After sending Rose to Paris because of the upcoming draft of the war, Mme Florent told everyone in Saint-Elme what Rose did so that there would be no change in position from Simone.Rose went Paris to be with Guy and all the Hardelot's misgivings of the engagement disappeared after seeing the lovers happy. Simone and Pierre blamed each other of the others downfall. Simone blamed Pierre for the love she never received while Pierre blamed Simone for the loss of his inheritance but given the choice between money and love, Pierre and his son Guy, correctly chose love. True of Simone's threat, Rose did not receive a dowry for her marriage with Guy. Rose wanted Guy all to herself and was mad that she had to share him and the living space with his family b/c of the inadequate wage that Guy received from his job did not cover his living expenses in Paris.Again for families like Guy and Rose who were drafted for the war effort, they did not want war to occur because it would disrupt their lives and that of their families. It is a shame that Europe had to go through 2 World Wars and their men drafted for both wars. For younger women it was harder to give the old stiff upper lip because they were led to believe that they were the masters of their own fate. Rose initially felt like she was the only one who lost a loved one to war until she walked out and saw the many women with vaguely absent expressions whose souls are with their men on the frontlines. Agnes realizes the reason her husband is in pain is because he knows exactly what his son is going through having gone through it years before. According to Pierre, perhaps it is better to fight in a war without preconceived notions such as the pointlessness of the conflict because it saps the person of a sense of purpose and their survival instinct.
review 2: Gli eventi narrati ne “I doni della vita” coprono il periodo da prima della 1° guerra mondiale fino all’invasione dei tedeschi in Francia negli anni ’40.L’autrice è riuscita a raccontare alcuni grandi eventi della storia tramite gli occhi – e la vita quotidiana – di alcuni abitanti di un villaggio francese.E protagonista di questo romanzo è la vita quotidiana: fatta di sentimenti ricambiati, di gelosie, di litigi, di svaghi e di doveri. Il lettore osserverà i doni che la vita farà a Agnes e Pierre, capaci di opporsi alle regole della buona società per coronare il loro amore, una vita ricca di ostacoli e non priva di sofferenze.La vita dei due si incrocerà con quella di altri: i genitori per primi, i figli ma anche presenze più ostili; vite che si influenzeranno a vicenda, sempre tentando di mantenere apparenze di cordialità verso l’esterno.Fa impressione pensare che l’autrice l’abbia scritto mentre la Germania invadeva la Francia e poco tempo prima di essere deportata e morire, una realtà che fa riflettere ancora di più leggendo con che lucidità sono presentate riflessioni sulla guerra, sulla vita e sull’incombenza della morte.---The events in “All Our Worldly Goods” cover the period from before the WWI until the German invasion in France during the ’40.The author was able to tell some important events through the eyes – and the everyday life – of some inhabitants of a French village.The protagonist of the novel is the everyday life made of reciprocate feelings, of hates, of quarrels, of leisure and duties. The reader will observe the goods life will give to Agnes and Pierre, able to oppose to traditions and rules in order to marry, a life rich in problems and sufferance.Their life will meet others: their parents, their children and other more hostile; lives crossing and influencing the others, always keeping some appearances to the external world.The author wrote this novel in the meanwhile of the German invasion and some time before being deported and dying in Auschwitz. Knowing this in advance, it made me reflect on the lucidity the reflections of war, life and the upcoming of death are presented. less

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