03185cam a22003373u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003701000130007804000110009104100170010205000070011910000330012624500260015926400510018530000470023633600260028333700260030933800360033550000310037150801800040252020000058253400450258265300470262765300440267485600670271885600430278599900190282877899UtSlPG20260610134815.0mcr n260607r20261929utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  a30008920  aUtSlPG 7afr2iso639-1 4aPQ1 aBoylesve, René,d1867-192610aOpinions sur le roman 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2026  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  aRelease date is 2026-02-09  aLaurent Vogel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Polona digital library)  a"Opinions sur le roman" by René Boylesve is a collection of literary essays and criticism written in the early 20th century. It gathers the author’s reflections on what the novel should be—its aesthetics, truthfulness, and relation to society—alongside broader views on criticism, theater, and the cult of nature. Expect a defense of the French realist tradition (Balzac–Flaubert), skepticism toward moralizing or programmatic fiction, and a consistent call for clarity, discipline, and beauty in prose.

The opening of this collection presents an editorial preface explaining that scattered papers—articles, survey replies, notes, and letters spanning about a quarter-century—were assembled posthumously and arranged roughly chronologically, with some omissions. It begins with Boylesve’s preference for art over nature, then argues for “decentralization” in art (true works arising from rooted provincial milieus rather than chaotic Paris). He diagnoses modern literary “confusion” (blurring art with politics, science, and morality), urges discipline and schools, distinguishes serious novels from feuilleton sensationalism, and champions the novel of mores grounded in psychological and social truth that charms through exactness and style. He rejects making moral instruction the aim of fiction, critiques the state of criticism (calling for informed, situating reviews), questions the vague cult of nature fed by music, and rates reading above theater for deep intellectual nourishment. He restates his allegiance to the Balzac–Flaubert line, explains he writes to fix characteristic states of manners without courting popularity or overt pathos, debates books “for young girls” (truth over edifying falsification), and sketches a poetics of comedy where “nothing happens” yet character and milieu reveal themselves. The section closes as he invokes Molière’s centrality despite contemporary indifference. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cParis: Plon, 1929  aFrench literature -- History and criticism  aFrench fiction -- History and criticism4 uhttps://polona.pl/preview/e77dad21-c99b-4379-86a2-a4507495b19440uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77899  c118619d118619