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| From the "Playing with Fire" exhibit at the MAD Museum, NYC |
The only books I cared for in that collection came from La Comtesse de Ségur. Her books...I read and re-read as a young child and still remember reading.
When I moved to the States many years ago, my books stayed behind. I pillage my childhood collection every so often when I visit and decide to bring back a few books but...by and large, the bulk of the collection sits frozen in time.
Which is why I was so moved to recently discover that I could purchase the entire digital collection of La Comtesse de Ségur works for TWO dollars...This is only possible because kindle was introduced in France last year and many more French books are now available.
Let me tell you: I wish all the Comtesse's works were translated in English, so that all of you could read them as well, but very few are available in English currently.
Who is this Comtesse (countess)? La Comtesse de Ségur was born Sophie Rostopchine (really Sofyia Rostopchina) in Russia in 1799. An aristocrat, she moved to France as a child because the vagaries of History affected her family enough to prompt immigration. Certain things are known as facts about her life: she was a high-spirited child, was substantially abused by her mother, had periods of emotional and behavioral disturbances as an adult and, the reason for which History remembers her, became a famous writer when starting to write at the very unusual age of 58.
So, with the miracle of technology, here is what I discover looking at the thirty books or so that this woman wrote about 150 years ago: First, she wrote a treatise on pediatric illnesses, which I had never read before and which is enormously interesting across the lens of time. In it, she opines that there are two main etiological factors in childhood illnesses: the cold and poor nutrition.
Second, and more relevantly to my personal history, she is an extraordinary portraitist of childhood and of those who render childhood difficult for children. Many of her books are about children, that she describes wonderfully in and out. Children, who either face hardship but manage to stay true to themselves (e.g., "Pauvre Blaise", which translates as Poor Blaise) or who have been shaped by a loving and moral upbringing (e.g., "Les Petites Filles Modeles", which translates as The Exemplary Little Girls) or who have been shaped by abuse and lovelessness but become resilient in improved environments (e.g., "Les malheurs de Sophie", which translates as Sophie's Misadventures and is probably her most autobiographical work) or who transcend adverse circumstances because of their unique phenotypes (e.g., "Un Bon Petit Diable" which translates as A Good Little Devil.) Many types of adults dwell in her books: some are over-indulgent with selfish children, others are pan-abusive and have hearts of stone, still others are more immature than the children. She captures all her characters with simplicity and humor.
As I now hold all my childhood books, long left behind, their essence miraculously recrystallized on an electronic device by the push of a button, I finally realize the influence that these books must have had in shaping my compassion to children of all phenotypes and their different circumstances...and my belief in resiliency. Merci Madame La Comtesse.
Till Later,
Anne
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