Poil de Carotte - by Jules Renard (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

The classic French novel celebrated for its deeply felt depiction of childhood. Neglected by his parents, bullied by his peers, left to wander the streets and woods by himself (that is, when he isn't locked in his room or the cellar for punishment), the little redheaded boy known as "Poil de Carotte" ["Carrot Top"] manages to triumph through imagination, cunning, and sheer persistence. An inspiration to writers as diverse as Barthelme, Beckett, and Sartre, Jules Renard's timeless novel-in-stories is at once the lyrical account of a hard-knock provincial childhood and a frighteningly acute psychological study of how cruelty can affect a young mind-a book that is by turns chilling, humorous, and quietly beautiful.

Review Quotes

Praise for Jules Renard and Poil de Carotte

"Renard is at the origin of contemporary literature."--Jean-Paul Sartre

"Poil de Carotte's continuing power comes from its rejection of fiction's sentimental myths about childhood: Renard wrote elsewhere that a child is a 'small, necessary animal, less human than a cat.'"--Julian Barnes

"A small masterpiece."--Gore Vidal

"A novel as cold and brilliant as ice."-Gilbert Sorrentino

"Renard is a necessary, irreplaceable nourishment . . . [His] prose is faultless, perfectly embodying Baudelaire's ideal of la litterature severe et soignee. I have never found a sentence of his which I could budge. Every word, every rhythm is absolutely, joyously right."--The New York Times