Kola Brenjon
In this work, written during World War I, Rolland contrasts the destructive hatred with the joy of life, humor, and solidarity. Kola is a kind of Burgundian Falstaff or Rabelais' Gargantua – rough but noble, earthly but deeply humane.
Burgundy, 1616. Kola Brenjon, a cheerful, plump carpenter and carver from the small town of Clamecy, tells us his life in the first person. Although he is over 60 years old, he is full of joy of life, loves good wine, women, jokes and his craft. The book is actually his diary through one turbulent year.
Kola loves freedom and his homeland, but hates hypocrisy, fanaticism and tyranny. When wars come to Burgundy (the Thirty Years' War is just knocking on the door), plague and religious conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots, Kola remains true to himself: he helps both, ridicules all those who pretend to be important and enjoys life even when his house burns down and his friends die.
Despite suffering, illness and death, Kola Brenjon remains a symbol of unwavering optimism and the French "joie de vivre". In the end, seriously ill with the plague, he nevertheless recovers and celebrates life with the words: "I am alive! I am alive! It is good to be alive!"
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