The Impostor
by Georges Bernanos
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The Impostor is a searching account of the torment that besets Father Cénabre, historian of mysticism and controversial star of the Parisian clergy, when his faith suddenly deserts him. As the priest struggles to cope secretly, he crosses paths with associates on the complex margins of a Church facing modern politics in the early twentieth century. Georges Bernanos's compelling and dark portraits of that shadowy world's inhabitants throw into stark relief the determination of a humble show more priest, Father Chevance, who alone knows Cénabre's secret and struggles to save him. By turn touching and scathing, The Impostor explores the delicate balance between redemption and damnation and illuminates the fragility of our constructed selves. Georges Bernanos (1888-1948), one of the twentieth century's most powerful and idiosyncratic writers, was also the most original Roman Catholic writer of his time. The Impostor, the second of his novels published in French, is the last to be translated into English. show lessTags
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The Impostor is a searching account of the torment that besets Father Cénabre, historian of mysticism and controversial star of the Parisian clergy, when his faith suddenly deserts him. As the priest struggles to cope secretly, he crosses paths with associates on the complex margins of a Church facing modern politics in the early twentieth century. Georges Bernanos’s compelling and dark portraits of that shadowy world’s inhabitants throw into stark relief the determination of a humble priest, Father Chevance, who alone knows Cénabre’s secret and struggles to save him. By turn touching and scathing, The Impostor explores the delicate balance between redemption and damnation and illuminates the fragility of our constructed selves.
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109+ Works 4,033 Members
A novelist and essayist, Georges Bernanos was interested in the struggle between good and evil within saintly individuals. He was born in Paris in 1888. He studied at the Sorbonne where he received a degree in law and in literature in 1909. He served in the military from 1909 to 1910 and again during World War I. After the war, Bernanos worked as show more an inspector for an insurance company. Bernanos's first major success as a writer came in 1926 with the publication of the novel Under the Sun of Satan. His well-known work The Diary of a Country Priest followed in 1936. Both novels traced the unknowing submission of characters, after some early disappointing experience, to the forces of Satan and the subsequent destruction of their moral selves. From 1930 to 1932, Bernanos wrote for Le Figaro. In his articles and essays, Bernanos pleaded for a renewed spirituality in France and a renewed moral integrity. Mouchette, a short novel set in a bleak village untouched by the twentieth century was published in 1937. As was The Diary of a Country Priest, Mouchette was made into a film by Robert Bresson. The writings of Georges Bernanos are concerned with the struggle between pride and innocence that lies within every individual. They treat spiritual concerns and the mystery of Christianity. Bernanos is considered among the most original of Roman Catholic novelists. Bernanos died of cancer in Paris on July 5, 1948. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Seuil, Points roman (R195)
Le livre de poche (0318)
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- L'imposture
- Original title
- L'imposture
- Original publication date
- 1927
- Original language
- French
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Members
- 88
- Popularity
- 364,616
- Reviews
- 1
- Languages
- English, Finnish, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 11
