Nandja- An illustration of illustrations

“Of a more or less unfamiliar character, whose secret we feel might be learned merely by questioning ourselves closely enough.”

That’s precisely how I felt as I was reading Nandja. 

Nadja begins with the awful question of “who am I?” which sends the narrator into a spiral of self-doubt. It leads to the ideals of self discovery through art and theatre. Breton continues to make allusions to artists and art, presenting events that revolve around the issue of “can you separate the art from the artist?”.

I got lost in the text a few times owing to the overwhelming illustrations. These images sometimes helped me into the narrator’s consciousness, but otherwise they puzzled me.

There are early allusions of a woman who caught the narrator’s eye in Paris and inspired him to love the city. The author’s mention of various women and his desire to meet a lady in the woods was intriguing since it was a guessing game as to whether the women were real or a figment of his imagination. But finally he meets a woman who he deeply admires, Rimbuad.

Then he meets another woman, Nadja, who becomes the book’s main character. He develops strong feelings for her. The novel suddenly begins to revolve around Nadja, just as the narrator’s life began to revolve around her. The narrative begins with a great flow of events, and we can follow Nadja and Andre’s relationship. Throughout their relationship, the narrator becomes increasingly drawn to Nadja’s interest in his life and hobbies.

But soon, the narrator starts to lose interest in her. He once found her life stories intriguing, but they appeared to be made up. Nadja’s unusual behavior eventually becomes too much, and she is admitted to a sanitarium. Andre is skeptical that the sanitarium would treat her, and believes it will worsen her condition.

This book has a distinctive writing style. It started off as an exploration of the narrator’s personality via art, drama, dreams and his preferences. However, it evolved into a narrative about a tangled relationship that had many layers to reveal, from the author’s attraction to someone showing an interest in his life to that person slipping away due to mental disorders. It is a book about self-discovery and also a book about self-doubt. Andre begins by exploring his own identity before questioning his trust and faith in Nadja.

While I loved the book to some extent, I felt there were far too many illustrations, some of which were inconsequential. The book’s beginning confused me a few times, but as the narrative changed, I was immediately sucked back in. 

My question for you this week is: Was there a specific illustration that caught your attention among all the comparisons and illustrations that Andre provided?