Reading André Breton’s Nadja was an interesting experience for me. I honestly did not know what to expect when reading a surrealist novel. For me, the narrative felt like Breton was taking me through his diary, vaguely describing moments, yet at the same time, almost exposing too much. Certain parts, especially regarding the world around him and Nadja felt vague, but Breton’s descriptions of him and Nadja’s ‘affair’ felt like I was hearing something that should be kept secret. I put ‘affair’ in quotations as it is not 100% clear if Nadja reciprocated the same feelings Breton had for her. I also put ‘affair’ in quotations because as I was reading the novel I kept wondering ‘Is she even real??’. While this text is read as autobiographical and it’s clear from the video lecture that the novel is based on true events, I still couldn’t help but feel a sense of Nadja’s nonexistence. Maybe it’s the way she is described by Breton as ‘ethereal’ or how she describes herself as a “lost soul in limbo” on page 71. 

Breton’s description of Nadja felt like an obsession to the point where the object of the obsession becomes a figment of one’s imagination. Like Nadja was this fantasy woman Breton created in his head but never really completed, as seen with her name. I was genuinely waiting for the plot twist where it was actually him in the mental hospital due to him being driven to madness from love. I especially felt this when watching the video lecture and hearing that Nadja is a ‘lyrical manifesto’ and a ‘confession’. I agree with the novel (or ‘not novel’?) as a confession of not only Breton’s ‘affair’ with Nadja but also him confessing to turning Nadja’s story his own. Yes, Nadja said that one day Breton would write a novel about her, but I can’t help thinking a novel about her demise and Breton’s unconscious role in it to be the basis of the novel she wanted to be a character in. 

The ending of the novel, where Nadja is institutionalized without her consent felt like the ending to a movie where the bad guy goes ‘If I can’t have her, then nobody can’. Feeding into the idea of Nadja as this evil seductress that must be contained or else she will lead Breton and others to trouble. Both Nadja and Breton feed off of each other, furthering both of their suspensions of reality. 

I think this leads me to my overall takeaway from the novel highlighted in the ending line “beauty will be CONVULSIVE or will not be at all.”  of love as an obsession and this ‘all or nothing’ attitude of love. But what is love if not being obsessed with someone… right? But when does this obsession turn to madness? At what point do you step back and realize this situation is not right or healthy? My question for discussion, which may be hard to answer, is where do we draw the line between loving something or someone and being obsessed with them?