50 shades of black La symphonie pastorale de Gide

La symphonie pastorale by André Gide must be the complete opposite of 50 shades of Grey currently being devoured by millions of women throughout the world. A staple on the CCEA A level specification the short novel deals with the tragic circumstances surrounding a blind girl taken in by a Swiss pastor. Written in diary format, initially a couple of years after the events and in the second half as events happen, we witness the mental blindness of the narrator as he fails to empathise with the situation of his long suffering wife or to even realise that he is falling in love with Gertrude as she starts to respond to his training.

He focuses almost completely on the blind girl at the expense of his own children and his wife and tries to justify his emerging love by going back to the scriptures-those of Jesus rather than the more sin-focussed St Paul. When he discovers that his son is in love with Gertrude he pulls rank on him and makes sure that he is out of the way while he moves the girl to the home of a rich church supporter. This helps the pastor continue his relationship in peace without having to suffer the disapproval of his wife.

When a novel is as much about what is not said as much as what is explicitly written down, there is sometimes a tendancy to try to read in even more than is intended by the author so that the whole plot can end up as more of a conspiracy theory. However it is refreshing to ready a book which concentrates on mental rather than physical flagellation; Gide's life and work was characterised by his working out his personal issues which were many and this short work is well worth reading. The level of language is very approachable even though it is predominantly written in the past historic and contains quite a lot of imperfect subjunctives.

I think discussion amongst young people on the morality of the pastor and his self-justification could be very productive. A good book for university entrance interview discussion, I would think. A welcome addition to our titles on www.alevelfrench.com A shame that the film is so old; although a faithful representation of the story in a modern realistic style staying close to the detail would be painful. I think more Gide beckons!