Jean Giono

Jean Giono (March 30, 1895 – October 8, 1970) was a French author renowned for his works of fiction set in the Provence region of France.

He was born and lived for many years in Manosque, "Haute Provence". After finishing his studies at the local high school, he worked as a bank employee until World War I, during which he served as a soldier. In 1919, he returned to the bank and a year later, married a childhood friend with whom he had two children. He left the bank in 1930 to dedicate himself to writing on a full-time basis, after the success of his first novel, "Colline".

In 1953, he was the recipient of the Prince Rainier of Monaco literary prize, awarded for his lifetime achievements. He later became a member of the Académie Goncourt in 1954 and joined the "Conseil Littéraire" of Monaco in 1963.

Among his most famous writings are the three novels of his "Pan Trilogy", which allude to the Greek God Pan and pantheism: "Colline", "Un de Baumugnes", and "Regain". He is also well known for the book "Voyage in Italy" and the short story "The Man Who Planted Trees" (1953).

"The Man Who Planted Trees" has a particular resonance in 2008 with its strong ecological, human scale sustainability message. There are also pre-echos of the Whole Earth Gaia theory.

Works

Novels, novellas, chronicles

* "Colline" – Grasset – 1929
* "Un de Baumugnes" – Grasset – 1929
* "Regain" – Grasset – 1930
* "Naissance de l'Odyssée" – Editions Kra - 1930
* "Le Grand Troupeau" – Gallimard - 1931
* "Jean le Bleu" – Grasset – 1932
* "Solitude de la pitié" – Gallimard 1932
* "Le Chant du monde" – Gallimard – 1934
* "Que ma joie demeure" – Grasset - 1936
* "Batailles dans la montagne" – Gallimard - 1937
* "Pour saluer Melville" – Gallimard - 1941
* "L'eau vive" – Gallimard – 1943 (Rondeur des Jours et l'Oiseau bagué -1973)
* "Un roi sans divertissement" – Gallimard – 1947
* "Noé" – Editions la Table ronde – 1947
* "Fragments d'un paradis" – Déchalotte – 1948
* "Mort d'un personnage" – Grasset – 1949
* "Les Âmes fortes" – Gallimard – 1949
* "Les Grands Chemins" – Gallimard – 1951
* "Le Hussard sur le toit" ("The Horseman on the Roof ") – Gallimard – 1951
* "Le Moulin de Pologne" – 1952
* "L'homme qui plantait des arbres" ("The Man Who Planted Trees") – Reader's Digest – 1953
* "Le Bonheur fou" – Gallimard – 1957
* "Angelo" – Gallimard – 1958
* "Hortense ou l'Eau vive" (avec Jean Allioux) Editions France-Empire – 1958
* "Deux cavaliers de l'orage" – Gallimard - 1965
* "Le Déserteur" – René Creux Editeur – 1966 (le Déserteur et autres récits – Gallimard – 1973)
* "Ennemonde et Autres Caractères" – Gallimard – 1968
* "L'Iris de Suse" – Gallimard - 1970
* "Les Récits de la demi-brigade" – Gallimard - 1972
* "Faust au village" – Gallimard – 1977
* "Le Bestiaire" – Ramsay - 1991

Unfinished novels

* "Angélique" – Gallimard - 1980
* "Cœur, Passions, Caractères" – Gallimard - 1982
* "Dragoon suivi d'Olympe" – Gallimard - 1982

Essays and journalism

* "Présentation de Pan" – Grasset - 1930
* "Manosque-des-plateaux" – Emile-Paul Frères - 1931
* "Le Serpent d'Etoile" – Grasset - 1933
* "Les Vraies Richesses" – Grasset - 1936
* "Refus d'obéissance" – Gallimard 1937
* "Le Poids du ciel" – Gallimard - 1938
* "Lettre aux paysans sur la pauvreté et la paix" – Grasset - 1938
* "Précisions" – Grasset - 1939
* "Recherche de la pureté" – Gallimard - 1939
* "Triomphe de la vie" – Ides et Calendes – 1941
* "Voyage en Italie" – Gallimard - 1953
* "Notes sur l'affaire Dominici" – Gallimard – 1955
* "Le Désastre de Pavie" –Gallimard - 1963
* "Les Terrasses de l'Ile d"'Elbe – Gallimard – 1976
* "Les Trois Arbres de Palzem" – Gallimard - 1984
* "De Homère à Machiavel" – Gallimard – 1986
* "Images d'un jour de pluie et autres récits de jeunesse" – Editions Philippe Auzou – 1987
* "La Chasse au Bonheur" – Gallimard - 1988
* "Provence" – Gallimard – 1993
* "Les Héraclides" – Quatuor - 1995
* "De Montluc à la "Série Noire" – Gallimard - 1998

Poetry

* "Accompagne de la flute" – les Cahiers de l'Artisan – 1923
* "La Chute des Anges, Fragment d'un Déluge, Le Cœur-Cerf" – Rico – 1969

Theater

* "Le bout de la Route – Lanceur de Graines – La Femme du boulanger" – Gallimard - 1943
* "Le Voyage en calèche" – Editions du Rocher – 1947. Cette pièce à été interdite par l'occupant pendant la seconde guerre mondiale.
* "Domitien, suivi de Joseph à Dothan" – Gallimard – 1959
* "Le Cheval fou" – Gallimard - 1974

Letters

* "Avec Jean Paulhan" – Gallimard - 2000
* "Avec André Gide" – Université de Lyon - 1983
* "Avec Jean Guéhenno" – Seghers - 1975
* "Avec Lucien Jacques" – Gallimard – 1981 et 1983 (2 volumes)

Interviews

* "Avec Jean Carrière" – La Manufacture - 1985
* "Avec Jean et Taos Amrouche" – Gallimard – 1990

Translations

* "Moby Dick" (traduction du roman d'Herman Melville ; avec Lucien Jacques et Joan Smith) – Les Cahiers du Contadour - 1939
* "L'expédition d'Humphry C"linker (traduction du roman de Tobias G. Smollet ; avec Catherine d'Ivernois) – Gallimard - 1955

Scenario

* "Crésus" – Rico – 1961

References

* "Jean Giono: From Pacifism to Collaboration". "TELOS" 139 (Summer 2007). New York: [http://www.telospress.com Telos Press]

External links

* [http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Biographies/MainBiographies/G/giono/2.html Jean Giono biography]
* Goslan, Richard J. [http://journal.telospress.com/" Jean Giono: From Pacifism to Collaboration "] . "TELOS" 139 (Summer 2007). New York: [http://www.telospress.com Telos Press]