A true story?
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Giono letter to Digne official
The story itself is so touching that many readers have believed that Elzéard Bouffier was a genuine historical figure and that the narrator of the story was a young Jean Giono himself, and that so the tale is part autobiographical. Certainly, Giono lived during this time. While he was alive, Giono enjoyed allowing people to believe that the story was real, and considered it as a tribute to his skill. His daughter, Aline Giono, described it as "a family story for a long time". However, Giono himself explained in a 1957 letter to an official of the city of Digne:
Sorry to disappoint you, but Elzéard Bouffier is a fictional person. The goal was to make trees likeable, or more specifically, make planting trees likeable.
In the letter, he describes how the book was translated in a multitude of languages, distributed freely, and therefore was a success. He adds that, although "it does not bring me a cent", it is one of the texts of which he is most proud.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Giono letter to Digne official
The story itself is so touching that many readers have believed that Elzéard Bouffier was a genuine historical figure and that the narrator of the story was a young Jean Giono himself, and that so the tale is part autobiographical. Certainly, Giono lived during this time. While he was alive, Giono enjoyed allowing people to believe that the story was real, and considered it as a tribute to his skill. His daughter, Aline Giono, described it as "a family story for a long time". However, Giono himself explained in a 1957 letter to an official of the city of Digne:
Sorry to disappoint you, but Elzéard Bouffier is a fictional person. The goal was to make trees likeable, or more specifically, make planting trees likeable.
In the letter, he describes how the book was translated in a multitude of languages, distributed freely, and therefore was a success. He adds that, although "it does not bring me a cent", it is one of the texts of which he is most proud.
Giono letter to Digne official
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←The Man Who Planted Trees
Letter to a Digne officialby Jean Giono
Written in French, in 1957 without copyright notice, the translation is unique to Wikisource.
From Wikisource
Jump to: navigation, search
←The Man Who Planted Trees
Letter to a Digne officialby Jean Giono
Written in French, in 1957 without copyright notice, the translation is unique to Wikisource.
Dear sir,
Sorry to disappoint you, but Elzéard Bouffier[1] is a fictional person. The goal was to make trees likeable, or more specifically, make planting trees likeable (this has always been one of my most fondest ideas). And if I judge based on the results, it seems to have been attained through this imaginary person. The text which you read in Trees and Life has been translated in Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, English, German, Russian, Czechoslovakian, Hungarian, Spanish, Italian, Yiddish and Polish.
I freely give away my rights, for all to publish. An American has come to me recently, to ask my permission to make 100,000 copies which he would distribute freely in America (which of course, I granted).
The University of Zagreb has created a Yugoslavian translation. It is one of my works of which I am most proud. It does not bring me a cent, and this is why it is able to achieve the goal for which it was written.
I would like to meet with you, if that would be possible, to discuss practical uses of the work. I think it's time we created "Tree Politics", though the work "Political" seems very out of place.
Cordially,
Jean Giono
[edit] Footnotes
↑ the lead character from Giono's story The Man Who Planted Trees
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