AYMÉ, Marcel (Andre) 1902-1967

PERSONAL: Born March 28 (some sources cite March 29), 1902, in Joigny, France; died of pneumonia, October 14, 1967, in Paris, France; son of a blacksmith; married Marie-Antoinette Arnaud, 1932; children: one daughter. Education: Studied medicine for one year.

CAREER: Novelist; author of short stories; playwright. Worked as bank clerk, insurance broker, movie extra, bricklayer, crime reporter, sales representative, export firm employee, and accountant in the Paris bourse. Military service: French Army, 1922-23.

AWARDS, HONORS: Théophraste Renaudot prize, 1929, for La table-aux-crevés.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Brulebôis, Poitiers, 1926.

Aller retour, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1927.

Les jumeaux du diable, 1928.

La table-aux-crevés, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1929, translation by Helen Waddell published as The Hollow Field, Dodd, Mead (New York, NY), 1933.

La rue sans nom, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1930.

Le vaurien, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1931.

La jument verte, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1933, translation by Norman Denny published as The Green Mare, Harper (New York, NY), 1955.

Le mauvais jars, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1935.

L'elephant, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1935.

Maison basse, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1935, translation published as The House of Men, 1952.

Lee moulin de la Sourdine, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1936, translation by Norman Denny published as The Secret Stream, Harper (New York, NY), 1953.

Gustalin, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1937.

Silhouette du scandale, Editions du Sagittaire (Marseilles, France), 1938.

Le boeuf clandestin, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1939.

La belle image, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1941, translation by Norman Denny published as The Second Face, Bodley Head (London, England), 1951, Harper (New York, NY), 1952, published as The Grand Seduction, 1958.

La vouivre, 1943, translation by Eric Sutton published as The Fable and the Flesh, Mayflower (Washington, DC), 1965.

Travelingue, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1943, translation by Eric Sutton published as The Miraculous Barber, Bodley Head (London, England), 1950, Harper (New York, NY), 1951.

Le chemin des écoliers, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1946, translation by Eric Sutton published as The Transient Hour, A. A. Wyn (New York, NY), 1948.

Uranus, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1948, translation by Norman Denny published as The Barkeep of Blémont, Harper (New York, NY), 1950, also published as Fanfare in Blémont, 1950.

L'hopital, illustrated by Rio, Amio-Dumont, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1951.

Romans de la province, illustrated by Pierre Berger, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1956.

Romans Parisiens, suivi d'Uranus (also see Uranus above), watercolors by Gen Paul, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1959.

Lucienne et le boucher, Le Club francais du livre, 1959.

Les tiroirs de l'inconnu, [France], 1960, translation by Norman Denny published as The Conscience of Love, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1962.

Oscar et Erik, illustrated by Jacques Carelman, Gautier-Languereau (Paris, France), 1961.

Enjambées, illustrated by Giani Esposito, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1967.

Istres historique dans son cadre provencal, Istres tour-istique, son folklore, illustrated by P. Fievet and E. Aquaron, Imprimerie Mistral, 1968.

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

Le puits aux images (title means "Pictures in the Well"), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1932.

Le nain, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1934.

Derrière chez Martin, Livre de poche (Paris, France), 1938.

Le passe-muraille, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1943, translation by Norman Denny published as The Walker through Walls, and Other Stories (contains "The Walker through Walls," "The Retreat from Moscow," "A Roll of Daughters," "Rue dell'Evangele" [also published in Derrière Chez Martin; see below], "The State of Grace," "The Proverb," "Legend of Poldevia," "The Walking Stick," "Couldn't Care Less," "The Wine of Paris," "Martin the Novelist," "The Seven League Books," "Josse" [also published in Enamere: nouvelles; see below], "The Life-Ration," and "The Last"), Bodley Head (London, England), 1972.

Le vin de Paris, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1947.

Les chiens, illustrated by Nathalie Parain, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1948.

En arrière; nouvelles, 1950.

Soties de la ville et des champs, Club des librairies de France (Paris, France), 1958.

Contes choisis, original copper plates by Gaston Barret, Cercle Grolier (Paris, France), 1961.

The Proverb and Other Stories, 1961.

Les meilleures nouvelles de Marcel Aymé, edited by James H. Baltzell, Scribner (New York, NY), 1964.

La fille du shérif; nouvelles, edited by Michel Lécureur, 1987.

