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/lit/ - Literature

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16696240 No.16696240 [Reply] [Original]

How is it?

>> No.16696516

>>16696240
pretty fucking good
read the german translation don't know the english
it's got a kind of humor that i realy like
the plot is basically ferdinand going somewhere doing fuck all, insult some people go on with his life then robinson shows up and is a nuisance, ferdinand fucks off to somewhere else where life is even more miserable and repeat

>> No.16696672

Its like a warm bath that you plan to slit your wrists in. The anti-Dubliners. I think it's beautiful and comforting. Watch a bunch of wanky euro flicks first so you've got the visual elements on autopilot and let the misanthropy cradle you to sleep

>> No.16696704

>>16696240
Why don’t Frenchmen ever write about anything happy :(

>> No.16696730

Reading it right now, only 20% of the way through so I can't say much but so far I'm absolutely loving it.

Don't know if I would recommend it to a non French-speaker though, the prose is very idiosyncratic and slang-heavy and it strikes as the kind of novel that would lose a lot of its value in translation.

>> No.16696873

>>16696240
The author has a very refreshing way of writing where he will speak about things just enough for you to understand what he means and no more than that. It's something that you don't see very often in modern American literature; basically he treats the reader like an adult that has the ability to form thoughts and intuitively grasp concepts.

A very minor example of what I am talking about (not actually from the book) would be the statement "Some people think war is good." Lots of authors would feel the need to say "Some people think war is good, but I say it's a load of crap.", but Celine would just leave it at the first clause because it is obvious what his own opinion is on the matter. It's tough to describe it, but if you read the book, you'll see what I mean.

>> No.16696950

>>16696873
Good point. I'd describe it as a fundamental humility. Bardamu is a self-confessed coward and a cynic / borderline nihilist, and as a result is never arrogant when he gives the reader his opinions. Because he doesn't think much of himself, he doesn't act as if he's right or as if he's superior to the reader when he waxes philosophical about war or human nature.

>> No.16697441

>>16696873
yes, he is very neutral and judgement free in that regard. The main subject of the book is the journey trough different places and different people, different ideas etc. He does not judge them, but takes it for what it is until it reaches the point of nothingness. The structure of this novel is literally what Descartes does in his meditations and Hegel in his POS; you take up a position and without judging it you see where it reaches its own point of negativity. Negativity inherent in all of the thing propels the subject to go after other things, it produces some kind of permanent restlessness. That's why there is no preaching - preaching means believing in some kind of final position that you assume as the Truth and needs to be communicated to everyone. Kafka's Trial has a similar process of negativity. K. is on a journey all the time and it is absurd because every point in the story reaches its negation which propels the subject to go elsewhere.

>> No.16697462

>>16696672
>anti-Dubliners
I haven't read Journey to the End of the Night yet, but I'm curious what makes you use that description?

>> No.16697485

>>16696730
Would it be a very hard read for someone who is learning French? Everything I've heard about this book makes it sound like it's just in accordance to my taste, and I was hoping to be able to read it now that I've been able to read some of Houellebecq and Camus (entry level, I know) in the original French. Should I stay clear for now, or may I try?

>> No.16697490

>>16696240
It’s alright.
>>16696704
They’re channeling the decline of their empire.

>> No.16697538

>>16697490
What are your favorite books?

>> No.16697563

I couldn’t bring myself to keep reading after he got back from Africa

>> No.16697573

It suffers from Don Quixote syndrome.

>> No.16697996

>>16697573
I know you were hoping someone to ask you, but anyway: what's that?

>> No.16698033

>>16697485
try it, his use of 100 years old slang was a problem for me though

>> No.16698059

Gentlemen first

>> No.16698076

>>16697996
DQ is a great book but gets repetitive.

>DQ sees an inn; mistakes it for castle

>DQ comes upon peasant or mundane object; becomes nobleman or legendary item

>DQ is proven wrong; it is enchantment

Before everyone comes for my head, I love the book.JttEotN is a “same shit, different toilet” kind of novel

>> No.16698099

>>16698076
i made a thread about this a month or so ago and all I got was hate and told to read it again in a few years.
Unless this thread has already gone past everyone's radar you will get some hate for this opinion.

>> No.16698106

>>16696240
One of the greatest book ever written, very relevant to our times

>> No.16698124

>>16698076
>>16698099
There is nothing wrong with repetition.

>> No.16698127

>>16696704
Life : a user's manual, Zazie in the metro, Gargantua&Pantagruel are some happy French books if you're looking for some

>> No.16698153

>>16697462
Dubliners paints a picture of Dublin through the stories of its characters. Journey paints a portrait of Bardamu through the various settings he's appeared in. Irish nationalism is important to Dubliners. Bardamu hates his country and seems out of place everywhere. The characters in Dubliners experience epiphanies. Bardamu is the same misanthropic sack of shit at the end of the book as he was at the beginning.
I'm not that anon. Just throwing out some ideas.

>> No.16698184

>>16698124
It’s not necessarily a negative thing but it’s rarely positive.There is nuance involved that differs between books

>> No.16698224

>>16698099
Anons take it personally when you point out anything less than flattering in their favorite books.I love DQ but I call a spade a spade.There are very few novels that I would consider perfect.Almost all novels with more than 400 pages will have some type of filler or bloat

>> No.16698228

>>16698224
>Almost all novels with more than 400 pages will have some type of filler or bloat
Kat - Critique of pure reason ?

