Les Caves du Vatican

by André Gide

"Les Caves du Vatican" by André Gide is a novel published in 1914. Gide classified this work as a "sotie"—a deliberately disjointed narrative that weaves together multiple plotlines and characters. The story follows a Catholic traditionalist and his freethinking brother-in-law, a band of swindlers spreading rumors about the Pope being imprisoned in the Vatican's cellars, and young Lafcadio, captivated by his mystique of the gratuitous act. This tale explores the folly of certain intellectual commitments and the gravity of their consequences.