My Father's Glory & My Mother's Castle: Marcel Pagnol's Memories of Childhood

By Marcel Pagnol

Book Overview

Bathed in the warm clarity of the summer sun in Provence, Marcel Pagnol's childhood memories celebrate a time of rare beauty and delight.Called by Jean Renoir "the leading film artist of his age," Pagnol is best known for such films as The Baker's Wife, Harvest, Fanny, and Topaze, as well as the screen adaptations of his novels Jean de Florette and Manon of the Springs (North Point, 1988). But he never forgot the magic of his Provencal childhood, and when he set his memories to paper late in life the result was a great new success. My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle appeared on the scene like a fresh breeze, captivating readers with its sweet enchantments. Pagnol recalls his days hunting and fishing in the hill country, his jaunts about Marseilles, his schoolboy diversions, and above all his family: his anticlerical father and sanctimonious uncle, his mild and beautiful mother, and many others. This bright and lively book sparkles with the charm and magic that were Marcel Pagnol's own.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865472572
• ISBN13: 9780865472570
• Release Date: August 1986
• Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux-3pl
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Masterpiece

This is quite simply one of the most enjoyable, moving and humane books I have ever read.

A fond remembrance of childhood in Provence

A wonderful autobiography by Marcel Pagnol telling of his early childhood with his family in the hills of Provence. Of school, his schoolteacher father, his delicate mother and his rambunctious brother. Of eventful journeys by rail, by foot and by cart from home to their vacation house. Of a joyful time spent exploring a countryside fragrant with wild herbs, full of insects to dissect, birds to hunt and caves to discover. Written in a prose that evokes the simplicity and seriousness of an inquisitive ten year old. And with a bittersweet ending that makes us immediately want to go back to previous pages where we were with him, his family, friends and the hills, tucked safely in summertime warmth and innocence.

Everybody must read it!

even if this book is written by a french author, and is situated in Provence, it is such a highlight of good litterature, as it must be, that is a pleasure to read, a depth in the feelings it shows, and a perfect happines when you have read it. It is about childhood in Provence in the years 1900, about love, friendship, children hollidays in the sunny hills. It is about life!

A real charmer

(The two books read as one, the second simply taking up--with no exposition--where the first leaves off.) These simple, sunny, nostalgic memoirs of a small boy's happy youth and adventures in the bosom of his loving and often very funny family in Marseilles and the hills of Provence in the early years of this century will captivate anyone who isn't a real Scrooge. They are filled with human understanding, warmth, and humor. Charming and absolutely delightful. Not to be missed.