Les Conquérants

by André Malraux

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The Conquerors describes the struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communists in the Cantonese revolution of the 1920s. It is both an exciting war story and a gallery of intellectual portraits: a ruthless Bolshevik revolutionary, a disillusioned master of propaganda, a powerful Chinese pacifist, and a young anarchist. Each of these "conquerors" will be crushed by the revolution they try to control. In a new Foreword, Herbert R. Lottman discusses the political background of the book, and show more the extent to which Malraux invented the history he wrote about. "[The Conquerors] is a valuable introduction to Malraux himself, who would, like his fictional counterpart, become an analgam of talents as novelist, essayist, Leftist and Gaullist, Resistance hero and art critic. He was among the most 'universal' of French men of letters."—Choice "The novel can be enjoyed as a remarkable work of modernism. With images derived from the silent cinema and prose from the telegraph, it moves at a tremendous pace. Canton all comes to violent life, seen as though from a speeding car."—Kirkus "No other writer of the 20th century had the same capacity to translate his personal adventure into a meeting with history and a dialogue of civilization."—Carlos Fuentes, New York Times Book Review show less

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Los conquistadores describe la lucha entre el Kuomintang y los comunistas en la revolución cantonesa de la década de 1920. Es tanto una emocionante historia de guerra como una galería de retratos intelectuales: un despiadado revolucionario bolchevique, un desilusionado maestro de la propaganda, un poderoso pacifista chino y un joven anarquista. Cada uno de estos conquistadores será aplastado por la revolución que intentan controlar.
Amazon.fr : Tour à tour aventurier, communiste, résistant, visionnaire, romancier, ministre, André Malraux est une personnalité marquante de l'histoire du XXe siècle français. C'est cette vision protéiforme, unique et originale qui traverse Les Conquérants. Publié en 1928, ce livre dérouta la critique de l'époque, à la fois essai, récit de voyage, reportage, roman ou document historique. Divisé en trois parties, "Les approches", "Puissances" et "L'homme", il retrace la vie, en pleine révolution chinoise, de Garine et Borodine, aventuriers visant à l'émancipation du peuple chinois. Dans un style fort, Malraux mêle terreur, ruse et passion au service de la liberté. Dans les affres d'une révolution sans scrupule et show more impitoyable, ces deux hommes sont de nouveaux conquérants, entre drame classique et roman d'intrigue. Un classique de la littérature française du XXe siècle. --Florent Mazzoleni show less
ספר פוליטי על מאורעות (אמיתיים?) בזמן המהפכה הסינית של צ'אן קאי שק והקומינטרן בסין בשנות העשרים ועל היועצים הרוסים והאירופים שדחפו את המהפיכה. היה לי קשה קצת לעקוב עקב הבורות המוחלטת שלי במאורעות עליהם מדובר.

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196+ Works 6,622 Members
Andre (Georges) Malraux, 1901- 1976 French novelist Andre Malraux was born in Paris to a wealthy family. His father was Fernand-Georges Malraux, a stockbroker, and his mother was Berthe (Lamy) Malraux. He attended the Lycee Condorcet and studied oriental languages at the Ecole des Langues Orientales. His parents separated when he was a child, and show more his mother brought him up. His father committed suicide in 1930. Malraux was also considered an adventurer, art historian, and statesman. He was the Minister for Cultural Affairs for eleven years from 1958-1969. He worked as an art editor at Gallimard publishers in Paris. He attended archaeological expeditions in Iran and Afghanistan. At the age of twenty-one, Malraux went to Cambodia with his wife, writer Clara Goldsmidt, where he was imprisoned for taking bas-reliefs from a Khmer temple. In 1925, he went to Saigon and joined the anti-colonial Young Annam League. In World War II, Malraux served in a French tank Unit. He was wounded and captured, but he managed to escape and join the Resistance where he met General Charles de Gaulle. He escaped a second capture in 1944 and received the Medaille de la Resistance, the Croix de Guerre and the British Distinguished Service Order for his service. Malraux's short novel "Le Temps De Mapris" (1935), tells the story of a Communist who's held prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. In the Spanish Civil War, Malraux fought for the Republicans (1936-1939). He was wounded twice in the effort to stop Franco's advance on Madrid. His novel "L'Espoir" (1937) tells of Republican Spain in combat. This was also adapted for the screen in 1938 and the film was titled Sierrade Teruel. After "L'Espoir", Malraux divorced and had a liaison with Josette Clotis. She died in a railroad accident in 1945. At this time, Malraux broke from communism and began writing non-fiction. In 1948, Malrauxe married Marie-Madeline Lioux, a concert pianist and widow of his half-brother. In 1961, he lost his two sons in an accident. In 1958, when de Gaulle came to power, he was appointed first Minister of Information and then, a year later, Minister of State for Cultural Affairs. In 1967, Malraux's autobiography "Anti-Memoires" was published. In it, Malraux mixed fact with fiction and excerpts from his novels. Later volumes of his personal recollections involved Pablo Picasso, Leopold Sedar Senghor and de Gaulle. In "Felled Oaks" (1971), Malraux tells of his conversations with de Gaulle, his political idol. After leaving politics, Malraux retired to a suburb of Paris and continued to write until his death on November 23, 1976. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Les Conquérants
Original title
Les Conquérants
Alternate titles
The Conquerors
Original publication date
1928
First words
25th June 1925

A GENERAL STRIKE HAS BEEN CALLED IN CANTON.

The bulletin has been posted since yesterday, underlined in red.
Original language*
Français
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
DDC/MDS
843.912Literature & rhetoricFrench LiteratureFrench fiction1900-20th Century1900-1945
LCC
PQ2625 .A716 .C612Language and LiteratureFrench, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literaturesFrench literatureModern literature1900-1960
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325
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98,293
Reviews
3
Rating
½ (3.63)
Languages
9 — Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
23
ASINs
30