8.2 /10 1 Votes
Translator Bernard Frechtman Publication date 1946 Media type Print Country France | 4.1/5 Goodreads Language French Published in English 1966 Originally published 1946 Original title Miracle de la rose Preceded by Our Lady of the Flowers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publisher Marc Barbezat - L'Arbalete (Original French), Grove Press (English Translation) Genres Sociology, Autobiographical Fiction Similar Our Lady of the Flowers, The Thief's Journal, Querelle of Brest, Funeral Rites, Prisoner of Love | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The miracle of the rose 2015
The Miracle of the Rose (French: Miracle de la rose) is a 1946 book by Jean Genet about experiences as a detainee in Mettray Penal Colony and Fontevrault prison - although there is no direct evidence of Genet ever having been imprisoned in the latter establishment. This autobiographical work has a non-linear structure: stories from Genet's adolescence are mixed in with his experiences as a thirty-year-old man at Fontevrault prison. At Mettray, Genet describes homosexual erotic desires for his fellow adolescent detainees. There is also a fantastical dimension to the narrative, particularly in Fontevrault passages concerning a prisoner called Harcamone who is condemned to death for murder. Genet idolises Harcamone and writes poetically about the rare occasions on which he catches a glimpse of this character. Genet was detained in Mettray Penal Colony between 2 September 1926 and 1 March 1929, after which, at the age of 18, he joined the Foreign Legion.
Contents
Patti smith with lenny kaye reads from the miracle of the rose 12 19 12 at moma
In popular culture
The Pogues have a song titled "Hell's Ditch," which contains references to the novel. The composer Hans Werner Henze composed a piece with a title of the same name 'Le Miracle de la Rose'.