Gabriel Chevallier

"Fear is a classic of war literature, a book to place on the shelf with Storm of Steel, A Farewell to Arms, and Going After Cacciato. Jean Dartemont, the hero of Gabriel Chevallier's autobiographical novel, enters what was not yet known as World War I in 1915, when it was just beginning to be clear that a war that all the combatants were initially confident would move swiftly to a conclusion was instead frozen murderously in place. After enduring the horrors of the trenches and the deadly leagues of no-man's-land stretching beyond them, Jean is wounded and hospitalized. Away from the front, he confronts the relentless blindness of the authorities and much of the general public to the hideous realities of modern, mechanized combat. Jean decides he must resist. How? By telling the simple truth. Urged to encourage new recruits with tales of derring-do service, Jean does not mince words. What did he do on the battlefield? He responds like a man: "I was afraid." Acclaimed as "the most beautiful book ever written on the tragic events that blood-stained Europe" for five years, prosecuted on first publication as an act of sedition, Fear appears for the first time in the United States in Malcolm Imrie's poetic and prizewinning translation on the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, the conflict with which the twentieth century came into its own. Chevallier's masterpiece remains, in the words of John Berger, "a book of the utmost urgency and relevance.""--

A Novel of World War I

Fear

Heldenangst / druk 1

Sainte Colline.

This is a new release of the original 1949 edition.

The Affairs of Flavie

Translated from the French by Xan Fielding

Clochemerle-les-Bains

Zvonodrozdovo

cinq récits

Mascarade

Jocelyn GODEFROI

Mascarade. Translated from the French by Jocelyn Godefroi

Four Stories

Sainte-Colline. Translated ... by Jocelyn Godefroi

Sainte-Colline, Roman

Sainte Colline

A funny look at the social and political dynamic of French village life. Gabriel Chevallier's delightful novel Clochemerle satirizes the titanic confrontation of secular and religious forces in a small wine-growing village in Beaujolais. The eruption begins when the socialist mayor decides that he wants to leave behind a monument to his administration's achievements. He takes as his model the ancient Romans, who were famous for two things: hygiene and noble edifices. Thus, he decides to unite the two concepts...by constructing a public urinal in the centre of town. There is one problem, however: the chosen locale is next to the village church, and this outrages the ecclesiastical party. *Perfect for fans of Joanne Harris’s Chocolate*

Clochemerle

Le public réclame à cor et à cri des livres gais, des livres divertissants, qui le changent des histoires sinistres ou morbides qu'on lui propose très souvent. En voici un : Clochemerle-les-Bains. De belles dimensions, bourré de faits critiques, d'intentions satiriques, et, au demeurant, d'une philosophie assez indulgente, ce livre contient une galerie de portraits assez inoubliables, qui ne le cèdent en rien aux précédentes créations du même auteur. On sait que Gabriel Chevallier excelle à typer fortement ses personnages et à les rendre vivants. Des noms sont sur toutes les lèvres : Justine Putet, Rose Bivaque, la belle Judith, le curé Ponosse, etc. qui servent de termes de comparaison. On en retiendra d'autres désormais : ceux du jeune docteur Suffock et de sa charmante femme Babasse, du milliardaire Tonio Texas, de l'aubergiste Ange Zucatti, du professeur Touille, etc. Tout ce monde là va s'employer, avec une ardeur peu commune, à transformer le paisible Clochemerle en une station " vino-thermale ". Cette transformation, on s'en doute, sera la source d'inénarrables épisodes héroïcomiques, une source aussi d'abondants revenus pour bien des gens, en particulier pour les médecins, que l'auteur n'épargne guère. Mais Gabriel Chevallier peut se permettre de tout dire. On l'admet de sa part parce qu'il manie supérieurement la langue. En fait, c'est un de ces bons prosateurs français d'aujourd'hui. Et qui est dans la grande lignée de nos satiriques, depuis Rabelais. Ce nouveau livre en apporte la preuve et en même temps celle d'une constante jeunesse d'esprit. On rira souvent en le lisant. Mais si on prend la peine de réfléchir, on découvrira que cet auteur qui fait rire pourrait bien être un moraliste terriblement lucide et pénétrant.

CLOCHEMERLE-LES-BAINS

roman

Les héritiers Euffe

Gabriel Chevallier

About

Books

Join the club