>> No.16698233

>>16698228
>Kant

>> No.16698255

>>16698153
Thanks, I see what you mean. What makes this worth reading if the main character experiences no development over the course of the story?

>> No.16698262

>>16698228
>>16698233
>Kat - Critique of Purina Reason

>> No.16698264

>>16698228
>novels

>> No.16698296

>>16698184
You just have adhd.
>>16698224
See above.

>> No.16698333

>>16698255
What's the point of development anyway?

And if anything he is writing from a position of cynicism caused y his experiences, so of course the story itself is going to e told cynically.

>> No.16698341

>>16698255
I think Journey appeals to someone who is borderline nihilistic and has no hopes for humanity ever getting over its stupidity, who is not devoted to any cause and kinda floats through life, yet is still very empathetic and can pull some beauty from pain and despair. This type of person doesn't need a story of development cause there's nothing good to build toward. It's edgy but in a very self-aware way. I just find I can relate Bardamu's life and rants to myself. It eases me. For a very specific example, whenever I'm on the toilet naked sweaty shitting water and near tears I think of Bardamu alone in the heart of Africa puking tomatoes with fever and it makes me almost enjoy diarrhea.

>> No.16698373

>>16696240
good

>> No.16698378

>>16698341
Could you say that Bardamu is somewhat akin to the superfluous man in that case?

>> No.16698390

>>16698296
I’ve read dozens of 700+ page novels, so you are wrong there

>> No.16698407

JOURNEY HAS THE GREATEST PASSAGE EVER WRITTEN EVER. THE ONE OF THE ILUSTRATION.

>> No.16698424

>>16698228
>>16698264
Ignore the haters anon, my favorite novella is On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason.

>> No.16698429

>>16698407
I can't remember this one... A lot of passages in this book are memorable though, I often think about Bardamu's reflexions on cinema whenever I'm in a movie theatre and there is some cute girl on the screen.

>> No.16698432

there's a great line in this book that has stayed with me. near the beginning, when bardamu's superior officer (?) catches a volley to the head, and what's left in his exposed skull is (paraphrasing) "clucking like a cauldron of jam"

>> No.16698497

>>16698378
No. Bardamu's a poor guy who gets fucked with by everyone and everything. He doesn't have any opportunity for leisure. The superfluous man's passivity comes more from a place of boredom, whereas Bardamu's comes from cowardliness and cynicism. He's closer to a vagrant.

>> No.16698512

>>16698407
What one?

>> No.16698532

>>16698512
i literally cant find it.
it is on the first part of the book, when Bardamu is at a psychiatric center after the war. one of the guys there, at the end of his stay leaves like three pages of a speech on the illustration.

>> No.16698591

>>16698532
I found it and I'll upload it

>> No.16698639
File: 611 KB, 2000x992, celine.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
16698639

>>16698532
>>16698591

>> No.16698667

>>16698639
thanks anon, i really enjoyed this part of the book.

>> No.16698905

>>16698059
Gentleman first

>> No.16699613

>>16696240
Depressing

>> No.16699625

>>16697538
I really liked the Melancholy of Resistance and Satantango recently. Since I read those, though, I kind of drifted away from reading novels slowly.

I read a ton of political philosophy and psychology for my job, and classical literature (like Homer, Ovid, Virgil etc.) and poetry for fun. I used to really enjoy books like Celine when I was younger but I have been losing interest every year that passes by.

>> No.16699628

>>16698255
It's hilarious, for one.

>> No.16699800

>>16696240
What translation should i get?

>> No.16700545
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16700545

What about this one?

>> No.16701246

>>16699800
Off the top of my head there are only one or two translations.It’s not a book that one reads for the prose so any popular one should be okay.I’m not saying the prose is bad but it’s simple and detached so it fits the book

>> No.16701590

>>16700545
very good too, I found it a little bit long towards the end but if you liked the journey you should definitely read it

>> No.16702226

>>16700545
even more edgy

>> No.16702486

>>16696240
Proto-Houellebecq with superior prose
>>16698407
>>16698512
Its actually this one

>“The worst part is wondering how you’ll find the strength tomorrow to go on doing what you did today and have been doing for much too long, where you’ll find the strength for all that stupid running around, those projects that come to nothing, those attempts to escape from crushing necessity, which always founder and serve only to convince you one more time that destiny is implacable, that every night will find you down and out, crushed by the dread of more and more sordid and insecure tomorrows. And maybe it’s treacherous old age coming on, threatening the worst. Not much music left inside us for life to dance to. Our youth has gone to the ends of the earth to die in the silence of the truth. And where, I ask you, can a man escape to, when he hasn’t enough madness left inside him? The truth is an endless death agony. The truth is death. You have to choose: death or lies. I’ve never been able to kill myself.”

>> No.16702818

>>16698076
adhd ridden zoomer

>> No.16704110

>>16698341

I really love this description. Absolutely based snd accurate

>> No.16704318

>>16702818
I posted earlier that I’ve read dozens of 700+ page novels and I was born in the 80’s.Reading comprehension is low with this board because I said I loved it.Anons take it personally if one of their faves is criticized.There is nuance in rating books believe it or not.

>> No.16704341

>>16697563
Second half is a MUCH slower pace, vut last chapter is great.