Guignol's Band: Louis-Ferdinand Céline.

great read - especially if you leave in London

There isn't much of a story here, but presumably you aren't expecting that from Celine. Set in London, so nice for a Londoner like me - I enjoy Celine's flexible geography. He capture's the spirit of London at that time convincingly, and refreshingly nothing much has changed in many ways.There are some incredible moments in this book, but overall not as good as Journey... read that first, take a few years out and then try this.What I can say is that the opening chapter is so intense I barely breathed through the whole thing. A masterclass in depicting the chaos of war. Absolutely stunning.I have a lot of affection for this book. Like you might have for a mad aunt who smells.

It's almost impossible to break Celine's works down into the usual category of "books." Basically everything he wrote, his entire oevre, is one metabook. If you want to get sequential, start with Death on the Istallment Plan and work your way up from there. DOTIP deals in large part with "Ferdinand's" childhood and we are treated to descriptions of a surreal upbringing (an entire neighborhood enclosed in soot-encrusted glass, a mother and father depicted as slightly less than imebeciles). I would then suggest reading Journey to the End of the Night (primarily about WW1 and his trip to America), Guignol's Band, London Bridge (Guignol's Band II), Rigadoon, Castle to Castle and North. All have been well translated.Don't be put off by puffy readers who say that these texts can only be appreciated in French. This is one author who comes through loud and clear (probably just as biting and clever in Swahili) in translation. Celine deals in high comedy and his novels move at the pace of a Mack Sennet or Charlie Chaplin film. The energy is always frenetic and he seldom allows you any lulls. The descriptions in this book of "The Leicester Boarding House," lorded over by Cascade, Dr. Clodovitz, the wounded-in-the-ass Joconde, Boro - master of the keyboards, but most of all Titus Von Claben, will leave you howling if Celine strikes a responsive chord. If he doesn't, then you have a different sort of sensibility than mine and should probably avoid this author at all costs.There is nothing Keilloresque about Celine. He came up out of the Paris slums and witnessed some of the most horrific scenes the 20th century produced. That he came out of it all with a sense-of-the-ridiculous intact is a marvel in itself. He was on the wrong side of most issues his entire life. He made some stupid choices. But those who maintain that he wallowed in self-pity are way off the mark. He always points to himself as his own worst culprit. He never pretends to heroism. He is, like Chaplin, always the fall-guy, but is also, in the same light, a survivor. He gets up after his prat-falls, dusts himself off and heads on towards the next chapter.

Exceeded my expectations.

If you are a fan of Celine you have to read Guignol's Band. It may not be his very best and it's not the book I would recommend to someone reading Celine for the first time, for that I recommend Journey to the end of the Night or Death on the Instalment Plan, but it's essential reading for those who love Celine. One warning though Guignol's Band is not a complete novel, it is the first quarter of a novel that is finished in London Bridge. Apparently Celine was under pressure from his publisher to release something quickly and he makes it clear from page one that this is just part one, so buy this book with London Bridge.