Le Grand Meaulnes

Le Grand Meaulnes
Author(s)	Alain-Fournier
Country	France
Language	French
Publication date	1913

Le Grand Meaulnes is the only novel by French author Alain-Fournier. Fifteen-year-old François Seurel narrates the story of his relationship with seventeen-year-old Augustin Meaulnes as Meaulnes searches for his lost love. Impulsive, reckless and heroic, Meaulnes embodies the romantic ideal, the search for the unobtainable, and the mysterious world between childhood and adulthood. It is considered one of the great works of French literature.^{[citation needed]}

Plot summary

François, the narrator of the book, is the son of M. Seurel, who is the director of the school in a small village in the Sologne, a region of lakes and sandy forests. After arriving in class, Augustin Meaulnes, who comes from a poor background, soon disappears. He returns from an escapade he had which was an incredible and magical costume party where he met the girl of his dreams, Yvonne de Galais.

Translations

Various English translations are available. While there have been different translations of the title, such as The Lost Domain and The Wanderer, modern translations usually do not translate the title.

Adaptations

Le Grand Meaulnes was featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme Book at Bedtime, recorded in 1980 and repeated in 1999. A two-part serialisation by Jennifer Howarth was broadcast as the Classic Serial in August 2005.

The book was made into a film of the same name by Jean-Gabriel Albicocco in 1967 (shown in the United States under the title The Wanderer). Another film adaptation (Le Grand Meaulnes) was released in November 2006, starring Jean-Baptiste Maunier.

Le Grand Meaulnes is the 4th symphony composed by Michel Bosc.

Richard Anthony made the novel into a pop song (French lyrics).

See also

Novels portal

• Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century

External links

• Le Grand Meaulnes at Project Gutenberg
• Hill, Tobias (August 16, 2003). "When we were young". London: The Guardian. http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1019566,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
• Le Grand Meaulnes (1967 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Le Grand Meaulnes (2006 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• (French) Le Grand Meaulnes, audio version - Latest French audio version