''My Father's Glory'' (, ) is a 1957

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (, also ; ; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the . Pagnol is generally regarded as one of France's ...

. Its

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

is '' My Mother's Castle''. It is the first of four volumes in Pagnol's '' Souvenirs d'enfance'' series. It is also a 1990

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

based on the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

, and

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

Yves Robert Yves Robert (; 19 June 1920 – 10 May 2002) was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Life and career Robert was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. In his teens, he went to Paris to pursue a career in acting, starting w ...

Plot summary

A poetic novel about his family and early years rather than a literal autobiography, Pagnol opens with the stories of his two parents, Joseph and Augustine, and his arrival in 1895 as their first child in the little town of

Aubagne Aubagne (; according to the classic norm or according to the Mistralian norm) is a Commune in France, commune in the southern French Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2020, the commune was awarded three flowers by the ...

among the mountains of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. A school teacher there, the fiercely secular and socialist Joseph then gets a better job in the bustling city of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. There his mother's sister Rose is courted by the fiercely conservative and Catholic Jules, who marries her. Despite striking many sparks off each other, the two brothers-in-law overall enjoy each other's company. So much so that in 1904 they agreed to rent a remote farmhouse outside the village of La Treille, where the two families can spend their summer together and get back to the simple pleasures of rural life. After a long struggle up mountain tracks, with their belongings on a mule, they reach what for young Marcel is an earthly paradise. He falls instantly in love with the wild landscape, its distinctive vegetation, and its abundant wildlife. While he and his little brother Paul spend their days in happy play among the hills, his father and uncle have a weightier business. It will soon be the opening of the shooting season and, now they are proper countrymen rather than city intellectuals, they must be out with shotguns in search of game. As Joseph has never fired a gun in his life, Jules has all the pleasure of teaching the ignorant teacher the mysteries of this craft. In addition to learning how to use the weapon, Joseph has to learn how to bring down all the different sorts of game, above all the most legendarily difficult and rewarding local bird. This is the rock partridge, of which few men have hit more than a couple of tail feathers. On the great day, the two set off and young Marcel disobeys them by following, for he is terribly worried that his shy spectacle-wearing father will be humiliated by the loud know-all uncle. Trying to keep out of sight, the boy gets lost in the uninhabited mountains, until after several hours he hears two shots in quick succession. Out of the sky near his feet fall two rock partridges. His father got them, his only kill of the day, by firing both barrels. Next day, Joseph volunteers to go down to the village for the shopping and ties the two carcasses to his belt. The whole community is lost in admiration for his unparallelled feat and the priest is so impressed that he overcomes Joseph's atheist scruples by rushing home for a camera to record this historic moment.

References

{{Authority control 1957 French novels French autobiographical novels Novels set in Provence Works by Marcel Pagnol