Belle Époque Syllabus

July 26, 2009 2:57 PM

Looking for novels, non-fiction, online reading, etc., to help me learn more about the Belle Époque.

Particularly looking for well-written narrative about the lifestyle, culture, arts, and interaction within and among social classes in Europe at this time from the late 1800s to WWI. Not so much strict history or a litany of facts. Film and documentary suggestions OK, too. Thanks.

posted by mmw to society & culture (12 comments total)

here is a novel about a million words long that takes place at the Belle Epoque.
posted by Baud at 3:08 PM on July 26

here is a novel about a million words long that takes place at the Belle Epoque

Ah, I have read Proust already.. :-)
posted by mmw at 3:43 PM on July 26

Check out this related thread of mine about materials concerning the Edwardian era.
posted by orange swan at 3:51 PM on July 26

"The Razor's Edge"? (published 1944, but takes place before and after WWI)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:58 PM on July 26

Probably my favorite nonfiction book ever: A Nervous Splendor: Vienna, 1888-1889.
posted by scody at 4:05 PM on July 26 [1 favorite has favorites]

E.M. Forster's Where Angels Fear to Tread, A Room With A View, Howards End, Maurice, and The Longest Journey were all written pre-WWI and are set in England and Continental Europe. All except The Longest Journey--which is my favourite of all his novels--have been made into films, some better than others; personally, I think A Room With A View and Howards End do the most justice to their source material.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:23 PM on July 26

Though Americans, Henry James and Edith Wharton spent many years living in Europe and wrote several novels set in Europe during this time. For Wharton, I'm thinking of The Children. She has also a lot of non-fiction from when she lived in France.

For James, you could read Daisy Miller, A Portrait of a Lady, and the Wings of the Dove.
posted by bluedaisy at 5:28 PM on July 26

Well, if you have tackled Proust have you tried The Man without Qualities? Vienna, rather than Paris. (Note, I only made it 200 pages or so).

Here is a lighter one you might not have heard of: All for Love, a short novelization of the true story of a Hapsburg Princess who elloped with a cavalry captain.
posted by shothotbot at 7:13 PM on July 26

Colette's Claudine and Cheri novels. Forget the movie; La Fin de Cheri ends the way it does because he's a narcissist.
posted by brujita at 9:00 PM on July 26

The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914
The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France - 1885 to World War I
posted by Zed at 10:44 PM on July 26

The Vertigo Years: Europe 1900-1914.
posted by shothotbot at 8:53 PM on July 27

Thanks, all! Now I have some new books to check out!

btw, I did see "Cheri" and couldn't get into the story but liked the ambiance -- the depiction of the the gardens, clothes, linens, opulence, food, decadence, etc.
posted by mmw at 5:00 PM on July 28