The counterfeiters: (Les faux-monnayeurs): Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
The counterfeiters: (Les faux-monnayeurs): author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
The counterfeiters: (Les faux-monnayeurs) is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Gide, André (1869–1951). The listed translation credits are Bussy, Dorothy (1865–1960).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"The counterfeiters : (Les faux-monnayeurs) by André Gide is a novel written in the early 20th century. A polyphonic coming‑of‑age story set in Paris, it intertwines the lives of youths, writers, and worldly schemers to examine authenticity, moral compromise, and the forging of identity. Early focal figures include the defiant student Bernard Profitendieu, his sensitive friend Olivier Molinier, the literary uncle Edouard, and the calculating aristocrat Robert de Passavant. The opening follows Bernard as he discovers a hidden letter proving his illegitimacy, coolly abandons his bourgeois home, and secretly spends the night in Olivier’s room near the Luxembourg Gardens. At home, Judge Profitendieu reels from Bernard’s scathing farewell and shields the rest of the family with a lie, while his wife’s guilt resurfaces. In hushed, nocturnal talks, Bernard and Olivier trade confidences—Olivier’s awkward first sexual encounter and suspicions about their older brother Vincent’s entanglement with a woman. The scene shifts to Vincent, who, burdened by his pregnant lover Laura, is drawn into the orbit of the suave Passavant and the seductive Lady Lilian; a night of gambling brings Vincent a sudden windfall even as Passavant’s father dies upstairs and a younger brother keeps vigil. At dawn, Bernard slips out into Paris with only a few coins, buoyed by hunger, freedom, and the promise of “adventure.”
Book and edition facts
- Title: The counterfeiters: (Les faux-monnayeurs)
- Author credits: Gide, André (1869–1951)
- Catalogue language: English
- Translator credits: Bussy, Dorothy (1865–1960)
Catalogue subjects
- Counterfeiters -- Fiction
- French fiction -- Translations into English
Gutenberg collections
- Category: Classics of Literature
- Category: French Literature
- Category: Novels
- Nobel Prizes in Literature
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View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
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