5 h 53 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 53 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the soul you set out to save exposes the desires you think you have conquered?
In the Egyptian desert, Paphnuce leads a community of monks beside the Nile. He believes God has chosen him to save Thais, the actress and courtesan Alexandria adores. He knows her from his worldly youth, and her memory will not leave him alone. Certain of his purpose, he leaves the desert for the city.
Alexandria greets him with theatres, philosophers and pleasure, a world divided between old gods and new faith. Thais fears age and death and wonders whether another life is possible. In Anatole France’s short, ironic novel, their meeting tests the distance between holiness and appetite—and the danger of knowing what is good for someone else.
What you’ll discover
- Certainty under pressure Follow a severe monk whose mission brings him close to the world he rejects.
- A woman seeking change Meet Thais beyond the applause, where fear of death unsettles a life of admiration.
- A city of contrasts Step from desert austerity into Alexandria’s bright, crowded streets and enchanted theatre.
- A gentler kind of doubt Encounter Nicias, a philosopher who questions certainty and values beauty, books and kindness.
- Irony without easy answers Explore faith and desire through polished prose that refuses a plain moral.
Who will love it
For readers who love witty, philosophical fiction, and anyone curious about early Christian Egypt or the clash of faith and pleasure.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A proud monk in the desert
- Alexandria offers a feast and a skeptic
- The monk meets the woman he came to save
- A conversion, and a price
- What the story says about faith and desire
- How France tells it
Who’s who
- PaphnuceA severe abbot of the Egyptian desert who once lived in Alexandria and now believes God has chosen him to save a sinner.
- ThaisA celebrated actress and courtesan of Alexandria, admired by all, who fears age and death and wonders if a different life is possible.
- NiciasA rich, gentle philosopher and old friend of Paphnuce who doubts every certainty and prefers beauty, books and kindness.
- AlbineThe abbess who receives Thais into a convent and guides her in a new life of discipline.
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- Audiobook
- 5 h 53 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Taís
by Anatole France · 1890
A monk leaves the desert to save Alexandria's adored courtesan, bringing his own pride and desire into play.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Thais is a short novel by Anatole France, published in France in 1890. It is set in Egypt in the early centuries of Christianity, when hermits lived in the desert and Alexandria was a city of theatres, philosophers and pleasure.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A proud monk in the desert
The story opens among the hermits of the Egyptian desert. Paphnuce rules a community of monks on the bank of the Nile. He is severe, learned and fierce with himself. He fasts, he prays, and he longs to be admired in heaven as the best of the holy men.
He was not born to this life. As a young man in Alexandria, Paphnuce lived among the rich and the idle, and he knew the pleasures of the city. He gave all that up for the desert. Yet his memory keeps returning to one woman of those days, Thais, who has since become the most celebrated beauty in the city.
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What is Thais by Anatole France about?
It tells of Paphnuce, a monk in fourth-century Egypt, who goes to Alexandria to convert the beautiful courtesan Thais. The mission changes both of them, and the novel looks at pride, desire and the limits of religious certainty.
Is Thais based on a true story?
Not strictly. France published the novel in 1890, drawing on old Christian legends of a holy man and a repentant courtesan. The setting is the real world of early Christian Egypt, but the characters and events are his own retelling.
Who is Nicias in Thais?
Nicias is a rich, kindly philosopher of Alexandria and an old friend of Paphnuce. He is a sceptic who enjoys pleasure and doubts all certainties, and he serves as a contrast to the monk's fierce faith.
The author
Anatole France
1844–1924 · French novelist
Anatole France (1844–1924) was a French novelist, poet and essayist. He was born in Paris and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France. His novels include The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881), Thaïs (1890), The Red Lily (1894), Penguin Island (1908) and The Revolt of the Angels (1914).
More by Anatole France
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