DescriptionJourney to the End of the Night was the first novel of Louis-Ferdinand Céline that originally published in 1932 with its French title 'Voyage au bout de la nuit'. It was immediately acclaimed as a masterpiece. Céline qualified to shock all the critics by the peculiar and visionary writing manner. Initially, it was a big cascade for the novel and Céline when it was published in 1932 because of its aggressiveness, but quickly it gained success and liked by its readers in Europe, and later in America where it was published in 1952.
The novel is a semi-autobiographical work that follows the life of Ferdinand Bardamu, the protagonist of this novel. It is loosely based on the author's own experiences as a medical student during the first World War. The character Bardamu is the fictional alter ego or the replica of the author. Just like Céline, Bardamu is a medical student who survives World War I. He wanders through the jungles of colonial Africa, lives in the unnatural world of Industrial America, and heals the poor in a Parisian suburb as a failed doctor. The novel tells the story of Bardamu and his doppelgänger, Robinson, in a repulsive journey through life, through the world, and through death. He encounters Robinson all the time during his journey.
Céline's disgust with human folly, malice, greed, and the chaotic state in which man has left society lies behind the bitterness that distinguishes his idiosyncratic, colloquial, and visionary writing and gives it its force.Review- Céline's masterpiece is colloquial, invective, hyper-realistic, and boiling over with black humor in a sarcastic way. Journey to the End of the Night is a literary symphony of cruelty and violence that hurtles through the improbable travels of the petit-bourgeois (largely autobiographical). It is full of slang, obscenities, and a complete antiheroic. Each word and sentence explodes pure revulsion at society's idiocy and hypocrisy.
The book is ambitious in scope, it provides a concise and lucid introduction to major works of world literature from classical antiquity to the twentieth century. it is not confined to any single literary tradition or genre, and will cumulatively form a substantial library of textbooks on some of the most important and widely read literary masterpieces. The novel has a full account of its historical, cultural, and intellectual background, a discussion of its influence, and a guide to further reading. It has influenced French literature considerably.
Journey to the End of the Night is a novel of savage, exultant misanthropy, full of cynical humor and the blackest pessimism in respect of humanity. Its millions of readers across the world have admired Céline's work and got fascinated by his virtuosity as a writer. He buttoned relentlessly. The novel has been a common topic of conversation at dinner parties in Paris back in 1932 according to critic Albert Thibaudet. It's a great novel.
Louise-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of Louise Ferdinand Auguste Destouches who was born on 27 May 1894 in France. He was a French novelist, pamphleteer, and physician by a professional degree. He developed a new style of writing that modernized French literature with great influence. His most famous work is his first novel Journey to the End of the Night.
His work influenced a broad array of literary figures not only in France but also in the English-speaking world and elsewhere in the western world. His working style includes him in the authors associated with modernism, existentialism, black humor, and the Beat Generation.
Celine's work is in simple and ordinary language that mainly focuses on everything that bothers him during his journey, seems hypocritical and disastrous. The Church, the state, the national pride, the bourgeoisie (the petty middle-class), the decadent upper class, and humanity in itself. The novel scruff and hurtles its readers toward the novel's inevitable and sad conclusion.
Journey to the End of the Night is a novel of savage, exultant misanthropy, full of cynical humor and the blackest pessimism in respect of humanity. Its millions of readers across the world have admired Céline's work and got fascinated by his virtuosity as a writer. He buttoned relentlessly. The novel has been a common topic of conversation at dinner parties in Paris back in 1932 according to critic Albert Thibaudet. It's a great novel.
About the Author
Louise-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of Louise Ferdinand Auguste Destouches who was born on 27 May 1894 in France. He was a French novelist, pamphleteer, and physician by a professional degree. He developed a new style of writing that modernized French literature with great influence. His most famous work is his first novel Journey to the End of the Night.
His work influenced a broad array of literary figures not only in France but also in the English-speaking world and elsewhere in the western world. His working style includes him in the authors associated with modernism, existentialism, black humor, and the Beat Generation.
Céline's vocal support for fascism during the Second World War and his authorship of anti-Semitic and pro-fascist pamphlets have made him a controversial figure, which has complicated his legacy as a cultural icon.
He has been active in social awareness activities. His notable work includes four novels along with Journey to the End of the Night (1932), Death on Credit (1936), A Fine Mess (1941), and Castle to Castle (1968) in which Céline regained fame in later life with a trilogy of books which described his exile.
Céline died on 1 July 1961 of a ruptured aneurysm. His house burned down during the night of 23 May 1968, destroying manuscripts, furniture, and mementos.
He was married in 1943 to a French dancer Lucette Destouches who was his wife till his death. She died on 8 November 2019 at the age of 107 years.
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- Rating: 4.4/5
- Author: Louis-Ferdinand CélinePublisher: New DirectionsPublishing Date: May 17,2006Language: EnglishGenre: French Literature, War Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Classic American (Books)ISBN-10: 9780811216548ISBN-13: 978-0811216548Pages: 464Cost: $256.50 (Hardcover), $8.52 (Paperback)
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