The Way to Paradise
Encyclopedia
The Way to Paradise is a novel
published by Mario Vargas Llosa
in 2003
.
The novel is a historical double biography of Post-Impressionist painter
Paul Gauguin
and his grandmother Flora Tristan
, one of the founders of feminism
. The book is divided into 11 chapters, each alternating narratives of Flora Tristan
and Paul Gauguin
, the grandson she never knew. Flora Tristan
, illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Peruvian man and a French woman, is repelled by sex, detests her husband, and abandons him to fight for women's and workers' rights. She exchanges her personal life and family for a cause. The story of Paul Gauguin
unfolds along a similar quest for an ideal life. Gauguin abandons his wife and children, and job as a stock-broker in Paris
, to pursue his passion for painting. In the process he distances himself from European civilization, fleeing to Tahiti
and French Polynesia
for inspiration. The contrasts and similarities between two lives attempting to break free from conventional society present a long, elegant development.
translation by Natasha Wimmer
was published by Faber and Faber
, UK in 2004.
The French
translation by Albert Bensoussan is called Le Paradis, un peu plus loin.
It has also been translated into German
by Elke Wehr as Das Paradies ist anderswo. In Spanish, the book's title literally means:"The Paradise in the Other Corner".
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
published by Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
in 2003
2003 in literature
The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...
.
The novel is a historical double biography of Post-Impressionist painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
and his grandmother Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan was a socialist writer and activist. She was also one of the founders of modern feminism...
, one of the founders of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. The book is divided into 11 chapters, each alternating narratives of Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan was a socialist writer and activist. She was also one of the founders of modern feminism...
and Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
, the grandson she never knew. Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan was a socialist writer and activist. She was also one of the founders of modern feminism...
, illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Peruvian man and a French woman, is repelled by sex, detests her husband, and abandons him to fight for women's and workers' rights. She exchanges her personal life and family for a cause. The story of Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
unfolds along a similar quest for an ideal life. Gauguin abandons his wife and children, and job as a stock-broker in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, to pursue his passion for painting. In the process he distances himself from European civilization, fleeing to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
for inspiration. The contrasts and similarities between two lives attempting to break free from conventional society present a long, elegant development.
Translations
The EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation by Natasha Wimmer
Natasha Wimmer
Natasha Wimmer is an American translator best known for her translations of Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño's 2666 and The Savage Detectives from Spanish into English....
was published by Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
, UK in 2004.
The French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
translation by Albert Bensoussan is called Le Paradis, un peu plus loin.
It has also been translated into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
by Elke Wehr as Das Paradies ist anderswo. In Spanish, the book's title literally means:"The Paradise in the Other Corner".
See also
- William Somerset Maugham's 1919 novel The Moon and SixpenceThe Moon and SixpenceThe Moon and Sixpence is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, told in episodic form by the first-person narrator as a series of glimpses into the mind and soul of the central character, Charles Strickland, a middle-aged English stockbroker who abandons his wife and children abruptly to pursue his desire...
is also based on the life of Paul GauguinPaul GauguinEugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
.