100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Fast overnight NZ delivery 🚀 Don't forget Father's Day is this Sunday 📅

Marshlands

3.58 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 970 ratings, 109 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Marshlands by André Gide, with translation by Damion Searls, is a clever exploration of the creative process and the tension between artistic integrity and societal expectations. The story focuses on an author writing a book about a fictional marshland, while simultaneously dealing with the pressures and absurdities of literary life. The narrative offers a satirical and introspective look at the art of writing and the contradictions inherent in being a writer.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Marshlands. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy exploring philosophical narratives with a satirical edge. Set in a mystical landscape, it offers a reflective examination of human nature and society, blending wit and intellect. Ideal for readers who appreciate classic literature with a modern translation, it stimulates both contemplation and laughter.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A slim but powerful work of metafiction by a Nobel Prize-winning French writer and intellectual.

André Gide is the inventor of modern metafiction and autofiction, and his short novel Marshlands shows him handling both forms with a deft and delightful touch. The protagonist of Marshlands is a writer who is writing a book called Marshlands, which is about a reclusive character who lives all alone in a stone tower.

The narrator, by contrast, is anything but a recluse. He is an indefatigable social butterfly, flitting about the Paris literary world and always talking about, what else, the wonderful book he is writing, Marshlands. He tells his friends about the book, and they tell him what they think, which is not exactly flattering, and of course those responses become part of the book in the reader's hand.

Marshlands is both a poised satire of literary pretension and a superb literary invention, and Damion Searls's new translation of this early masterwork by one of the key figures of twentieth-century literature brings out all the sparkle of the original.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Marshlands by André Gide, translated by Damion Searls, receives diverse reviews highlighting its quirky, genre-defying nature. Critics praise it as a clever and funny work that explores themes of writing and ambition with a sense of playful irreverence. It's noted as being compelling and prophetic, challenging readers with its experimental style and a blurring of reality and fiction.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781681374727

Publisher: New York Review Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 January 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: New York Review Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 96

About the Author

Andre Gide (1869-1951) was a prolific author of novels, short stories, poetry, plays, travel writing, and autobiography. Though he entered the world of letters as a prominent figure in the symbolist movement, Gide later turned toward a more confessional and exploratory form, ruminating on questions of morality, sexuality, desire, religion, and the nature of the self in his work. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. Damion Searls has translated eleven books for NYRB Classics, including Uwe Johnson's four-book novel Anniversaries (published in two volumes). This is his second translation of Gide's Marshlands; he also rewrote it as "56 Water Street," the first short story in his collection What We Were Doing and Where We Were Going. Dubravka Ugresic is the author of seven works of fiction, including The Museum of Unconditional Surrender and Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, and six collections of essays. Her most recent book is The Age of Skin- Essays. In 2016 she received the Neustadt International Prize for Literature for her body of work.

Also by André Gide

View all
  • The Immoralist
    “To know how to free oneself is nothing; the arduous thing is to know what to do with one's freedom.” - André Gide Michel had been a blindfolded scholar until, newly married, he contracted tuberculosis. His will to recover brings self-discovery and the growing desire to rebel against his background of culture, decency, and morality. But the freedom from constraints...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Fruits Of The Earth
    The author wrote this work when he was suffering from tuberculosis. Addressed to the reader, it is a hymn to the pleasures of life that Gide came so close to losing: travel, touch, hearing, smell, sight and, above all, taste. During the author's travels, he meets Menalcas, a caricature of Oscar Wilde, who relates his fantastic life story. But for...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    Backorder
    Ships mid September

Also by Damion Searls

View all
  • Analog Days
    Acclaimed translator Damion Searls's exuberant debut novella navigates the bittersweet tug-of-war between nostalgia and living life meaningfully in a world buzzing with information overload. Analog Days is a snapshot of a circle of friends living through the sorrows and joys of a particular inflection point in history. Amid the ever-present news cycles, watching the world shift around them, they fall...
    Paperback
    $4300
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Philosophy of Translation
    A deep dive into the nature of translation from one of its most acclaimed practitioners "Searls's philosophy is ultimately one of freedom—to move beyond mere equivalence, to translate how a text communicates rather than simply what it says."—Max Norman, New Yorker Avoiding theoretical debates and clichéd metaphors, award‑winning translator Damion Searls has written a fresh, approachable, and convincing account of...
    Hardback
    $4799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Letters to a Young Poet
    For nearly a century, eager writers and young poets, as well as those simply looking for a purpose in life, have embraced the wisdom of Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, first published in 1929. Most readers and scholars have long assumed that the letters from the young poet were forever lost to posterity. Yet, shockingly, these letters...
    Hardback
    $3399
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • The Philosophy of Translation
    A deep dive into the nature of translation from one of its most acclaimed practitioners "Searls's philosophy is ultimately one of freedom—to move beyond mere equivalence, to translate how a text communicates rather than simply what it says."—Max Norman, New Yorker Avoiding theoretical debates and clichéd metaphors, award‑winning translator Damion Searls has written a fresh, approachable, and convincing account of...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Buy to Win
    New Release
    Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition. Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Big Little Truths
    Parenting teens is not for the faint of heart but Madeline, Jane and Celeste have been through worse. It's been a decade since the school trivia night that changed their lives forever and now they're living blissfully ordinary suburban lives. But when an anonymous grisly package arrives at the local high school, and a man in a green Volvo is...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    On Sale
    17% off
    Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Boxed Set
    Embark on a journey through Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien's timeless masterpieces, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. These enthralling tales recount the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a modest hobbit whose life is turned upside down when he unwittingly becomes entwined in a perilous quest involving dragons, wizards, and the fate of the world. Alongside iconic characters such as...
    Box Set
    $7199
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    A Forsaken Prophecy
    In a world of high-class magic and gangster grit, a star-crossed couple must decide where their loyalties lie in the sizzling romantasy follow-up to BookTok star Stacey McEwan's New York Times bestseller A Forbidden Alchemy. In Belavere Trench, the Artisans and the Craftsmen are at war. Patrick, the last Alchemist, and Nina, the world’s only known earth Charmer, have been...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Whistler
    FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING, PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF The Dutch House AND Tom Lake 'One of the most beloved authors of her generation'Sunday Times When Daphne notices an older gentleman following her around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, she doesn’t expect it to be Eddie – her former stepfather. Married to her mother for a short time when...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3899
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!