Journey to the End of the Night
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Robinson later dies after being shot by Madelon, who had tracked him down and threatened to turn him in to the police.[1]
Making and release
The novel draws on his experiences in World War One, colonial Africa, a 1925 visit to the United States, and his work as a doctor in Paris.[2] A fourth publisher, Denoël et Steele, accepted it after having a recent success with Eugène Dabit's L'Hôtel du Nord.[3] The title comes from the first stanza of the "Beresinalied", a song attributed by the author to the "Swiss Guards (1793)".[4] The poem was later set to music by various composers and associated with the French invasion of Russia.[5]
By the end of 1931, the manuscript was finished and sent to two small publishing houses as well as the prominent firm Gallimard; ultimately, Denoël et Steele, a fourth publisher, agreed to release it.[3] October 1932 saw the publication of Journey to the End of the Night.[3] The Prix Renaudot was conferred upon the novel in 1932.[6] Although it was the leading contender for the 1932 Prix Goncourt, that award went to Guy Mazeline's Les Loups.[6]
The controversy that erupted boosted the book's profile, leading to 50,000 copies being sold within two months.[6]
What the cited sources add
According to Thoma, the novel conveys a grim outlook on humanity, where pain, aging, and mortality stand as the sole enduring realities.[7][8] Thoma further contends that for the impoverished, existence is wretched; for the wealthy, it is pointless; and any belief in advancement or happiness is a deception.[7][8] Biographer Patrick McCarthy identifies hatred as a core motif, observing that the characters engage in hatred without cause, driven by an inner compulsion.[9] Merlin Thomas describes how Céline depicts war as an unstoppable power that reduces a normal person to a creature focused solely on staying alive.[10]
Thomas notes that Bardamu discovers that those who are poor and powerless, while unable to escape their destiny, still have the option to resist.[11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Céline, "Journey to the End of the Night", New Directions, 2006, p. 3–435 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vitoux, "Céline: a biography", Paragon House, 1991, p. 184–188 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vitoux, Frédéric (1991), pp. 196-200, 211. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Céline, "Journey to the End of the Night's epitaph", 2006; "Swiss Guards" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Die Nachtreise (1792), text for Beresinalied" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vitoux, Frédéric (1991), pp. 212-222 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thoma, "Louis-Ferdinand Céline", New Directions, 1980, p. 54–55 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Open Library record, ISBN 0811207544 ("Louis-Ferdinand Céline"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McCarthy, "Céline", The Viking Press, 1976, p. 57–58; McCarthy, Patrick (1976), p. 62. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thomas, Merlin (1980), pp. 45-48. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Journey to the End of the Night" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thomas, Merlin (1980), p. 48. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Journey to the End of the Night (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Journey to the End of the Night (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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