Les Caves Du Vatican
1914
A murder without motive. That's what makes Lafcadio Wluiki free. Nineteen years old, newly wealthy, and utterly bored with the world's moral certainties, he throws himself into a life of expense and experiment, traveling through the capitals of Europe in expensive clothes. When he crosses paths with a Vatican conspiracy involving an imprisoned Pope, a failed atheist scientist turned believer, and an elaborate scheme of Church extortion, the结果 is a brilliantly sly detective farce where the wrong man goes to prison and the charmingly monstrous Lafcadio escapes through the cracks. But the novel's true engine is philosophical: Gide uses his protagonist's 'unmotivated crime' to pose the question that haunts modern thought - can we ever truly act freely, or are we always trapped by circumstance, conscience, or the need to prove something to ourselves? Sharp, comic, and genuinely unsettling.
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“He let Julius go. There was beginning to rise in him a feeling of profound disgust--a kind of hatred almost, of himself, of Julius, of everything.””
— André Gide
“This is my thesis: Do you know what is needful to turn an honest man into a rogue! A change of scene--a moment's forgetfulness suffice.””
— André Gide
“...you must blackmail Julius. Come, come, don't make a fuss! Blackmail is a wholesome institution, necessary for the maintenance of morals.””
— André Gide
“The manners and customs of bugs are peculiar; they wait till the candle is out, and then, as soon as it is dark, sally forth”
— André Gide
“Dezgustată de pozitivismul vieţii,sufletul său închis şi umilit începea să iubească poezia.Lua drept poetic tot ceea ce o ajuta să evadeze din viaţă.””
— André Gide
