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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:daudet:4c443e10bdda",
    "title": "DAUDET",
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    "verified_text": "daudet, alphonse (1840-1897), french novelist, was born at nimes on the 13th of may 1840. his family, on both sides, belonged to the _bourgeoisie_. the father, vincent daudet, was a silk manufacturer--a man dogged through life by misfortune and failure. the lad, amid much truancy, had but a depressing boyhood. in 1856 he left lyons, where his schooldays had been mainly spent, and began life as an usher at alais, in the south. the position proved to be intolerable. as dickens declared that all through his prosperous career he was haunted in dreams by the miseries of his apprenticeship to the blacking business, so daudet says that for months after leaving alais he would wake with horror thinking he was still among his unruly pupils. on the 1st of november 1857 he abandoned teaching, and took refuge with his brother ernest, only some three years his senior, who was trying, \"and thereto soberly,\" to make a living as a journalist in paris. alphonse betook himself to his pen likewise,--wrote poems, shortly collected into a small volume _les amoureuses_ (1858), which met with a fair reception,--obtained employment on the _figaro_, then under cartier de villemessant's energetic editorship, wrote two or three plays, and began to be recognized, among those interested in literature, as possessing individuality and promise. morny, the emperor's all-powerful minister, appointed him to be one of his secretaries,--a post which he held till morny's death in 1865,--and showed him no small kindness. he had put his foot on the road to fortune. in 1866 appeared _lettres de mon moulin_, which won the attention of many readers. the first of his longer books, _le petit chose_ (1868), did not, however, produce any very popular sensation. it is, in its main feature, the story of his own earlier years told with much grace and pathos. the year 1872 produced the famous _aventures prodigieuses de tartarin de tarascon_, and the three-act piece _l'arlesienne_. but _fromont jeune et risler aine_ (1874) at once took the world by storm. it struck a note, not new certainly in english literature, but comparatively new in french. here was a writer who possessed the gift of laughter and tears, a writer not only sensible to pathos and sorrow, but also to moral beauty. he could create too. his characters were real and also typical; the _rates_, the men who in life's battle had flashed in the pan, were touched with a master hand. the book was alive. it gave the illusion of a real world. _jack_, the story of an illegitimate child, a martyr to his mother's selfishness, which followed in 1876, served only to deepen the same impression. henceforward his career was that of a very successful man of letters,--publishing novel on novel, _le nabab_ (1877), _les rois en exil_ (1879), _numa roumestan_ (1881), _sapho_ (1884), _l'immortel_ (1888),--and writing for the stage at frequent intervals,--giving to the world his reminiscences in _trente ans de paris_ (1887), and _souvenirs d'un homme de lettres_ (1888). these, with the three _tartarins_,--tartarin the mighty hunter, tartarin the mountaineer, tartarin the colonist,--and the admirable short stories, written for the most part before he had acquired fame and fortune, constitute his life work. though daudet defended himself from the charge of imitating dickens, it is difficult altogether to believe that so many similarities of spirit and manner were quite unsought. what, however, was purely his own was his style. it is a style that may rightly be called \"_impressionist_,\" full of light and colour, not descriptive after the old fashion, but flashing its intended effect by a masterly juxtaposition of words that are like pigments. nor does it convey, like the style of the goncourts, for example, a constant feeling of effort. it is full of felicity and charm,--_un charmeur_ zola has called him. an intimate friend of edmond de goncourt (who died in his house), of flaubert, of zola, daudet belonged essentially to the naturalist school of fiction. his own experiences, his surroundings, the men with whom he had been brought into contact, various persons who had played a part, more or less public, in paris life--all passed into his art. but he vivified the material supplied by his memory. his world has the great gift of life. _l'immortel_ is a bitter attack on the french academy, to which august body daudet never belonged. daudet wrote some charming stories for children, among which may be mentioned _la belle nivernaise_, the story of an old boat and her crew. his married life--he married in 1867 julia allard--seems to have been singularly happy. there was perfect intellectual harmony, and madame daudet herself possessed much of his literary gift; she is known by her _impressions de nature et d'art_ (1879), _l'enfance d'une parisienne_ (1883), and by some literary studies written under the pseudonym of karl steen. in his later years daudet suffered from insomnia, failure of health and consequent use of chloral. he died in paris on the 17th of december 1897. the story of daudet's earlier years is told in his brother ernest daudet's _mon frere et moi_. there is a good deal of autobiographical detail in daudet's _trente ans de paris_ and _souvenirs d'un homme de lettres_, and also scattered in his other books. the references to him in the _journal des goncourt_ are numerous. see also l. a. daudet, _alphonse daudet_ (1898), and biographical and critical essays by r. h. sherard (1894); by a. gerstmann (1883); by b. diederich (1900); by a. hermant (1903), and a bibliography by j. brivois (1895); also _the works of alphonse daudet_, translated by l. ensor, h. frith, e. bartow (1902, etc.). criticism of daudet is also to be found in f. brunetiere, _le roman naturaliste_ (new ed., 1897); j. lemaitre, _les contemporains_ (vols. ii. and iv.); g. pellissier, _le mouvement litteraire au xix^e siecle_ (1890); a. symons, _studies in prose and verse_ (1904). 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