''Fable for Another Time'' (french: Féerie pour une autre fois) is a 1952 novel by the French writer

Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( , ) was a French novelist, polemicist and physician. His first novel ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the '' Pr ...

. The narrative recounts Céline's experiences during what seems to be a hypothetical bombing of an area of Montmartre by the allies on the days preceding D-day. The whole of the action of this fairly long narrative lasts no more than twelve hours from the beginning of an evening to the morning after. It was followed by a sequel, '' Normance'', published in 1954.

Writing process

started to work on the novel in 1945, while he was living in exile in Denmark. At the time he was working on '' London Bridge: Guignol's Band II'', and had plans for a third book in the ''Guignol's Band'' series. Those plans were scrapped when Céline was imprisoned, which made him nostalgic about his time in

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

. He had also become more concerned about his literary reputation in France; after supporting the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Céline had been ignored in France, and was almost forgotten as a writer of any relevance. He therefore decided that he had to write a new original work which would make a serious impact. ''Fable for Another Time'' was at various times, as is known through Céline's letters, known as ''La Bataille du Styx'' ("The battle of Styx"), ''Du côte des maudits'' ("The coast of the damned"), ''Au vents des maudits'' ("At the winds of the damned"), and ''Au vents des maudits pour une autre fois'' ("At the winds of the damned for another time"), before the writer settled on the final title. The book was meant as a fictionalised memoir as much as a defence speech.

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Notes

Bibliography

* 1952 novels Novels by Louis-Ferdinand Céline French autobiographical novels French historical novels Novels set during World War II Éditions Gallimard books {{1950s-WWII-novel-stub

Writing process

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography