''La Medeleni'' (English: ''At Medeleni)'' is a trio of novels written by Ionel Teodoreanu. The books were set in the village of Medeleni, in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

County,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The trilogy includes: ''The Fickle Border'' ( ro, Hotarul Nestatornic) published in 1925, ''Roads'' (Romanian: ''Drumuri'') published in 1926, and ''Between the Winds'' (Romanian: ''Între Vânturi'') published in 1927. Teodoreanu’s inspiration for the novels came from a mansion on the bank of the river

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

where friends from the literary world would gather. On May 21 2016, the mansion became a museum in memoriam of Ionel Teodoreanu.

Synopsis

''At Medeleni'' is a novel about an idealised childhood and adolescence, designed in an Edenic patriarchal setting. The plot is centred around two siblings, Daniel and Olguța (Romanian: ) Deleanu, and their step sister, Monica. According to her father, Olguța is an "angelic devil, a mixture of purity and inclinations towards little malice." She is constantly shaking, does not accept contradiction, and tries to subordinate everything that surrounds her. Daniel tends to be calm but can often lose his patience and becomes nervous because of his sister, Olguța. He often dreams about saving Monica but is awakened by his sister from time to time. Monica ensures the balance between the siblings, who are in a continuous argument. She is gentle, generous and always jumps in to help others. Monica is in love with Daniel throughout the novel. Daniel realizes at the end that he is in love with Monica as well. They get married and enjoy a happy life. Olguța falls in love with Vania, an older man. She plans to marry him and go to America, but she discovers that she has cancer. In the end, she commits suicide. After the death of Olguța, the Deleanu family sells the estate.

Reception

Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__ Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator. Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, firs ...

claimed that Olguța is one of the most successful characters in Teodoreanu's literary works. In 1995, a group of experts from Aix-Marseille University reviewed the trilogy and highlighted that Teodoreanu was traditionally considered by Romanians as the novelist of childhood. They remarked that ''At Medeleni'' is a good illustration of life in Romania in the 1920s. ''At Medeleni'' attains the ineffability of sensation and opens with a writing style torn between suffering and voluptuousness, a vertiginous perspective evoking baroque aesthetics. According to the Romanian newspaper '' Jurnalul Național,'' "''At Medeleni'' is the book that sealed the literary reputation of the novelist, who, at the age of 30, was already nationally renowned. After his ''At Medeleni'' series, his books became popular items on bookstore shelves ... Critics and theorists, like

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...

, mentioned that the novel "has a lasting value," Camil Petrescu said that the work presents "affective aspects" of children through a series of life incidents, and, in turn, Garabet Ibrăileanu established that the main character, Olguța, is "the most striking type ..and the most successful girl model in our literature."

Notes

References

External links

Ionel Teodoreanu - How did I write Medelenii
(in Romanian)
Ionel Teodoreanu's Biography
(in Romanian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Medeleni, La 1925 novels 1926 novels 1927 novels Romanian novels