2 h 58 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 58 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if an entire Paris evening reaches you through the restless thoughts of a young man in love?
Daniel Prince steps out at the end of a working day with a good coat, a little money and a head full of hope. He longs for Léa d'Arsay, an actress whose attention shapes his evening. As he walks past cafés and along boulevards, eats and waits, desire keeps pulling his thoughts back to her.
In The Laurels Are Cut, Édouard Dujardin brings you inside Daniel's mind without a narrator to explain him. Love and money tangle as Daniel wants to give freely, yet knows his gifts buy attention and hope. Told almost entirely through his inner voice, this short novel makes ordinary moments feel close, uncertain and alive.
What you’ll discover
- A mind without a guide Follow what Daniel sees, fears and tells himself, without an outside voice explaining his feelings.
- Paris through a lover's eyes Walk streets and boulevards where the city becomes part of one young man's changing mood.
- The cost of attention Explore the uneasy place where affection, gifts and self-deception meet in Daniel's pursuit of Léa.
- Hope in ordinary moments Feel how walking, eating and waiting fill with expectation when someone longs to be loved.
- An experiment with lasting influence Discover the interior monologue that James Joyce credits with showing him a way to write.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy close portraits of a mind, gaslit Paris, comedy about love and money, and the roots of modern fiction.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The evening begins with a staircase and a friend
- A solitary dinner shows how a mind wanders
- Daydreams of wealth turn into a white bedroom
- A letter and an open window swing his mood
- Old letters tell the real story of the money
- A night walk, a sofa dream and a carriage ride
- Love and money cannot be pulled apart
- How the voice, the present tense and the details work
Who’s who
- Daniel PrinceA young law student who tells himself he loves Léa in a pure way, while spending money to be near her.
- Léa d'ArsayA young actress at the Nouveautés, charming, moody and often short of money, who keeps Daniel hoping and paying.
- Lucien ChavainneDaniel's practical friend and a clerk, who mocks his Platonism and goes to see a play at the Comédie-Française.
- Paul HénartAn old friend of Daniel who works for a railway company and is about to marry a young woman he met in a garden.
- MarieLéa's maid, who opens the door, lights the fire and fetches the carriage.
- Jules de RivareAn old schoolmate who has come to Paris and leaves a card inviting Daniel to breakfast.
Formats and delivery
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The Laurels Are Cut
by Édouard Dujardin · 1887
At six o'clock on an April evening in Paris, a young man climbs a staircase, bursting to talk about his actress.
Easy read2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
It is six o'clock on an April evening in Paris in 1887, and a young man climbs a staircase to tell his friend about the woman he loves. Before he reaches the top, you are already inside his head.
The Laurels Are Cut at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h 45 min1 h 25 min fast, 2 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 25,500 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1887by Édouard Dujardin
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The evening begins with a staircase and a friend
The story begins at six o'clock on an April evening in 1887. Daniel Prince, a law student, climbs the stairs of an office building to find his friend Lucien Chavainne. He is bursting to talk about Léa d'Arsay, a young actress at a small theater called the Nouveautés. Everything you learn comes through his thoughts, in short bursts that follow his eyes and his moods.
Notice how little is explained. Chavainne scolds him for wearing a round hat, and Daniel grumbles inside while saying almost nothing aloud. The thinking runs underneath the talk, like a second conversation that only you can hear.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1887
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 1 h 55 min
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Dujardin, Édouard. The Laurels Are Cut. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut.
Dujardin, É. (2026). The laurels are cut. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut (Original work published 1887)
Dujardin, Édouard. The Laurels Are Cut. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut.
@book{dujardin2026laurels,
author = {Dujardin, Édouard},
title = {The Laurels Are Cut},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut},
note = {First published 1887}
}
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What is The Laurels Are Cut about?
It follows one April evening in Paris in 1887, as law student Daniel Prince goes from his friend's office to dinner to the home of an actress he loves, with his thoughts shown as they come.
Who are Daniel Prince and Léa d'Arsay?
Daniel is a young law student who calls his love for Léa pure while paying her bills. Léa is a young actress at the Nouveautés, charming, changeable and often in need of money.
What does the title The Laurels Are Cut mean?
It comes from a line of an old French song about the woods and laurels cut down. In the book it echoes a love and hopes that seem to have been cut short.
The author
Édouard Dujardin
1861–1949 · French novelist and poet
Édouard Dujardin was a French writer born in Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt in 1861. He wrote novels, plays and poetry. His novel The Laurels Are Cut was published in 1887. He helped found the journal La Revue wagnérienne in 1885. He lived in France and died in Paris in 1949.
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