New-York tribune., 1922-06-18
Paris News Letter
By Lewis Galantierc


,,oyiviral fabricntor ~ pnstiches, Mr.
Pierre Bcno.t. by which he was n
formeA that IN. Benoit mad secufcn
.onv of tho authentic Goncour' manu-
erin. mot that which was then heing
bowlderired by Mr. C6ard. of tho Con
court Academy. and has since heen pun
rublishedl The Reno't hnd appehrrh
d,iiy in "Bonsoir" under tho tiilc
"rovrral dos Goncours" With scruplcs
ocrasiored doubtless. hy the quality
~ tho anecdotes related. Edmond dc
Goncours has hero modified the spell
,n- 81 certain names. Thus zee have
Aibrard. Bcrgcura. Boun'fond, Hole
moro Bourgc. Clcmcncoi. Daude.
D6roulaide. Frrcmcnt. Lavcdcnd. Mir
bot. Myrry Harlan. Raudenback. etc.
For the res'. the spirit and style re-
main tho same. as docs the vengeful in
sirh, into character. should add that
tho authenticity Of this Journal dos
Goncours has not been acknowledged
with unanimiiy by French critics.
II is possible that tho Marquis dc
Castollane will revenge himself upon
the Hermit Of the Fauhourg Saint-Gcr-
main. He Is 70 publish shortly a vol
ume Of memoirs said 10 be particularly
biting and personal; CO nest pas Ia
dent qui leur manquora. The book
promises 10 throw into sharp relief
certain of the noble marquis former
colleagues in tho Chamber of Deputies
and 70 strip a good many wells from
tho monde" in which he moves
The Marquis de Beauvoir also prom
ises 10 publish his recollcciions. These
are expected 70 be amusing and
amiable rather than scandalous. They
will probably have very small sale.
for. OF course. presentation copies
will be offered 10 every one mentioned
in them.
MIR. JULIEN BENDA is l!ttle known
IVl in America. Some readers on your
side Of the Atlantic are acquainted with
his courageous and for mel unreadable
critique Of Henri Bcrgson. Only few
know him, ! think. as estheie f"Bel-
ph6gor"l and fiction writer l"Ordina-
ton" and Dialogue d'ElcuthereD. he
has just published in the Revue dc
France" the first instalmcnt Of new
novel called les Amorandes.'
les Amorandes' is an intellectual
novel about eonjugal life. presenting
on the one hand. tho conflict Of flesh
and sentiment. and on the other, the
social elemcn, Of marriage and tho role
of love in marriage. Something of a
novelty FOR French readers is the fact
that Mr. Bcnda has availed himself Of
the Frcudian theory Of infant seXuality
in this novel
The French have an ineradioable
habit Of discovering, years after an
idea has been spread abroad, that one
~ them was the originator Of IT,
Thus. n recent critic protests that II
was not in Freud but in CASTOR Dan
ville's "Psychologie dc l'amour,' pub
lished twenty years ago, that Nr
Benda found his inspiration. Dany.lle
announced tha. every adult possesses,
in n secret recess OF his being. the
synthetic image OF n woman VINO Is
nothing else than his greatest capacity
for love More often than not, the
subject Is ignorant of the image which
he has created. and most men die un-
conscious Of their creation. Once
across the threshold o. consciousness,
however. the image produces love
This is the basis OF Mr.. Bendss novel
His hero is the victim OF an interior
struggle between the powerful phan-
tom OF a dearly loved former mistress
and the physical presence Of beauti.
ful, charming and terdcrly cherished
Young wife. He is a timid and sensi-
tive character with q weakness for
radiant. maternal women. older. natu.
rally than himself; the type personiaed
bv Bereniee. Diane % Po.t.ers. the
charming and undoubtedly mad Nine.
de Warens. Ninon dc Lonclos. The
same problem is posed and far more
entcrtainingly treated in n less pre-.
,entious novel. In Colctte's "Cheri.'
and Mr.. BenGa. however we'll he may
write metaphysics and psycho.analy'
sis Occasion. will never write French
so well as the author Of La Naga-
bonde" and ia Re,raite Sentimen-
tale