One of the greatest writers of the 20th century--even Beckett (who was the polar opposite in terms of politics) admired his precise, brilliant prose. ( )

Castle to Castle is the first of Celine's very highly subjective trilogy of books concerning his World War II experiences and adventures. For those who might not be in the know Celine found himself somehow on the wrong side of the equation during the war mainly due to his anti-semetic, anti-communist ideology as not much else fit very easily into a nazi or fascist worldview. Castle to Castle published originally in French in 1957 first begins in present time with the somewhat embittered narrator recounting his fall from grace--the present day hardships of trying to scrape by as a certified doctor with no car, no maids, no patients to speak of, something of a pariah etc. on noodes and vegetables and bedeviled by crank callers on the phone and at his door and the odd malaria attack; occasionally taking us back to those heady times before he fled from Paris a target of the Communist resistance. Eventually comes the big malarial attack from which he hallucinates the arrival of the french film actor and former friend Le Vigan. Then we're finally off to the races to Baden Baden with his wife Lili and cst Bebert in tow in I believe 1943 with a host of refugees many from the hoi polloi on the run from the allies and not always in the good graces of the Nazi's or their Vichy allies and subject to mysterious and sinister disappearances. Those authorities taking a particularly dim view of Bebert the cat. For those who don't know Celine his writing style is unique--comparable to an electric current--steady and rhythmic--it tends to grab hold and doesn't let go. While this really cannot be considered historical fiction in any true sense of the word it does give some very penetrating and candid portrayals of many of the major personalities of the Vichy regime and a few nazi's besides. Celine has a nasty and sometimes violent sense of humor--though the violence is more controlled here. The second book and real masterpiece 'North' is still to come but this was a very interesting start. ( )