This is a tale of a Vatican conspiracy, a kidnapped Pope, and an amateur sleuth on the trail. There’s a master criminal and his henchmen, a miracle cure and a cold-blooded murder. The story rambles across Europe, from Paris to Rome and the Vatican itself.
It seems a plot straight from Dan Brown, akin to “The Da Vinci Code” or “Angels & Demons” – but it’s a century-old work, by a winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, and far more than airplane or beach reading.
The book is “Lafcadio’s Adventures,” published in 1914, and on its surface a thriller or a farce. Its author, André Gide, intended it as a satire. And scholars today see it a definitive examination of the concept of free will and a criticism of intellectual laziness.
To celebrate the book’s centenary, The Gide Project Sarasota is bringing a series of events, featuring leading Gide scholars from around the world, to Sarasota from March 1 through 25.
The event is sponsored by New College of Florida, Selby Public Library and the Alliance Française de Sarasota, who also organized last year’s popular and successful “Proust Project Sarasota.”
Jocelyn Van Tuyl, professor of French at New College and a lead organizer of the Gide Project, said Gide was the leading contemporary intellectual in France for some 50 years, even as literary movements changed around him. He founded the renowned journal “La Nouvelle Revue Française,” and won the Nobel Prize in 1947.
During his long career, Van Tuyl said, Gide demonstrated multiple styles and talents, from lyrical, back-to-nature writing to in-depth psychological analyses, from experimental fiction to political and social commentary. He also was a devoted student of music, practicing piano for hours each day.
“He could write gorgeous, symbolist prose poetry, and he could write devastating essays about France’s practices in its African colonies,” Van Tuyl said. “He was a strong voice for saying what was going on in the colonies, the treatment of indigenous people, was terrible.”
An interesting aside: Gide even put his vast knowledge of literature to use in occupied France during World War II. He would craft essays on fiction and poetry that could escape censors while carrying encoded messages urging fellow citizens to resist German occupiers and the Nazi-collaborating Vichy government.
The Gide Project Sarasota will explore a range of aspects of “Lafcadio’s Adventures.” Events include:
• A talk by Van Tuyl using the Dan Brown parallel to explore themes in “Lafcadio” (initially published as “Les Caves du Vatican”) and a screening of “Angels and Demons,” a film based on Brown’s book.
• A talk by Pierre Masson, professor emeritus at Université de Nantes and the world’s leading Gide scholar, on Gide and the concept of freedom (in French).
• A discussion and piano recital with Van Tuyl, New College Assoc. Prof of Music Maribeth Clark and pianist Avis Romm, on Gide’s study of music and how it influenced his writing.
• A performance in French and English of scenes from “Les Caves du Vatican,” the first-ever English translation of the play, a thesis project by Jeremy Kleven and directed by Christine Latrouitte Armstrong, Assoc. Prof of French at Denison University, performed by Denison University students.
• A dinner at Sarasota’s “C’est La Vie” restaurant, and discussion of food in “Les Caves du Vatican,” with Armstrong.
All events are free and open to the public, except for the dinner, for which pre-payment is required. For event details, contact the Alliance Française de Sarasota at www.afsarasota.org or 955-0700.
A full listing of events follows.
Schedule of Events for “The Gide Project Sarasota”
Saturday, March 1, 2014 (3:00 p.m., Mildred Sainer Pavilion, New College of Florida)
“Gide et Proust” (in French)
Mireille Naturel, Ph.D., Université de Paris III
Martine Benjamin, Ph.D., Princeton University
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 (7:00 p.m., Mildred Sainer Pavilion, New College of Florida)
“Mad Scientists and Conspiracy Theories: André Gide and Dan Brown”
Jocelyn Van Tuyl, Ph.D., New College of Florida
Saturday, March 8, 2014 (1:30 p.m., Gelbart Auditorium, Selby Public Library
Screening and discussion of the film “Angels & Demons”
Élyane Dezon-Jones, Ph.D., Washington University
Barbara Frey, Alliance Française de Sarasota
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 (7:00 p.m., Mildred Sainer Pavilion, New College of Florida)
“Gide et la liberté” (in French)
Pierre Masson, Ph.D., Université de Nantes
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 (10:30 a.m., Geldbart Auditorium, Selby Public Library)
Cirque d’Book book club discussion of Lafcadio’s Adventures
Charlotte Thompson, Librarian, Selby Public Library
Thursday, March 13, 2014, (10:30 a.m., Geldbart Auditorium, Selby Public Library)
“A Life in Music: Gide, Bach, Stravinsky, Chopin”
Avis Romm, M.S., Steinway Artist
Maribeth Clark, Ph.D., New College of Florida
Jocelyn Van Tuyl, Ph.D., New College of Florida
Friday, March 14, 2014 (2:00 p.m., Alliance Française de Sarasota, 200 S. Washington
Blvd., Suite 2, Sarasota
Book club discussion of Les caves du Vatican (in French)
Émile Langlois, Ph.D., Sweet Briar College
* Limited seating. Contact the Alliance Française de Sarasota at
www.afsarasota.org / 941-955-0700 for preregistration.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014 (7:00 p.m., Mildred Sainer Pavilion, New College of Florida)
Translation and Performance of “Les Caves du Vatican”
Christine Latrouitte Armstrong, Ph.D., and Jeremy Kleven, Denison University
Monday, March 24, 2014 (6:30 p.m., C’est La Vie restaurant, 1553 Main St., Sarasota)
Les nourritures terrestres: A Gide Feast
* Limited seating. Prepayment required. Contact the Alliance Française de Sarasota at www.afsarasota.org / 941-955-0700 for registration and payment.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014 (7:00 p.m., Mildred Sainer Pavilion, New College of Florida)
“Culinary Peregrination in André Gide’s Caves du Vatican”
Christine Latrouitte Armstrong, Ph.D., Denison University