It is incredible how Paul Valéry’s prose is contagious! Especially in the essays, I find an enormous vivacity, unprecedented, in lines that expose great curiosity, erudition in various areas, lightness in the handling of language, precision in the observations and, above all, a completely new way of looking. I am surprised, for example, with some adjectives. Talking about intellectual or literary experiences, there we find the captivating délicieux, even if in adverbial form. Unless I am mistaken, this adjective has never once been evoked by these morbid fingers, neither in prose, nor in verse, nor in anything. Incredible! And, analyzing Valéry’s descriptions, the intellectual assimilation of his experiences, I suspect my perception to be flawed—or is it my experience? Whatever. Let’s work! And let’s start on this note: Valéry’s prose is deliciously exciting!
Paul Valéry’s Prose
