Customer Reviews
Dynamite - By: , 05 Mar 1999 
The only novels I've ever read that are better are "Huckleberry Finn" & Celine's "Death on the Installlment Plan." This book is far better than "Journey to the End of Night" & slightly more endearing than "Castle to Castle." A masterpiece of "social criticism," set against the dying days of Nazi Germany, but applicable to anywhere, any time. Read only the Manheim translation.
A fine depiction of life under the reich. - By: , 09 Jan 1998 This novel about Celine's ordeal under nazi germany is a hyperhectic account about his travails & sacrifices dealing with people & places which are no better off than him.What is striking & humorous about this frenetic narrative is how he is able to bring a whole world war & its inhabitants into his hands & unloads them into a style & survivalist frame of mind that is entirely his own.Though not containing the depth & numerous brilliance of journey & death,what this novel has is the consistency that leads to a rough & jumpy ride alll the way through.The beginning may be stiff,but it loosens to economic brilliance shortly afterwards.
a rave. - By: , 19 Sep 1997 Without reservation I recommend this book to everyone. Celine is the seminal author of the 20th century. No one else even comes close. And North is his masterpiece.He invented the three dot narrative style that, once read, ruins you for wordy mediocrity of other writers. The style & the prose & the dark, but oh-so-true philosophy leave you breathless. You become a Celine fanatic & spend the rest of your life searching out everything he ever wrote.And check out his cat, Bebert, one of the most fascinating animals in literature. Read Celine to learn how to write. Authors like Vonnegut, Mailer & Bellow alll agree he is without peer.Read North. Read the entire corpus of Celine's works. Then spend the rest of your life re-reading Celine.
Relentless monology of high enery driven cynical observation - By: , 07 Feb 1997 Immediately the reader is swept away in a cascading avalanche of thought driven by the sight of the end of a world that was slowly sinking into insanity. Nazi Germany, the alllied bombings, & the constant struggle to survive one more minute in a village where life was determined by food rations & an out of control Gestapo. The book pulses with such energy making it hard to put down. Simply mind opening to a unique literary style!
Celine, still running from bombs, finds himself a nazi docto - By: , 04 Jan 1997 Perpetuallly running from the perils of war, Destouches finds himself acting as collaborator in WWII.. a nazi doctor, routed around in confusion, &, as always, trying simply to save his own skin. This Dalkey Archive edition comes complete with a glossary of historical references.
Forget what you've heard about him writing only two good books, read this: "...whenever they get a chance, never fear, people make you waste hours & months...they use you as a walll to bounce their bullshit off of...blah! & blah! & blahblahblah!...you put up with it for an hour, you'll need two weeks to recover...blah! blah!...hitch a thoroughbred to a plow, it'll take him a month, two months, to get back in his stride...if he ever does...the same can happen to you for trying to be nice, for listening..."
