''Colline'' is a 1929 novel by the French writer

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

. It has also been published as ''Hill of Destiny''. It tells the story of a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

where the superstitious residents struggle against nature, as their settlement is struck by several misfortunes. ''Colline'' was Giono's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

. It is the first installment in the author's Pan trilogy; it was followed by the standalone novels '' Lovers are Never Losers'' and '' Second Harvest''.

Plot

A wild boar enters a village by the Lure mountain range. The villagers try to kill the boar but it manages to escape. The local spring goes dry which causes unrest. At the same time, the bedridden, paralysed village elder Janet begins to speak incomprehensibly. Other misfortunes follow, including a devastating forest fire, and the villagers begin to suspect that Janet is the source of the problems. In hope that it will end the misfortunes, the villagers agree that they should kill Janet. Just before they kill him, though, he dies of natural causes. The boar once again enters the village. This time the villagers succeed in killing it.

Publication

The book was published in 1929 by Bernard Grasset. An English translation by Jacques Le Clercq was published as ''Hill of Destiny'' by

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in 1929. A new translation by Brian Nelson was published in 1986 as ''Colline''.

Reception

Teodore Purdy Jr. wrote in '' The Saturday Review'': "Giono's particular distinction lies in the emphasis which he puts on the unknown element, the hidden malice which accompanies every event of his story. ... The power of the soil, the trees, and the beasts of the field,—'even the small ones,' M. Giono adds,—over the blindly struggling peasant has seldom been more eloquently stated. M. Giono's manner is simple and unaffected, since he has not yet acquired academic airs and graces."

References

{{Authority control 1929 French novels French-language novels Novels set in Provence Novels by Jean Giono Éditions Grasset books