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Valéry. Tenter de vivre

Valéry. Tenter de vivre Valéry. Tenter de vivre is an essay written by Benoît Peeters about Paul Valéry.

Paul Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, music, and current events 1).

“Valéry is much more than the posterity has made ​​of him. This is one of the most fascinating writers ever existed.” says Benoît Peeters. “He is a man who had a dazzling debut when he was very young; friend of Pierre Louÿs and André Gide, favorite disciple of Mallarmé, he published his first poems in the best journals, and then he wrote two dazzling texts: L’Introduction à la méthode de Léonard de Vinci and the La soirée avec Monsieur Teste.. 25 years ago, he turned his back on literature and during the next twenty years he didn't publish anything, although he kept working in the early mornings in his mysterious notebooks. To the young André Breton, he is a new Rimbaud.”

“At the age of 45, Valéry returns to the literature, and he publish La Jeune Parque, and countless charming essays. Very soon the glory seizes his name, a great glory we can hardly represent today. His revival is not only in literary, it is also in vitality. Love, long repressed, takes a seat on the later. In 1920 Valéry meets Catherine Pozzi. He has a tormented link with her for eight years. His relations with Renée Vautier and Jeanne Loviton (called Jean Voilier) are equally important. The traces they have left reveal a fragile, burning, sensitive and endearing Paul Valéry.”

Benoît Peeters: “This book is not a biography as I have written about Derrida and Hergé. This is a synthetic picture, a story where the work and life ceasing to interlace. Far from speaking only to specialists, I want to propose new gateways into the world of Paul Valéry and new reasons to venture. I also examines the posthumous fate of his work and how reinvent the eve of its entry into the public domain. ”

Paul Valéry

Some images of Paul Valéry.

Release date

Benoît Peeters with the first copy

The book (400 pages, 135 x 220 mm) is published by Editions Flammarion and is released at April 2, 2014

Read a preview of the book

The first part of the book can be read in the following preview: valery.pdf

Table of content

Valéry1
Pourquoi Valéry9
Je fus l'enfant qu'il ennuyait de « s'amuser »20
Un jeune homme perdu au fond de la province26
Je suis de ceux pour qui le livre est saint32
Sa tête d'adorable Méduse49
Entre ma tête et moi 56Cependant, il faut vivre !…63
Des gens infiniment forts72
Peut- être vais-je me mettre à écrivasser beaucoup80
L'heure de la vie qui compte le plus90
Mon attitude dans l'affaire célèbre97
L'homme que j'aimais le plus au monde111
Je n'ai plus qu'à me marier119
Cet excellent patron128
Plus je pense, plus je pense135
Ce serait mon oeuvre, la seule…146
Je crois, hélas ! que ça y est…152
Mon jeune ami se nomme André Breton160
La Jeune Chose168
On va me croire déchaîné184
J'en ai le coeur saisi comme dans la glace192
Un type dans le genre de Tristan Tzara200
On me prend pour un poète !210
Tu as cassé quelque chose en moi216
Je n'ai plus que ce stylo pour subsister233
Crois- tu que je ne connaisse pas la solitude ?247
L'Académie n'est pas mon fort256
J'envie ces hommes266
Le droit d'être bête jusqu'au soir273
Malheureux avec éclaircies parfois280
Le Bossuet de la Troisième République297
Je crois que j'étais assez fait pour une « Europe »…304
Je deviens fou de penser à toi312
L'âme désolée et l'esprit en ruines321
Je suis vaincu336Voilà ton oeuvre…345
Lire Valéry349
Notes367
Remerciements393

Podcast France Culture

Listen to Benoît Peeters in the podcast of France Culture in the series “Relire Valéry”. This episode was broadcasted at June 2, 2014.

Reviews

Prix Renaudot

Valéry. Tenter de vivre is one of the six essays that are chosen by the jury of Prix Renaudot recommended to be read this summer 2).

Valéry. Tenter de vivre