
Un soir de soleil couchant, d'air lointain, de cieux profonds; et des foules qui confuses vont; des bruits, des ombres, des multitudes; des espaces infiniment en l'oubli d'heures étendus; un vague soir...
III
LES LAURIERS SONT COUPÉS
IV
V
LES LAURIERS SONT COUPÉS
VI
VII
LES LAURIERS SONT COUPÉS
VIII
In a luminous Parisian evening when the sun lingers over the rooftops, a young narrator drifts through crowded streets, cafés, and the restless hum of the city. The prose weaves a lyrical meditation on time, identity, and desire, inviting listeners to breathe the atmosphere of late‑April 19th‑century Paris. Amid the clatter of footsteps and the soft glow of lamplight, an impending meeting with a distant friend, Lucien, becomes the hinge for a day of whispered confidences.
As the narrator steps into a study filled with towering bookshelves and the scent of ink, a conversation unfolds that blends melancholy humor with a restless yearning for love and artistic purpose. The narrative balances introspection with crisp dialogue, offering a snapshot of social rituals, fleeting romantic promises, and the subtle tension between public performance and private longing. Listeners are drawn into a world where every glance, a tilted hat, and a shared carriage ride hint at deeper currents awaiting resolution.
Language
fr
Duration
~2 hours (146K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Laurent Vogel, Pierre Lacaze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr)
Release date
2008-09-17
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1861–1949
Best known for the daring novel Les Lauriers sont coupés, this French Symbolist writer helped open the door to the interior monologue that later shaped modern fiction. He also moved easily between novels, poetry, criticism, and little magazines at the heart of Paris literary life.
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