''Les Hommes de bonne volonté'' () is an epic

roman-fleuve A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

by French writer

Jules Romains Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cycle ...

, published in 27

volumes Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The defi ...

between 1932 and 1946. It has been classified both as a novel cycle and a novel and, at two million words and 7,892 pages, has been cited as one of the longest novels ever written.

Plot

The volumes, written in

chronological order Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It ...

from volume one, ''Le 6 octobre'', through volume twenty-seven, ''Le 7 octobre'', between them cover 6 October 1908 through 7 October 1933 in French life—an average of one volume per year, book-ended by one volume each for two particular days. The

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

is expansive and features a large cast of

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

, rather than narrowly focusing on individuals, but the two principals are Pierre Jallez, a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

loosely based on Romains, and Jean Jerphanion, a teacher who later goes into politics. They meet in volume 2 starting at the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

and become friends. Jerphanion marries a woman named Odette and lives happily with her, while Jallez tries several times to find love and is eventually married to Françoise Mailleul. In the course of their careers, meanwhile, Jerphanion spends ten years in the Chamber of Deputies and is briefly

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

, and Jallez finds success as a novelist, each trying to secure peace in their own way, though the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

takes place halfway through the story, which ends with the first foreshadowings of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Structure and themes

Structurally, ''Men of Good Will'' is a ''roman-fleuve''—a long work across several volumes with continuation of plot and related characters that may mean it forms a single novel. It has been described as a novel cycle or novel sequence, and as a novel, by different writers. Its full extent, at 2,000,000 words, across 7,892 pages, 779 chapters and 27 volumes, means it has been described as one of the longest novels ever written—sometimes the single longest. ''Men of Good Will'' and particularly certain portions of it—''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'' picks out the

victory parade A victory parade is a parade held to celebrate a victory. Numerous military and sport victory parades have been held. Military victory parades Among the most famous parades are the victory parades celebrating the end of the First World War a ...

at the end of World War I—are emblematic of Romain's philosophy of

unanimism Unanimism (French: ''Unanimisme'') is a movement in French literature begun by Jules Romains in the early 1900s, with his first book, ''La vie unanime'', published in 1904. It can be dated to a sudden conception Romains had in October 1903 of a 'com ...

, characterised by an interest in the collective rather than individuals. In the

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...

, Romains says that the ideas behind it can be traced to his very first work, ''La vie unanime'', published in 1904. This emphasis on group spirit is, writes Harry Bergholz, partly why ''Men of Good Will'' jumps from character to character as much as it does, rather than following one thread. While characters do recur, their stories may be told discontinuously. Bergholz gives the example of Françoise Mailleul, whose birth is the subject of a chapter in volume 9 but who doesn't feature again, apart from brief reappearances in volumes 13 and 18, until her marriage to Jallez in volume 26. Rather than telling the story of a few people, Romains' aim is "to paint a complete picture of our twentieth century

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

, in all its aspects, human and inhuman, social as well as psychological". Plot threads, too, are begun, recursively interrupted, and returned to later, sometimes several volumes on. This cross-volume inter-cutting presses the reader to take the work as a whole, since plots are not always resolved within single volumes, which therefore cannot be fully understood without reference to the others. In all, there are approximately 40 main characters but counts of the full cast vary widely, from 600 total through 1,000 to 1,600. The characters are listed at the beginning of volume 25 (''Le Tapis magique''). They cover all walks of life, both in terms of

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

and

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, as part of attempting to depict

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

as a whole, though the poor are underrepresented and the bulk of the novel relates to the middle classes. Other themes of the book include marriage and friendship, the internal deviance of outwardly respectable families, Oedipal issues in father-son relationships (literal and metaphorical),

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, crime,

sexual perversion Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything o ...

, and the potential—or lack of it—for goodwill, suitably applied, to avoid collective failures such as wars.

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and the struggle for

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

are continuing themes throughout. The first and last volumes each feature a group of schoolchildren being lectured on the dangers of war. Jallez and Jerphanion are preoccupied with these considerations, and two volumes are dedicated to the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

, a key point in the narrative.

Publication

Romains began writing ''Men of Good Will'' in 1931 and announced the project in 1932. The original French publishers were Flammarion and each of the 27 volumes sold, in its first printing, at least 40,000 copies. By 1946, around 85,000 copies had been sold of the first volume. Romains wrote two volumes each year at around 600 pages between them. There were 14 volumes in the first American editions, in which publishers

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

combined each of the two annual volumes into one. The Knopf editions were translated into English by Warre B. Wells (volumes 1–3) and Gerard Hopkins (volumes 4–14).

Reception

The project was widely acclaimed in France as it began but critical opinion turned against it part way through. In America, where Romains moved at the beginning of

, Romains and his work were spurned when it became clear how late he had continued to be in contact with

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

figures including Joseph Goebbels. ''Men of Good Will'' has been compared to '' Jean-Christophe'',

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production a ...

's ten-volume French novel published between 1904 and 1912. Reviews have particularly noted the strong and rapid characterisation that Romains achieved, giving distinct personalities to each of the huge number of characters involved. ''Britannica'' describes the two volumes on Verdun, (volume 15 ''Prélude à Verdun'' and volume 16, ''Verdun'', both published in 1938) as "remarkable visions of the soul of a world at war". Denis Saurat wrote in ''Modern French Literature, 1870-1940'' (1946) that they are "truly an epic presentation of war". The work as a whole has been variously judged to be a "sprawling masterpiece" and "what began as a magnificent fresco of an entire generation" but degenerated "into a daguerreotype of one embittered, splenetic man".

Volumes

The French titles and their English counterparts in the Knopf editions are:

Plot

Structure and themes

Publication

Reception

Volumes

See also

Notes

References

Further reading