A Dark Stranger

A Dark Stranger

First English-language edition
Author Julien Gracq
Original title Un beau ténébreux
Translator W. J. Strachan
Cover artist Gertrude Houston (pictured)
Country France
Language French
Publisher José Corti
Publication date
1945
Published in English
1950
(publ. New Directions)

A Dark Stranger (French: Un beau ténébreux) is a 1945 novel by the French writer Julien Gracq. It tells the story of two lovers, Allan and Dolorès, who stay at an isolated hotel in Brittany where they have decided to kill themselves.

Publication

José Corti published the book in France in 1945. It was published in English through Peter Owen Publishers in 1950, translated by W. J. Strachan.[1] A new translation by Christopher Moncreiff was published by Pushkin Press in 2009.[2]

Reception

John Cournos of The Saturday Review wrote about the book in 1950: "Its matter is morbid, its prose overwrought, its range narrow; it is tedious. ... This is the sort of book that the Soviet critics constantly hold up before their readers as an example of the decadence of the bourgeoisie, and for once there is no answer. The author's ability to describe landscape and its moods, however brilliant, is not enough."[3]

References

  1. "A dark stranger (Book, 1950)". WorldCat. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  2. "A dark stranger (Book, 2009)". WorldCat. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  3. Cournos, John (1950-09-09). "The Dark Stranger, by Julien Gracq". The Saturday Review. p. 34. Retrieved 2015-03-29.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, January 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.