''An Iceland Fisherman'' (,

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

) is a novel by French author

Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Ele ...

. It depicts the romantic but inevitably sad life of

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

fishermen who sail each summer season to the stormy

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

cod grounds. Literary critic

Edmund Gosse Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhood ...

characterized it as "the most popular and finest of all oti'swritings."''

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...

'', "Pierre Loti", by

Loti's style is a combination of the French realist school, such as

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

, and a form of literary

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. As

Jules Cambon Jules-Martin Cambon (5 April 1845 – 19 September 1935) was a French diplomat and brother of Paul Cambon. As the ambassador to Germany (1907–1914), he worked hard to secure a friendly détente. He was frustrated by French leaders such as Ray ...

says, Loti wrote at a "..time when M. Zola and his school stood at the head of the literary movement. There breathed forth from Loti's writings an all-penetrating fragrance of poesy iterature using poetic devices which liberated French literary ideals from the heavy and oppressive yoke of the Naturalistic school."Jules Cambon, "Introduction", New York P.F. Collier. 1902 (see external links). Loti uses a simple vocabulary, "but these words, as used by him, take on a value we did not know they possessed; they awaken sensations that linger deeply within us." Rene Doumie. ''Contemporary French Novelists''. New York, Boston : T. Y. Crowell & company. 1899. Page 274. The characters are humble and simple working-class people, the incidents are normal every day affairs, dealing with the themes of love and separation. Loti's greatest strength is in the depictions of nature, placing it center stage, as Cambon says: It was adapted for the stage by

Louis Tiercelin Louis Tiercelin (Rennes, 1846 - Paramé, 1915), was a French writer, poet and playwright associated with the Breton cultural renaissance of the early 20th century. He debuted at the age of 18 with two plays performed at the theatre of Rennes. He ...

with music by

Guy Ropartz Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz (; 15 June 1864 – 22 November 1955) was a French composer and conductor. His compositions included five symphonies, three violin sonatas, cello sonatas, six string quartets, a piano trio and string trio (both in A min ...

. Another work based on the same novel was the 30-minute symphonic poem ''Nordland-Rhapsodie (Nordic Rhapsody)'' for large orchestra written by Austrian composer

Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx (11 May 1882 – 3 September 1964) was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic. Life and career Marx was born in Graz and pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earnin ...

in 1929. The novel has been filmed three times, most notably in 1959 by French director

Pierre Schoendoerffer Pierre Schoendoerffer (, ; 5 May 1928 – 14 March 2012) was a French film director, a screenwriter, a writer, a war reporter, a war cameraman, a renowned First Indochina War veteran, a cinema academician. He was president of the Académ ...

. It's also quoted and referenced as inspiration in the 2015 movie '.

Footnotes

External links

*Pierre Loti
''An Iceland Fisherman''
Translated from the French with a critical introd. by

. New York P.F. Collier. 1902. From

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. *
''An Iceland Fisherman'', audio version
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iceland Fisherman, An 1886 French novels French autobiographical novels Novels by Pierre Loti Fishing in Iceland Novels set on ships French novels adapted into films French novels adapted into plays Novels set in Brittany French novels adapted into operas