The Counterfeiters

All his life, contradictions between the sensual and the spiritual tore at him. He poured this conflict onto the pages of his books. His search became prose—more precisely, confessional prose. And perhaps that’s why his novels have had—and still have—an enormous influence on his contemporaries. The theme of authenticity and falseness—his “inescapable illusion”—freedom of will, perhaps, is the main thing in his work.

“The Counterfeiters” is the most famous novel by André Gide.