Fuyi Classics Series - Carmen, Gounod

Author: Mérimée
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-10-01
Features: The translator has passed away, leaving behind a white monument and a heart full of great love. Pure like a child, devout like a believer, it lacks impurities more than ivory. If our land cannot accommodate such true gold, then our land must be covered with too much dust. Not knowing how to cherish a crystal heart is a true misfortune. Pouring all love into the pure white cause, like the sea pouring all its love into the white sails. The two novellas in this book are based on the author's firsthand travel materials. They are not only Mérimée's most famous works but also have long become world literary classics, especially Carmen. – This heroine is a typical Bohemian woman who is fierce, charming, cunning, cruel, uncompromising, and fearless of death. The male protagonist is a simple-minded, weak-willed, yet fierce and Spanish mountain man. One, once love is extinguished, cannot be redeemed even if their life is threatened; the other has sacrificed their entire life for love, losing love means losing life, so they must kill their beloved and meet the same fate. Such a tragic and brutal story is told in a simple, concise, objective, and detached tone, without a single remark or trace of personal emotion. The precision of the style is so refined that critics believe not a single word can be added or removed. The subtlety and conciseness of the content make this 40,000-word novella leave an impression on readers no less than a full-length novel. Goronda narrates the "blood feud" custom of the Gormendi people, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," with a love story woven in. The light, lively, and witty writing style contrasts with the original mood and bloody nature of the story.