|
Product Description
Jean Echenoz, considered by many to be the most distinguished and versatile living French novelist, turns his attention to the deathtrap of World War I in 1914. In it, five Frenchmen go off to war, two of them leaving behind a young woman who longs for their return. But the main character in this brilliant novel is the Great War itself. Echenoz, whose work has been compared to that of writers as diverse as Joseph Conrad and Laurence Sterne, leads us gently from a balmy summer day deep into the relentlessand, one hundred years later, still unthinkablecarnage of trench warfare.
With the delicacy of a miniaturist and with an irony that is both witty and clear-eyed, Echenoz offers us an intimate epic: in the panorama of a clear blue sky, a bi-plane spirals suddenly into the ground; a piece of shrapnel shears the top off a man’s head as if it were a soft-boiled egg; we dawdle dreamily in a spring-scented clearing with a lonely shell-shocked soldier strolling innocently toward a firing squad ready to shoot him for desertion.
Ultimately, the grace notes of humanity in 1914 rise above the terrors of war in this beautifully crafted tale that Echenoz tells with discretion, precision, and love.
With the delicacy of a miniaturist and with an irony that is both witty and clear-eyed, Echenoz offers us an intimate epic: in the panorama of a clear blue sky, a bi-plane spirals suddenly into the ground; a piece of shrapnel shears the top off a man’s head as if it were a soft-boiled egg; we dawdle dreamily in a spring-scented clearing with a lonely shell-shocked soldier strolling innocently toward a firing squad ready to shoot him for desertion.
Ultimately, the grace notes of humanity in 1914 rise above the terrors of war in this beautifully crafted tale that Echenoz tells with discretion, precision, and love.
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- Empires, Soldiers, and Citizens: A World War I Sourcebook
- The Whispering Muse: A Novel
- A Grain of Wheat (Penguin African Writers Series)
- Cultures of the West: A History, Volume 2: Since 1350
- Life After Life: A Novel
- The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
- Three Summers (New York Review Books Classics)
- The Palace of Illusions: A Novel
- Affections: A Novel
- The Teeth of the Comb & Other Stories
*If this is not the "1914: A Novel" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link. Details were last updated on Nov 4, 2024 05:13 +08.