Journey to the End of the Night Book Summary

In 'Journey to the End of the Night,' Céline takes readers on a dark and unsettling odyssey through the horrors of war, despair, and existential dread. The protagonist, Ferdinand Bardamu, navigates a post-World War I landscape filled with both absurdity and brutality, challenging the conventions of society and morality. The novel is renowned for its raw, fragmented style and unflinching portrayal of human suffering, inviting readers to confront uncomfortable truths about existence. As Bardamu spirals through life, he grapples with questions of fate, meaning, and the human condition. This provocative and groundbreaking work remains a profound exploration of the depths of human experience, leaving an indelible mark on literature.

By Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Published: 2006

""To be an intellectual really means to be able to take the side of the underdog against the overdog.""

Journey to the End of the NightBook binding

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Book Review of Journey to the End of the Night

Louis-Ferdinand Celine's revulsion and anger at what he considered the idiocy and hypocrisy of society explodes from nearly every page of this novel. Filled with slang and obscenities and written in raw, colloquial language, Journey to the End of the Night is a literary symphony of violence, cruelty and obscene nihilism. This book shocked most critics when it was first published in France in 1932, but quickly became a success with the reading public in Europe, and later in America where it was first published by New Directions in 1952. The story of the improbable yet convincingly described travels of the petit-bourgeois (and largely autobiographical) antihero, Bardamu, from the trenches of World War I, to the African jungle, to New York and Detroit, and finally to life as a failed doctor in Paris, takes the readers by the scruff and hurtles them toward the novel's inevitable, sad conclusion.

Book Overview of Journey to the End of the Night

About the Book Author

L

Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894-1961) was a groundbreaking French novelist and physician, renowned for his innovative and controversial writing style that combined colloquial language with deep psychological insight. His most notable works include 'Journey to the End of the Night' (1932), which explores the absurdity and brutality of life through a semi-autobiographical lens, and 'Death on the Installment Plan' (1936), a provocative narrative that delves into the desolation of modern existence. Céline's use of fragmented sentences, slashes, and a unique rhythm shaped modern literature and influenced subsequent generations of writers.

Book Details

Key information about the book.

Authors
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Published
January 2006
Publisher
New Directions Publishing
ISBN
0811216543
Language
English
Pages
468
Genres
Modern LiteratureExistentialismLiterature

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"To be an intellectual really means to be able to take the side of the underdog against the overdog."

Journey to the End of the Night

By Louis-Ferdinand Céline

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