The Vatican Cellars (Editions Gallic) - Softcover

André Gide; Julian Evans (Translator)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1908313692 ISBN 13: 9781908313690

Publisher: Gallic Books, 2014

Synopsis

Could the Pope have been secretly abducted?

Set in the 1890s, André Gide's famous satire centres around a group of ingenious fraudsters ('The Millipede') who convince their wealthy victims that the pontiff has been imprisoned in the Vatican cellars, and a false Pope has been enthroned in his place. Posing as clergy, they con money by promising to obtain the true Pope's release and restoration.

The book features one of Gide's most memorable creations: the amoral Lafcadio, who in pushing a man from a moving train commits the ultimate motiveless crime.

Unavailable in the UK for 25 years, this scandalous, funny and highly original novel has been re-translated to mark the centenary of its publication.

About this title

Review:

An expertly constructed network of coincidence and error, shot through with a level of dramatic irony not present in the work for which Gide is most renowned. --The Irish Times

Gide's subtle, snarky humor had me very entertained, even though many of the characters do completely depraved things. I understand why Gide was such a controversial author in his time. -- A Bookish Type

Quite brilliantly blackly comic. --Winston's Dad's blog

The Vatican Cellars is an entertaining, easy read and can be intellectually stimulating if you are interested to analyse it further. --Word by Word

About the Author:

André Gide was a giant of twentieth-century French literature. An innovator of the novelistic form, he undertook a life-long exploration of morality in his work, and was a major influence on the writing of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Gide was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gallic Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1908313692
• ISBN 13: 9781908313690
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 336