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decu777's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline is a novel chronicling the life of it's antihero Bardamu as he is thrown into scenario after scenario, each more brutal than the previous in life's machinations. It's crude, it's brutal and the narrator seemingly doesn't care to make the reader's experience any easier, but that's where it's brilliance comes from.
This is one of the books where the main character displays a depravity so accentuated that you cannot figure out if it was made this way on purpose or not. When given chance after chance by Providence itself, our antihero rejects them, again and again and again, the only discernable reason being his vanity, of which he is paradoxically aware of. Surprisingly, his accentuated vanity does not end up being his downfall.
This is one of the books where the main character displays a depravity so accentuated that you cannot figure out if it was made this way on purpose or not. When given chance after chance by Providence itself, our antihero rejects them, again and again and again, the only discernable reason being his vanity, of which he is paradoxically aware of. Surprisingly, his accentuated vanity does not end up being his downfall.
j_ata's review against another edition
3.0
Organizing years worth of computer files, I came across this review, probably written about six years ago or so. I have to admit it didn't make as much of a lasting impression as I had expected it would:
I'm not exactly sure what drew me to this rather large novel in the first place, as solider narratives are typically not my thing (it probably has to do with the bad experience I had in high school with Crane's [b:The Red Badge of Courage|35220|The Red Badge of Courage|Stephen Crane|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516YZA2H0EL._SL75_.jpg|2314709]). But[i] Journey to the End of the Night[/i] presents more than a gritty look at the tortures of war, but provides a clear demonstration on how dramatically WWI altered how its participants (both military members and civilians alike) viewed the world. Though Céline apparently weaved fiction into his novel, Journey is obviously autobiographical, and puts us right into the main character's head through a semi-stream of consciousness technique that eventually achieves a brutal power through Céline's rather artless prose. A relentlessly bleak view of the world and humanity, Céline vividly paints the progression as indeed a journey into the indifferent darkness of night. Haunting.
I'm not exactly sure what drew me to this rather large novel in the first place, as solider narratives are typically not my thing (it probably has to do with the bad experience I had in high school with Crane's [b:The Red Badge of Courage|35220|The Red Badge of Courage|Stephen Crane|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516YZA2H0EL._SL75_.jpg|2314709]). But[i] Journey to the End of the Night[/i] presents more than a gritty look at the tortures of war, but provides a clear demonstration on how dramatically WWI altered how its participants (both military members and civilians alike) viewed the world. Though Céline apparently weaved fiction into his novel, Journey is obviously autobiographical, and puts us right into the main character's head through a semi-stream of consciousness technique that eventually achieves a brutal power through Céline's rather artless prose. A relentlessly bleak view of the world and humanity, Céline vividly paints the progression as indeed a journey into the indifferent darkness of night. Haunting.
urikastov's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
synthecision's review against another edition
2.0
An overlong, dreary farce; much like the narrator's view of life. Ironically, I couldn't quite make it to the end of the journey.
lizardking_no1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
moncoinlecture's review against another edition
4.0
4,5
Quelle écriture. Une expérience que cette lecture.
Quelle écriture. Une expérience que cette lecture.
cameronius's review against another edition
5.0
I read the sequel to this book, Death on the Installment Plan, first by mistake. Whereas the sequel is more frantic and reliant on Celine's style of abusing ellipses, Journey to the End of the Night is a slightly more traditional novel. Though I have a slight preference for the sequel, both books are dark, hilarious and worth their spot in the pantheon of French literature.
serranouaille's review against another edition
4.0
Céline nos escribe desde el lado oscuro del siglo XX. Allí por donde deambula, él destruye cualquier rasgo con algo de positivo y sólo queda desconsuelo. Y, porque sus andanzas le han hecho testigo de los aspectos principales del siglo pasado, no hay ámbito que se escape de su pluma amarga: la guerra, el arte, la medicina, el colonialismo, las relaciones humanas… Su forma de enfrentarse a todo es siempre la misma: huir, desertar. ¿Un cobarde o un hombre atormentado por su excesiva lucidez?
Sin Céline no habría hoy Houellebecqs ni Beigbéders. Ese lado oscuro que él retrata es una faceta más de nuestra condición humana, como no puede haber día sin noche, ni luz sin tinieblas.
Sin Céline no habría hoy Houellebecqs ni Beigbéders. Ese lado oscuro que él retrata es una faceta más de nuestra condición humana, como no puede haber día sin noche, ni luz sin tinieblas.
mariatambien's review against another edition
Imagínate escribir tu primera novela y que te salga esto