Jean Marcel Adolphe Bruller (26 February 1902 – 10 June 1991) was a French writer and illustrator who co-founded the publishing company with Pierre de Lescure.
Born to a
Hungarian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...
father, he joined the
Resistance during the World War II occupation of northern France and his texts were published using the pseudonym Vercors (though he used this name for works published before the 1944
Battle of Vercors).
Several of his novels have
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
or
science fiction themes
The following is a list of articles about recurring theme (narrative), themes in science fiction.
Overarching themes
*First contact (science fiction), First contact with aliens
*Artificial intelligence in fiction, Artificial intelligence
**Ma ...
. The 1952 novel ''
Les Animaux dénaturés'' (translated into English variously as ''You Shall Know Them'', ''Borderline'', and ''The Murder of the Missing Link'') was made into the movie ''
Skullduggery'' (1970) featuring
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...
and
Susan Clark
Susan Clark (born Nora Golding; March 8, 1943) is a Canadians, Canadian actress. She made her big screen debut in the 1967 drama film ''Banning (film), Banning'' and the following year played the female lead in the crime thriller ''Coogan's Bluf ...
, and examines the question of what it means to be human.
''Colères'' (translated into English as ''The Insurgents'') is about the quest for immortality. In 1960 he published ''Sylva'', a novel about a
fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
who becomes a woman, inspired by
David Garnett
David Garnett (9 March 1892 – 17 February 1981) was an English writer and publisher. As a child, he had a cloak made of rabbit skin and thus received the nickname "Bunny", by which he was known to friends and intimates all his life.
Early ...
's novel ''
Lady into Fox'' (1922). The English-language version, translated by his wife
Rita Barisse, was a finalist for the 1963
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year by the World Science Fiction Society for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is ava ...
.
List of Hugo nominees
His historical novel ''Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...
'' (1985) presents a very intelligent Anne as having determinedly set about marrying Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
in order to separate England from Papal power and strengthen England's independence.
Bibliography
* ''Patapoufs et Filifers'' ('' Fattypuffs and Thinifers''; illustrator only) (1930)
* '' Le Silence de la mer'' (The Silence of the Sea) (1942)
* ''Ce jour-là'' (1943)
* ''L'impuissance'' (1944)
* ''Le Cheval et la Mort'' (1944)
* ''Le Songe'' (1943)
* ''Les Armes de la nuit'' (1946)
* ''Les Yeux et la lumière'' (1948)
* ''La Puissance du jour'' (1951)
* '' Les Animaux dénaturés'' (1952)
* ''Colères'' (1956)
* ''Sur ce rivage'', I – III (1958–60)
* ''Clémentine'' (1959)
* ''Sylva'' (1961)
* ''Quota ou les Pléthoriens'' (1966)
* ''Le Radeau de la Méduse'' (1969)
* ''Sillages'' (1972)
* ''Sept sentiers du désert'' (1972)
* ''Les Chevaux du temps'' (1977)
* ''Le Piège à loup'' (1979)
* ''Moi, Aristide Briand'' (1981)
* ''Anne Boleyn'' (Anne Boleyn: Forty Crucial Months in England's Evolution) (1985)
Essays
*''La Marche à l'étoile'' (1943)
*''Souffrance de mon pays'' (1945)
*''Portrait d'une amitié'' (1946)
*''Plus ou moins homme'' (1948)
*''Les pas dans le sable'' (1954)
*''Les divagations d'un français en Chine'' (1956)
*''P. P. C. Pour prendre congé'' (1957)
*''La bataille du silence'' (1967)
*''Questions sur la vie'' (1973)
*''Tendre naufrage'' (1974)
*''Ce que je crois'' (1975)
*''Théâtre'' (1978)
References
External links
Profile
at Les Éditions de Minuit (leseditionsdeminuit.com)
*
1902 births
1991 deaths
20th-century French male writers
French science fiction writers
Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery
20th-century French novelists
French male novelists
French people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
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