Customer Reviews

Brilliant. - By: Andrew Barr, 24 Sep 2006
This is a wonderful translation to match the fluidity & cadence of Ralph Manheim's translations of Celine. As far as I am concerned Fable is, arguably, Celine's greatest work. The narrative leaps wherever & whenever Celine is inclined to lift it; to his childhoodin Paris, to the First World War, to London, to his experiences during the Second World War, to his treatment afterwards, to descriptions of old friends, enemies, publishers. It contains references to locations & characters familiar to readers of his previous work & also anticipates elements of the novels written after Fable,in fact, almost as though they were remembered before the fact. And ever present, no matter how grim the scene under description, is Celine's constant sense of humour. It is as though he were standing apart from his life, laughing at himself, at the absurdity of the situations he found himself a part of, & also, laughing at his own anger & rage.