02552cam a22003373u 4500 78415 UtSlPG 20260610134822.0 m cr n 260607r20261857utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG fr iso639-1 PQ Bernard, Charles de, 1804-1850 Les ailes d'Icare Nouvelle édition. Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2026 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2026-04-10 Ramón Pajares Box. (This file was produced from images generously made available by Gallica, Bibliothèque Nationale de France.) "Les ailes d'Icare" by Charles de Bernard is a novel written in the mid-19th century. It follows Victor Deslandes, a young provincial magistrate stifled by small-town boredom, whose ambition and envy are stoked by a flamboyant friend basking in Parisian glamour; the story explores the lure of Paris, the vanity of social climbing, and the gap between appearances and reality. The opening of the novel paints the dreary provincial town of D*** and Victor’s acute ennui on Mardi Gras, then jolts him with a boastful letter from his Paris friend Gustave Blondeau—now styling himself “de Gustan”—who trumpets high-society pleasures while asking for money for a grand speculation. A wry courtroom vignette underscores the pettiness of local justice and Victor’s friction with his president, sharpening his resolve to leave. He secures a generous loan and a powerful introduction from the worldly M. de Loiselay and heads to Paris. There, the glittering front rooms of Gustan’s apartment mask a squalid back chamber, and the host’s “medical diet” proves to be simple want. When Victor reveals a thick wad of banknotes and a key recommendation, Gustan recovers his charm, the housekeeper scrambles to produce a lavish meal, and a brusque creditor bursts in with an unpaid silverware bill—laying bare, from the start, the tension between show and solvency. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, Libraires-Éditeurs, 1857 French fiction -- 19th century https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k70544843?rk=21459 2 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78415 119135 119135