Oeuvres romanesques complètes, Volume 3 (contains La belle image, Travelingue, Le passe-muraille, Le chemin des écoliers, Le vin de Paris, Uranus, En arrière, Les tiroirs de l'inconnu, and other selections), edited by Michel Lécureur, Gallimard (Paris, France), 2001.

Nouvelles complètes: Nouvelles et contes (includes Le puits aux images, Le nain, Derrière chez Martin, Le passe-muraille, Le vin de Paris, En arrière, Les contes du chat perché, and other works), illustrated by Nathan Altman, Madeleine Parry, and Nathalie Parain, Gallimard (Paris, France), 2002.

PLAYS

Vogue la galère (title means "Here Goes"), B. Grasset (Paris, France), 1944.

Lucienne et le boucher, 1947.

Clérambard (four-act), B. Grasset (Paris, France), 1950, translated by Norman Denny (produced in Paris, France, 1950; produced off-Broadway, 1957), prepared for stage by Leo Kerz and Alvin Sapinskley, Samuel French (New York, NY), 1958.

La tête des autres, produced in 1952.

Les quatres vérités (title means "Home Truths"), B. Grasset (Paris, France), 1954.

Les sorcières de Salem (adapted from The Crucible by Arthur Miller), [Paris, France], 1955.

Les oiseaux de la lune (four-act), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1956, translation by John Parker published as Moonbirds, Hart Stenographic Bureau (New York, NY), 1959.

La mouche bleue (four-act; title means "The Blue Fly"), 1957.

Desert vivant (screenplay; adaptation of Living Desert), Walt Disney Productions, 1957.

Vu du pont (adaptation of play by Arthur Miller), 1958.

Louisiane (four-act), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1961.

Les maxibules, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1962.

La nuit de l'iguane (adaptation of play by Tennessee Williams), 1962.

Le minotaure, La convention belzébir [and] Consommation (three plays; La convention belzébir produced in Paris, France, 1966; Le minotaure produced in 1966), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1967.

Also author of the screenplays Papa, Mama, the Maid and Me and La jument verte (adaptation of his original novel).

FOR CHILDREN

Les contes du chat perché (short stories), illustrated by N. Altman, 1934, translation by Norman Denny published as The Wonderful Farm, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, Harper (New York, NY), 1951.

Autres contes du chat perché, illustrated by Nathalie Parain, 1950, translation by Norman Denny published as The Magic Pictures: More about the Wonderful Farm, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, Harper (New York, NY), 1954.

(With Antoine Blondin and Jean-Paul Clébert) Paris que j'aime, 1956, translation (with Patrice Moulard) published as The Paris I Love, Tudor, 1956.

Derniers contes du chat perché, illustrated by Lesly Queneau, 1958.

Across Paris, and Other Stories, translated by Norman Denny, 1961.

Les contes bleus du chat perché, 1975.

OTHER

Silhouette du scandale (essays), Editions du Sagittaire (Marseilles, France), 1938.

Le trou de la serrure (essays), 1946.

Images de l'amour (essays), 1946, G. Guillot, 1957.

Le confort intellectuel (essays), Flammarion (Paris, France), 1949.

Marcel Leprin . . . Exhibition, Vestart, 1970.

Lettres d'une vie (correspondence), edited by Michel Lécureur and Christiane Lécureur, Archimbaud (Paris, France), 2001.

Author of the booklet "L'epuration et le delit d'opinion," preface by Lucien Rebalet, Editions dynamo (Liege, Belgium), 1968.

ADAPTATIONS: Le passe-muraille was translated by Jeremy Sams and adapted for the stage in a musical written by Michel Legrand, called Amour. The play opened at the Music Box Theater in New York, NY, in the fall of 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Marcel Aymé was a prolific and respected French novelist, but as a man who sincerely enjoyed his vocation and life in general, the unpretentious Aymé shunned public recognition for his writings, deeming such accolades unnecessary. Members of the prestigious Academie Française sought to rank Aymé among them, but he refused even that highly coveted honor.

As he was growing up Aymé detested formal education. "I had a horror of school," he once admitted, "and even today in my most horrible nightmares, I dream that I am in the classroom." As a result, Aymé learned much on his own. At sixteen he discovered the earthy poetry of François Villon and the realistic novels of Honoré de Balzac, both of which later influenced his own writing. He eventually enrolled in medical school, but, after a year, dropped out.

