Messages (1832-1860)-1-

Author's name: Charles Baudelaire Publisher: Al-Jamal Publications for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2022 Literary classification: Biographies and Memoirs Book overview: Every publisher of correspondence tends to become a biographer and defend their interests, disregarding the interests of others. Are we compelled here, to recognize the uniqueness of this book, to first seek to reveal its negative aspects? Should we prove that Baudelaire's correspondence lacks the diversity and density of George Sand's letters, and that, unlike Saint-Beuve's correspondence, it is not the literary record that describes half a century, and that, unlike Saint-Beuve's correspondence, it is not the unique reference for understanding the poet's works, just as Balzac's letters about human comedy are? And that it does not document, like Mermy's correspondence, news of political and social life, and that it does not offer, like Flaubert's letters about the era, man, and art, ideas worthy of an ethical writer? And that it does not possess the biting mystery characteristic of Stendhal's letters, nor express the splendid contempt found in Fénelon's letters, nor the passionate delirium or astonishing indifference overflowing from Chateaubriand's letters? And that it does not give the satisfying image of the self, reflected in Victor Hugo's letters? The letter writer loves writing them, and isn't Baudelaire the one who says about himself that he is "not skilled" at writing them? And "a letter costs me more to write than a book," or he writes it in his imagination, which delays its completion. The pleasure of writing a letter stems from a clear conscience, nourished by the small vanity we feel to add awareness to an unexpected event for someone who still does not know it.