I'm sure this book deserves all the accolades it receives, I just wasn't in a space to read about war and suffering - stopped before I read 70 pages. ( )

A dark misanthropic essays blended into on book. Jim MORRISON, THE DOORS, READ MANY OF Celine's works and put Celin'es dark rage dark rage into his songs

For the last four years I have made it a point to read diffictult books, and this is the most difficult yet. Not because of syntax or complexity of thought, but because of the unrelenting pessimism of the protagonist's world view. I suspect that he closely mirrors the author, who never resists an opportunity to exemplify the contempt he feels for humanity. After reading this my mind needs a literary cleansing, the chance to read something upbeat and hopeful. Celine is the anti-Jane Austen. Where she celebrates gentility, manners and social connectedness, Celine rubs our faces in bigotry, hypocrisy and misanthropy. His one good character, a prostitute with a heart of gold (spare me!) , is exploited by his protagonist.. If you can get over the bile, this could be a great novel. The author daringly exposes lies that we accept without question, such as patriotism in the service of a war machine and the nobility of sacrifice. His description of the stinking streets of the poor sections of Paris will haunt me. The book is powerfully written and symbolically complex, especially the images of night and light. It's very odd how the protagonist Bardamu is a physician (again mirroring Celine himself) but has no desire to alleviate suffering or dedication to the profession. He just does his job to earn money. Celine never talks about Bardamu's childhood, or why he took up medicine. The book ends very abruptly ("But that's enough of that!") as if Celine got tired of the whole thing. ( )

quizas con el tiempo pueda apreciar el libro mejor. ahora mismo solamente me siento aliviado de haberlo terminado. me parece una voz muy particular, muy unica y quizas esa es la mejor contribucion del libro: una vision -misantropica- del mundo. me divirtio mucho al principio pero al final ya no tenia mucho interes. la narracion es episodica y no hay una trama construyendose. no sentimentaliza a los pobres pero me parece que hay issues de clase. siempre son "ellos". no se idealiza a si mismo pero me parece que los comentarios mas crudos siempre los dirige a los demas. esa crudeza al fin tambien en un reflejo mecanico, en un manerismo. un refugio, un recurso seguro. hay un resentimiento profundo en el libro. tambien hay algo que parece bien comic underground. es antiautoritario y un poco adolescente. esa aficion por lo sordido, como la de paschke es solamente otro tipo de fantasia. en este caso es una fantasia escatologica y algo violenta. ( )

Celine is one of my all-time favorite writers. He was ahead of his time, and woefully under appreciated in America. Although he was a physician in France in the early 19th century, he wrote in argot, the voice of thieves, vagabonds, urchins, and common folk. His gallows humor is unmatched, and his semi-autobiographical story has a darkness all of its own. I love Celine. ( )