Just read "Journey to the End of the Night" and it might just be the best thing anyone's ever written. Total bombardment of hatred for all the horrible traits of life, but somehow he still kinda seems to have hope for it.

Came out in the 30's, he influenced lots of my favorite writers. Bukowski mentioned him a few times and I finally found Journey last month.

I think "Pulp" by Bukowski (his last ever novel) was pretty much him saying he wanted to be Celine his whole life.

Anyone?

Yes, a big favorite here. JTEN is a classic. Reads well alongside "Heart of Darkness" and "The Sun Also Rises."

Oh, and for similar Francophile literary fun: Houellebecq and Beigbeder.

Huysmans or bust

Celine rules but he ain't no Camus and Camus ain't no Voltaire.

Stendahlisms!

I will check out all of the above, thank you.

same for Huysman.

All I've read by Camus and Voltaire are "The Stranger" and "Candide", the big ones. I had to read the Stranger early in high school and it didn't catch me then, been meaning to get back to it. Candide was wonderful though.

When I was 8 and on vacation in Maine with my family there were a bunch of French Canadian people yelling and swimming late at night, and I kept yelling DAMN FRENCHIES out the window. Kinda irrelevant but not entirely...

you DID read it in French right?

just kidding. looks like i'll pick this up. not a Bukowski fan but i'll take good prose anyday.

Emile Zola is positively mentioned; I like his concept of "the human beast."

Also:

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hamsun/knut/h23g/

Windows on the World was excellent. Really need to pick up 99 Francs.

I read Hunger a month or so ago. Liked it a lot, but for one reason or another it took a week or so to really grab me. Just yesterday bought "On Overgrown Paths" and I can't stop. Well I can, but you get the idea. Last thing he ever published, written while imprisoned for not wanting people to kill Nazis when he was 80-something.

Same bookstore had a couple by Zola, almost grabbed those, went with some Saroyan instead. Way more to read for the same price, really the only reason.

I was actually thinking about eventually learning French for the sole reason of reading "Journey..." in its own language. Probably never gonna happen though. Seems like a douchey thing to do. Mannheim's English translation is scarily good either way.

Go to the Booksmyth on rte 114 in Middleton, they have an overwhelming amount of good books. Classics n shit.

seriously?