The Vatican Cellars
Published on 11. August 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-908313-69-0 (ISBN)
Description
Set in the 1890s, Andre 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. Supported by English PEN.
Reviews / Votes
'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
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pushkin Press
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-908313-69-0 (9781908313690)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Andre 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.