Subsequently Aymé worked at a variety of jobs in Paris before finding his metier as an author. His colorful early stories take place in the country, reflecting his own provincial Franche-Comte background. Later Aymé wrote more acerbic satires of the Parisian bourgeoisie.

An astute observer of human foibles, Aymé often spoke through the mouths of children or animals, as in his novels La jument verte and Gustalin. Siding with the peasantry in Gustalin, Aymé illustrates how the malignant values of city mice disrupt a quiet community of country mice. However, while Aymé introduced supernatural elements in his work, he did so in a realistic manner. As Germaine Bree and Margaret Guiton noted in An Age of Fiction, "the supernatural" in Aymé's work "has none of the dreamlike, otherworldly qualities of the surrealists but is firmly planted in the terrestrial logic of everyday events."

Published in 1933, La jument verte is among Aymé's most important and popular works; after he received an international audience for this novel, he devoted himself to full-time writing. The story satirizes the hypocrisy, corruption, and mock heroism of two feuding families in the small town of Claquebue. Their interactions are observed by a green horse figure whose presence in a wall painting offers privy access to all perspectives of local events. Dorothy Brodin wrote in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, "This bawdy Rabelaisian tale pictures the life and politics of a village where personal, social, and partisan conflicts take on epic proportions." The mare's asides, or "propos de la jument," complement the action as a sort of Greek chorus.

Compared to La jument verte, La vouivre also describes divisive village politics and competing clans. In this novel, the title character is a beautiful forest divinity who wanders about the region accompanied by her snakes and seduces a young peasant who denies the supernatural. David O'Connell noted in the Reference Guide to World Literature that Aymé's novels "use local linguistic terms and exploit regional folklore, including the marvelous and fantastic, to put across Aymé's essentially moderate conservative, commonsense view of life. La vouivre is perhaps the best novel in this mode."

While his popularity flourished, Aymé's indiscriminate and thinly veiled attacks on both the political left and right caused him trouble during the turbulent 1930s and 1940s. Travelingue is set against the background of the Popular Front era in France. Revealing Aymé's interest in motion pictures, the original title refers to the cinematic technique in which a camera moves along with the action on a track or dolly during filming. In this novel, Aymé satirizes the mesmerizing influence of film on young people and the ridiculous philosophical pronouncements of the ill-informed, particularly those of a barber whose empty declamations win him undue honor and deference as a local dignitary.

Aymé's mordant wit is also in evidence in Uranus, which describes French society shortly after the German Occupation. Hailed as "a mirror of modern hypocrisy," according to Brodin in Marcel Aymé, Uranus reveals ubiquitous vice among the political and social leaders who succeeded the Nazis in France, including Communists and former Resistance members. According to O'Connell, the novel "lays bare the hypocrisy of successive governments of both Left and Right for the first forty years of the century and is a masterpiece of understatement."

Because of his affection for life as it really is, Aymé applauded those who follow their natural inclinations. He deplored hypocrisy and any form of escapism using these and other human vices as targets for his satire. It was in his allegorical short stories, written for children as well as adults, that Aymé lampooned social "stratification, preconceived ideas, cliches, and pomposity of men engaged in the posture of social relations," wrote Brodin in Marcel Aymé.

Aymé's best-known short stories are contained in Les contes du chat perché and Autres contes du chat perché, a sequel. Written for Aymé's granddaughter, Françoise, the stories in these volumes display the author's ability to merge fantasy with straightforward observation to produce incisive commentary on human affairs. Though regarded as fiction for children and compared to the work of La Fontaine and Lewis Carroll, these works may also be read as deadly serious moral and sociopolitical allegories for adults. The stories recount the adventures of two French sisters, Marinette and Delphine, and their interactions with various barnyard and forest animals who speak with the girls and act out the vices and virtues of humans.

Mark J. Temmer wrote in the French Review, "Invested with a goodness and mischievousness abstracted from real life, these little girls have no personal history and yet they live, representative of girlhood in particular and mankind in general. . . . There is a breath of fresh air in these stories which relate the girl's adventures with fox and hens in the timeless setting of a French farm. Our fantasy is freed, and our belief and trust in the pleasures of childhood are once more justified." As Brodin concluded in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, "These tales are an excellent example of Aymé's humor as well as a summary of his tolerant and compassionate attitude toward people."

