[ book tip by Translated Tips ] Keresztesi József writes about the Hungarian edition of Utazás az éjszaka mélyére
Céline's classical work from 1932 is considered to be one of the wildest novels of the 20th century. We can follow Bardamu's, a picaresque hero's, journey through the turmoil of World War I from the African colonies to the United States, and then back to France. The whole structural establishment of Europe and the Western world is on the verge of collapse, and the novel plays upon its effects with grotesque and deadly humour.
Though the reading of the work is made even more difficult by the fact that Céline later collaborated with the Nazis, still it does not render its momentous impact. It is no wonder that the sarcastic language of the novel, sharply opposing the war, its radical anarchism, and well preserved left-wing views were highly accepted by, for example, the American beat generation of the 1950s.
Céline's work is at once full of vanity and disappointment, loss of illusion and passion, cynicism and solidarity. This utterly indistinguishable vibration, and disturbing duality do not allow the novel to be easily classified due to which it still manages to achieve the same disturbing reactions as it did when it was first published.
Altogether, this is an untameable and unnerving novel.

[ book info ] Céline, Louis-Ferdinand: Journey to the End of the Night. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1983 . ISBN: 0811208478.