Daudet’s Tartarin, idiot of the peaks

VS’is purely and simply a masterpiece. I drop the word and stand by it. “ Here is how Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) defends his young friend Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) cornered by critics during the publication of the first part of The prodigious adventures of Tartarin de Tarascon, in 1872. What the Provençaux reproach him, and the Tarasconnais in particular? For having dared to compare them to this grotesque character of naivety, a true antihero who allows himself to be fooled by unscrupulous characters as well as by himself. But no offense to his compatriots, the character was born, who should never leave our collective imagination.

The esteem of the Tarasconnais

Originally from Nîmes, master of study at Alès before becoming a playwright in Paris – he will publish 17 plays …