For the latter part of his career, Aymé focused most of his creative energies on writing plays. He became recognized as a playwright in 1950 when Clérambard became the biggest success of the year in Paris. The play is about a worldly aristocrat, Clérambard, who is suffering from financial problems. To help defray his family's living expenses, the protagonist forces each member to make and peddle woven goods. When St. Francis appears to Clérambard, the latter forgets such secular pursuits as money making and soon after devotes himself to converting the villagers to Christianity. He has just managed to convert some stubborn neighbors when St. Francis again appears, this time to everyone in the village except the local priest. Clérambard and his family then take to the road as evangelists.

Two years later Aymé produced La tête des autres, viewed as among his most caustic works. This play depicts the trial of an accused murderer as a sporting event in which competing lawyers vie for the life of the defendant as if it were a personal trophy. La tête des autres "provoked violent reactions," according to Brodin in the Dictionary of Literary Biography. "It is one of the most vitriolic of his works, a satire of the legal profession and of what passes for justice in a society motivated by greed, ruthless struggles for power, and insensitivity to the rights and feelings of individuals." Aymé followed with La mouche bleue, a biting commentary on the banality and humorlessness of American life.

For the humor and irony displayed in his novels, plays, and short stories alike, Aymé has been compared to Voltaire, Anatole France, and Molière. But he was an individualist who did not really fall into any particular school of writing. Aymé "wrote in absolute freedom exactly what he wished to write," remarked Brodin. He "appeals to readers of all kinds because of his vivid and unusual style, his extraordinary ability to put words through their paces, and especially because of the fresh and unexpected quality of his vision."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Bree, Germaine, and Margaret Guiton, An Age of Fiction: The French Novel from Gide to Camus, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 1957.

Brodin, Dorothy R., The Comic World of Marcel Aymé, Debresse, 1964.

Brodin, Dorothy R., Marcel Aymé, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 1968.

Children's Literature Review, Volume 25, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 11, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1979.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 72: FrenchNovelists, 1930-1960, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1988.

Lécureur, Michel, Album Marcel Aymé, Gallimard (Paris, France), 2002.

Lord, Graham, Marcel Aymé, Peter Lang (New York, NY), 1987.

Reference Guide to Short Fiction, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1994.

Reference Guide to World Literature, 2nd edition, Volume 1, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1995.

Something about the Author, Volume 91, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1997.

PERIODICALS

Atlantic, April 23, 1951; April 14, 1952; February 8, 1954; February 2, 1959; April 21, 1961; May 4, 1962.

Books, April 9, 1933.

Commonweal, May 11, 1956.

French Review, April, 1962, review by Mark J. Temmer, pp. 453-462.

Modern Language Review, July, 2000, Christopher Lloyd, review of Oeuvres romanesques complètes, p. 845.

Nation, April 28, 1956.

New Republic, June 26, 1950; August 20, 1951.

New Statesman & Society, February 18, 1933; June 4, 1955.

Newsweek, October 30, 1967.

New Yorker, April 3, 1948; June 17, 1950; December 1, 1951; January 30, 1954; March 31, 1956; April 29, 1961.

New York Herald Book Review, May 6, 1951; February 7, 1954; July 8, 1955; April 1, 1956; January 25, 1959.

New York Times, April 9, 1933; March 28, 1948; May 15, 1950; April 22, 1951; November 11, 1951; April 13, 1952; February 7, 1954; April 1, 1956; January 25, 1959; April 30, 1961; October 15, 1967.

New York Times Book Review, April 30, 1961; March 25, 1962.

Saturday Review of Literature, April 17, 1948; May 15, 1950; April 21, 1951; April 19, 1952; February 6, 1954; January 24, 1959; July 22, 1961; April 7, 1962.

Time, April 23, 1951; April 14, 1952; February 8, 1954; February 2, 1959; April 21, 1961; May 4, 1962.

Times Literary Supplement, February 16, 1933; December 18, 1948; October 26, 1951; March 6, 1953; June 10, 1988, p. 642; October 15, 1999, Nicholas Hewitt and Michel Lécureur, review of Oeuvres romanesques complètes, Volume 2, p. 6; February 8, 2002, David Coward, review of Oeuvres romanesques complètes, Volume 3, p. 3.

World Literature Today, autumn, 1988, p. 621.*