I really would not know how to describe this one, so I am going to resort to using the publishers blurb.

The gothic setting of a lonely castle in the middle of thick, dense woods contrasts with the contemporaneity of the characters who inhabit it: a dissolute, rich and aimless young man who invites his best friend to stay in his newly-acquired chateau. The friend arrives not alone, but with a beautiful woman whose detached amorality disturbs both men.

My Thoughts

I picked this one up because it looked interesting and it worked well for the Lost in Translation Challenge, but I think it mostly went over my head.

JULIEN GRACQ (the pseudonym of Louis Poirier), was born in 1910 and became a teacher of history and geography at a Paris lycee. In 1939 he met Andre Breton and though influenced by the Surrealists he established his own style of expressive and rich prose. He resolutely refuses to be part of the French literary scene over which he has had so much influence, having refused the Prix Goncourt in 1951.

- Publishers Bio

I could see some of what fans of this type of literature see in this one, the surrealist dreamlike prose is obviously well done, but just not for me. I found the very same thing and the complete lack of dialogue, prevented me from truly slipping in to the story.

“At the other end of the bay, where the wretched grasses gave place to naked beaches, Albert urged his horse toward a melancholy assemblage of worn grey stones fashioned by the hand of man and which, as he drew nearer, seemed to all appearances, to be a graveyard long since abandoned.”

[rating:2.5/5]

Buy, Château d’Argo by Julien Gracq, from The Book Depository.

Tweet