Castle to Castle (French Literature)

I read somewhere that Michelangelo considered his artistic oeuvre--all the paintings and sculpture taken together--as one great work, each a sustained whole, and yet fragments of a grander, all-encompassing vision of life. The novels of Celine can be thought of in a similar way--as one large novel, one extended visionary statement, published in a series of volumes.In *Castle to Castle,* Celine takes up the rant where he last left off, a doctor-refugee and Nazi collaborator on the run with the rest of the Vichy government as Germany implodes during the final lap of WW2. As usual, Celine rails against hypocrisy, betrayal, greed, opportunism, and inhumanity wherever he sees it and he sees it practically everywhere--and an astonishing good deal of it directed, undeservedly, at himself! Poor Ferdinand, everyone hates him, is out to get him, makes him eat worms--well, honestly, when all is said and done, don't we all feel like that, more or less?A good part of *Castle to Castle,* more than is usually the case, is taken up with Celine's scathingly sarcastic diatribes against personal enemies, some more obscure than others, and even many of the less obscure requiring enough explanatory back-of-the-book editorial notes to become distracting. And, indeed, many of Celine's attacks are repetitious--they often seem to serve as a way to get him warmed up to begin the real subject of any given chapter, an angry theme upon which to build his endlessly vitriolic variations.You've got to hand it to the French--they aren't afraid to air their dirty laundry, to give the devil his day in court--and to fully appreciate this one has only to realize that Celine really was an incarnation of the devil back in the day. Traitor, Nazi collaborator, racist, anti-Semite, imprisoned, and perilously close to execution, Celine was deservedly, or not, widely reviled and yet publishing books like *Castle to Castle* not all that long after the activities that earned him so much ill-will...books in which he wasn't apologizing or offering explanations for anything, but launching a fierce and unrelenting counterattack! Talk about turning the stick in the wound! Not only was Celine still squawking but he had the nerve to point the finger back at his accusers, calling them, the great heroes of the Resistance, the real traitors and thieves! I can't imagine the parallel occurring in America. Maybe the recent O.J. "fictional" murder confession comes close and not even that was a matter of high treason, of being on the wrong side of the greatest war between good and evil in human history. Well, it just goes to prove what an open-minded people the French are. They'll entertain any viewpoint to any argument so long as it's entertaining enough. And that's one thing you can count on with Celine, even in an "off" effort like *Castle to Castle*--he'll entertain the boots off you.I'm not exactly sure where *Castle to Castle* falls in the chronology of Celine's exploits, not that it seems to make much difference. Even within his books, chronology is often as topsy-turvy as a city during a bombing. But *Castle to Castle* gives one the impression of a "transitional work"--rather like a car stuck between gears on an uphill grade, it never gets properly going while giving you the impression that it's just about to crest the summit and whatever comes afterwards will be quite a ride. Still, it's a text quite worth reading, especially by Celine fans, who can never quite get enough of the granddaddy of all ranters, this proto-blogger, this anti-literary terrorist.Celine considered his work--and his unique style--to be the forerunner of the writing of the future (a lot of folks, including the preeminent critic Roland Barthes agreed), and in spite of the immense influence he's already had on a number of major literary figures since--many of those themselves now long dead--it may well be that Celine's real influence is only now being realized in the angry, solipsistic, blackly comic, counter-cultural, fragmented first-person ravings of today's cyber-literary scene. Bristling with indignation, sputtering and spitting with outrage and outrageous insults, barely able to finish a sentence because the next one's rushing out right behind it, Celine's fragments are a kind of mental shrapnel flying in all direction, a mosaic of madness of which we're all heirs, an outrage over the general condition of things so uncontainable it exploded all conventional expression and left it to some unimaginable future to pick up the pieces. Celine, like all forms of terrorism, is a literary question to which we still don't have an answer. *Castle to Castle* is that rare book as important--if not more important--for how it says, as it is for what it says.

This is easily one of the finest books that I have read so far in 2014. Too bad I can't give it six stars. This writing style is quite unique but not at all hard to follow. The story itself is quite fascinating. The only caveat would be, that it would require some knowledge of WW II and some background knowledge in French literature and culture.I believe that this is an important work and in my mind ranks favorably with Heinrich Boll, Gunter Grass and Jens Bjorneboe on the German condition coming out of the second world war.There is a lot of negative press about Celine due to anti semitic pamphlets that he wrote during the 1930's. Be that as it may, he was still an extremely talented, influential and important writer. His work should not be missed.

Céline is one of the giants of literature of the 20th century...Death on Credit is a masterpiece...this trilogy is well worth the time and effort...too difficult? Go read Jodi Picoult and shaddup!

I purchased this as a gift for my son. My 4 stars is based on what he has told me. He is a big fan of Louis Ferdinand Celine.

Why aren't you reading Louis Ferdinand Celine? Few authors of the 20th century come close to the brilliance and sheer venom of the man. Nazi collaborator, anti-Semite, CASTLE TO CASTLE finds the author and his wife (and cat) on the run from the "fifis", the triumphant French Army, which is rolling through the countryside, wreaking a terrible vengeance upon any who actively cooperated with or aided the Germans. The stories of atrocities fill those who have sought shelter under the auspices of the defeated German army with terror and dread. Celine is, quite rightly, furious at the hypocrisy of it all--especially since a significant proportion of French intellectuals and artists sat out the war and certainly lied about or exaggerated their work with the Resistance. Surreal at times, always literate, Celine's voice ever-present, CASTLE TO CASTLE is one of the finest works by this tragically under-appreciated master of the printed word.

Castle to Castle is a bitter, virulent masterpiece. In it, Celine indignantly paints a portrait of the Vichy regime cowering in a castle from the regular RAF bombing runs. The characters are often well-known villains; they are just as often completely deranged about the realities of their increasingly hopeless situation.The crumbling collaborationist regime is only the background for the main show, however: Celine's scathing misanthropy. About a fourth of it is Celine ranting about his publishers screwing him over or his jackal relatives picking through his belongings while he was being driven out for. At all times, it is sharp and humorous.Celine is an old man when he wrote this, and it shows in the best way. His style is a bit unhinged compared to his earlier novels---he rambles and goes on tangents quite regularly. Some may find his style annoying ... one can turn to a random page and it be half ellipses. I would argue it suits him perfectly, and if anything he has improved over his career.I highly recommend this book to Celine fans. For those new to his work, I would maybe suggest reading his earlier works (Journey to the End of the Night and Death on Credit) first, just to get used to his style and character.

There's Hamsun, there's Céline, D.H. Lawrence to an extent, and that wraps up the greatest three novelists of the twentieth century. Why? Because they speak the truth, the unrelenting, unmitigated, absolute truth. You can take it or leave it, but is should be said. I like to imagine that some superior intelligence out in the outer space already knows this...Funny thing about Céline's 'war trilogy' is that it's not usually considered en par with his two classics, but it is just as mind-blowing. Of course, the Manheim translation does the justice to the genius of Dr. Destouches! Bravo.

Unfinished?