Reviews

Isabelle by André Gide

msand3's review against another edition

5.0

A near-perfect novella on the heartache of discovering that one’s idealized love -- witnessed from afar as a projection of our own unrealized ideal self -- is in reality a gilded delusion, concealing a harsh reality that is nothing like our concocted fantasy-image. We have all had moments when we place another on a pedestal, not only idolizing them, but also fulfilling our own deep need to worship another person as an object of desire, as we ourselves wish to be adored. Gide shows us that the most crushing blow is not a failure to encounter our object of desire, but actually TO OBTAIN IT, thus ensuring that the reality of our experience will never live up to the expectations of our fantasies. I can't think of a better literary example of Lacan's theory of the objet petit a. As usual, Gide’s prose is gorgeous, fluid, and seemingly effortless. A must-read from one of my favorite writers.