Immoralist

«The Immoralist» (1902) is a famous controversial novel by Andre Gide (1869–1951) about freedom, morality and paradoxical human nature. Recovery from a serious illness becomes a kind of rebirth for the antiquities researcher Michel, which reveals new, until now hidden facets of his self. Michel's spiritual metamorphosis is expressed in the realization that all moral precepts are fictional. So he chooses for himself new principles that promise true freedom and consist in the rehabilitation of physicality, concentration on the present and detachment from the environment. This moral doctrine, related to the ideas of Nietzscheanism, also implies the need to sacrifice the weak for the sake of one's own goal. The main character has to choose between his wife, who for many would be a lifelong dream, and his own natural urges. Dramatic events, depicted in expressive, clear language, take place against the background of the fascinating landscapes of Italy and North Africa.

Written in 1902, «The Immoralist» sounds today as a forerunner of French literary existentialism, and an echo of his poetics and philosophy can be seen in such diverse works as "The Outsider" by Albert Camus or "Things" by Georges Perec.

Number of pages: 176.
Cover: hard.
Year of publication: 2022.