North by Louis-Ferdinand Celine. New York. 1972. Delacorte Press. Translated from the French by Ralph Manheim. A Seymour Lawrence book. 455 pages. hardcover. Jacket design by Paul Bacon.
DESCRIPTION - LOUIS-FERDINAND CELINE is a controversial figure in contemporary literature. When he died in 1961, he was regarded as one of the foremost French writers and at the same time denounced as a charlatan, racist, and Nazi collaborator. Céline's growing reputation in the United States is based on two novels, DEATH ON THE INSTALLMENT PLAN and JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT, which are widely read in colleges and universities. His posthumous novels, CASTLE TO CASTLE, NORTH, and RIGODOON, are regarded as major novels and have increased Céline's stature as a significant writer of the twentieth century. Céline describes wars as the migrations of peoples. NORTH is his personal migration during World War II. The major part of this book takes place in a strange encampment where conscientious objectors building coffins, Berlin whores, a curious family of nobles, and refugees wait for the Allies while watching the distant air raids on Berlin and looking with fear across the long plain that stretches to the Urals. Céline keeps his sanity by working as doctor; the prostitutes kill one of the noblemen; Céline's actor friend Vigan goes temporarily insane as a universe of destruction and depravity is unleashed within the confines of the encampment. When finally the Allies and the Russians are on their way, Céline has shown us both his tenderness and his rage, and we have descended all the circles if Hell.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel Journey to the End of the Night (1932) won the Prix Renaudot but divided critics due to the author's pessimistic depiction of the human condition and his writing style based on working-class speech. In subsequent novels such as Death on the Installment Plan (1936), Guignol's Band (1944) and Castle to Castle (1957), Céline further developed an innovative and distinctive literary style. Maurice Nadeau wrote: "What Joyce did for the English language...what the surrealists attempted to do for the French language, Céline achieved effortlessly and on a vast scale." From 1937 Céline wrote a series of antisemitic polemical works in which he advocated a military alliance with Nazi Germany. He continued to publicly espouse antisemitic views during the German occupation of France, and after the Allied landing in Normandy in 1944, he fled to Germany and then Denmark where he lived in exile. He was convicted of collaboration by a French court in 1951 but was pardoned by a military tribunal soon after. He returned to France where he resumed his careers as a doctor and author.Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel Journey to the End of the Night (1932) won the Prix Renaudot but divided critics due to the author's pessimistic depiction of the human condition and his writing style based on working-class speech. In subsequent novels such as Death on the Installment Plan (1936), Guignol's Band (1944) and Castle to Castle (1957), Céline further developed an innovative and distinctive literary style. Maurice Nadeau wrote: "What Joyce did for the English language...what the surrealists attempted to do for the French language, Céline achieved effortlessly and on a vast scale." From 1937 Céline wrote a series of antisemitic polemical works in which he advocated a military alliance with Nazi Germany. He continued to publicly espouse antisemitic views during the German occupation of France, and after the Allied landing in Normandy in 1944, he fled to Germany and then Denmark where he lived in exile. He was convicted of collaboration by a French court in 1951 but was pardoned by a military tribunal soon after. He returned to France where he resumed his careers as a doctor and author.Céline is widely considered to be one of the greatest French novelists of the 20th century, and his novels have had an enduring influence on later authors. However, he remains a controversial figure in France due to his antisemitism and activities during the Second World War.
See if zenosbooks.com has any books for sale by this author
