Roger Vailland (16 October 1907 – 12 May 1965) was a French novelist, essayist, and screenwriter.

Biography

Vailland was born in Acy-en-Multien,

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

. His novels include the prize winning ''Drôle de jeu'' (1945), ''Les mauvais coups'' (1948), ''Un jeune homme seul'' (1951), ''325 000 francs'' (1955), and '' La loi'' (1957), winner of the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

. His screenplays include ''Les liaisons dangereuses'' (with Claude Brûlé and

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, su ...

, 1959) and ''Le vice et la vertu'' (with Vadim, 1962). He died, aged 57, in

Millionaires A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short sc ...

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...

.M. Kelly ''The Cultural and Intellectual Rebuilding of France After the Second World War'' 0230511163 2004 "Roger Vailland, whose prize-winning novel Playing with Fire (Drôle de jeu, 1945) explored ironies in the work of the Resistance, was a staunch fellow-traveller, who eventually joined the party in 1952. Vailland took part in the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during Nazi occupation. ''Drôle de jeu'' (Playing with Fire) is considered one of the finest novels about the anti-fascist Resistance. Vailland joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

but resigned after the Soviet suppression of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

. He remained an independent leftist for the rest of his life.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Drôle de jeu'',

Prix Interallié The prix Interallié (Interallié Prize), also known simply as ''l'Interallié'', is an annual French literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist. History The prize was started on 3 December 1930 by about thirty or so journa ...

, Éditions Corrêa, Paris, 1945 * ''Les Mauvais coups'', Éditions Sagittaire, 1948 * ''Bon pied, bon œil'', Éditions Corrêa, Paris, 1950 * ''Un Jeune homme seul'', Éditions Corrêa, Paris, 1951 * ''Beau masque'',

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

, Paris, 1954 * ''325 000 francs'', Éditions Corrêa, Paris, 1955 * ''La Loi'',

1957. English: ''The Law'' * ''La Fête'', Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1960 * ''La Truite'', Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1964 * ''La Visirova'',

Messidor Messidor () was the tenth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word , which means ''harvest''. Messidor was the first month of the summer quarter (). It started on 19 or 20 June. It ended on 18 or 19 Jul ...

, Paris, 1986 * ''Cortès, le conquérant de l'Eldorado'', Messidor, Paris, 1992

Travel

* ''Boroboudour'', Éditions Gallimard, Paris * ''Boroboudour, voyage à Bali, Java et autres îles''
Éditions du Sonneur
Paris

Journals

* ''Chronique d’Hiroshima à Goldfinger : 1945-1965'', Éditions sociales, Paris, 1984 * ''Chronique des années folles à la Libération'', Éditions sociales, Paris, 1984. * ''Écrits intimes'', Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1982.

Theatre

* ''Héloïse et Abélard'', Editions Corréa, 1947 * ''Le Colonel Foster plaidera coupable'', pièce en cinq actes, les Éditeurs réunis, Paris, 1952. * ''Monsieur Jean'', Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1959

Essays

* ''Laclos'',

Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as ''Le Seuil'', is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil' ...

, Paris, 1953 * ''Éloge du Cardinal de Bernis'', Éditions Grasset, Paris, 1956. * ''Expérience du drame'',

Éditions du Rocher The Éditions du Rocher is a publishing house based in Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the Fre ...

, Monaco, 2002 * ''Un homme du peuple sous la Révolution'', Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1979 * ''Le regard froid : réflexions, esquisses, libelles, 1945-1962'', Éditions Grasset, Paris, 1998 * ''N’aimer que ce qui n’a pas de prix'', Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 1995 * ''Les pages immortelles de Suétone'', Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 2002 * ''Le Saint-Empire'', Éditions de la différence, Paris, 1978 * ''Le Surréalisme contre la révolution'', Éditions Complexe, Bruxelles, 1988

References

External links

Roger Vailland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vailland, Roger 1907 births 1965 deaths People from Oise French male screenwriters French screenwriters French communists French Resistance members Prix Goncourt winners Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Prix Interallié winners 20th-century French novelists French male essayists French male novelists 20th-century French essayists 20th-century French male writers Anti-Stalinist left 20th-century French screenwriters