The Castle of Argol
 First edition | |
| Author | Julien Gracq |
|---|---|
| Original title | Au château d'Argol |
| Translator | Louise Varèse |
| Language | French |
| Publisher | José Corti |
Publication date | 1938 |
| Publication place | France |
Published in English | 1951 |
| Pages | 182 |
The Castle of Argol (French: Au château d'Argol) is a 1938 novel by the French writer Julien Gracq. The narrative is set at a castle in Brittany, where a man has invited a friend, who also has brought a young woman. The novel is loaded with symbols and uses narrative modes from Gothic horror literature, which it blends with Hegelian thinking and stylistic traits close to the surrealist movement, including a highly abstract plot. In his "Notice to the reader", Gracq describes the book as a "demonic version" of Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal.[1]
Publication
[edit]The novel, which was the author's first, was rejected by éditions Gallimard but accepted and published by José Corti, which was associated with the surrealists. It was praised by the surrealist leader André Breton.[1] An English translation by Louise Varèse was published in 1951.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Taylor, Karen L. (2006). The Facts on File Companion to the French Novel. New York City: Infobase Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 9780816074990.
- ^ The Castle of Argol. WorldCat. OCLC 1109429. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
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