Rate this book

Le Chaos Et La Nuit (1963)

by Henry de Montherlant(Favorite Author)

3.67 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

2070103781 (ISBN13: 9782070103782)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Gallimard

review 1: A novel of the washout, the failure, and the absurd conservative nature of the former radical. In this case, it is Celestino, former Spanish Civil War anarchist-fighter, who has lived in exile in Paris for twenty years raising his daughter who only pretends to listen to his dumb philosophical rantings. He writes political manifestoes and critiques and occasionally gets published. As he nears 70, what he can't figure out is why none of these bourgeois pigs, including his daughter, will listen to him? The fools! Don't they realize that he, hero of the war, fighting for Spain's glory is the only voice they need heed?Celestino is adrift in a world of long-dead illusions, he is lost because, frankly, no one cares about the Civil War any longer, shown starkly when he finally vis... moreits Spain after his sister dies. Paranoid, seeing spies lurking everywhere and everyone out to get him, he begins utter black collapse, brought to its nadir by his attending a bullfight where even those guys can't get it right and he realizes with mounting horror that he is the bull.This is very much a intensely focused character study. There is little else to the book outside Celestino, which makes for a tight introspective on various themes. Some "good shit" as they say.
review 2: Not what I was expecting- I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't latter day Celine. Montherlant's protagonist is an anarchist who, thanks to self-obsession and an almost pathological hatred of actually existing human beings, turns into a nihilist, despite his own better judgment. HdM does a nice job mixing up omniscient third person narration and free indirect discourse. It's quite tricky, sometimes, working out whether we're reading 'Celestino,' HdM, or HdM's thoughts on Celestino's thoughts... and so on. Anyway, plenty of irony, which apparently a lot of readers don't pick up on, despite the author's preface (in which he denies having any of the thoughts in the book, and denies that he was trying to paint a portrait of 'The Left' in general). I don't know how much of the 'philosophy' of this book HdM truly believe; I'd like to think none of it. But who knows. Novelists aren't necessarily the brightest bulbs in the box. Otherwise, plenty of nifty aphorisms, a killer ending, and a fabulous scene in which Celestino watches a bullfight. Also, it's short, and, pace Celine/Dostoevsky etc., nihilism is best treated quickly. And well translated. On the down side, what's with all the typos? Get on that, NYRB. less

Download links for: Le chaos et la nuit

Advertising