The Nun (Oxford World's Classics)

Goulbourne's (OUP) translation is closer to the original than is Tancock's (Penguin), not least in the all-important postscript (which offers the attentive reader some hints of what may really be at stake in this novel). Both provide a helpful introduction; Goulbourn's is more on point w r t the lesbian themes. The OUP version also includes the appended 'Preface', without which Diderot's masterwork is incomplete; Penguin does not, which is quite unexcusable. W r t the harrowing personal experience that I believe lies at the heart of the novel (I shan't give it away), the novel is 200 years ahead of its time not only in form but in content--not that the experience itself is specifically modern--it is timeless--but the expressing it in a published text is, be it veiled by a nun's veil.

Insightful book

This is a sad story and is actually difficult to figure out at the end. Quite frankly it is rather appalling and if this is based in fact, then it is beyond horrible. Not an uplifting story and a terrifying commentary on how a closed system can become monstrous for those who do not follow.

I got through the book, but it took some time. Just didn't grab my interest like I thought it would.

Thanks

I loved ths book so much I could not put it down, it was amazing story of the strength of a wonderful nun and the trials she went through with the church

As the offspring of her mother's affair, Suzanne is ever aware that she is treated less favorably than her legitimate siblings. As soon as possible, her parents arrange for her to take the veil, (this being a cheap way to dispose of her), while her sisters receive dowries and can marry. This novel follows Suzanne through her years as a nun- her attempts to refuse to take her vows; the pressure on her to conform and then the different personalities she encounters within the convent walls. From the deeply loving to the incredibly cruel; the melancholy, the jealousy, the madness and the lesbianism. As Suzanne notes, she is unlike most nuns who are driven from the religious life by some unruly passion. 'I want to be free because my freedom was sacrificed against my will'. Short (180 p) but gripping read.

People ask, was The Nun the greatest novel of the eighteenth century? I don't have the encyclopedic knowledge to answer, nor, frankly, the instinct. But at the very least I can say I find it overwhelming: it probes more deeply than I had expected, and with uncanny psychological insight. Its dark tenacity is all its own, and could not be captured in the two film versions, of which the earlier (Rivette) is the better. Mandatory reading - in this edition too!

Interesting book

no comment

Well set out and excellent introduction. Recommended student edition.

Glad I read it, but hard work! Not one I would read again....not everyone`s taste. Still, it was interesting learning about the Church.