This book describes the imaginative space in which the novels of Louis-Ferdinand Céline take place. There is the labyrinth of conscious space and the hellish underground of subconscious space, with the passage between the two described as a fall. In exploring the underground, the narrators find the creative fire which lights up the darkness. The entire adventure unfolds in a time which is perceived to be an endless waiting for the dawn.
...one of the best works I have ever read on Céline. Professor Carson's dual approach--from the picaresque tradition and through archetypal patterns--allows the reader to understand Céline's originality as well as his links to earlier European novelists. ...her work can be of use to both undergraduate students of literature and specialists." (Mary Anne O'Neil, Whitman College)
"...an exceedingly well-written volume that magically brings together a Bachelardian analysis of the archetypal in Céline and a new look at the picaresque." (Patrick Henry, Associate Professor of French Coeditor of Philosophy and Literature) "The reader will find this study a rich source of perspectives on Céline's narrative art - perspectives which should please the mind's eye and tantalize the intellect as food for thought." (Tobin H.Jones, Philosophy and Literature)
"...an exceedingly well-written volume that magically brings together a Bachelardian analysis of the archetypal in Céline and a new look at the picaresque." (Patrick Henry, Associate Professor of French Coeditor of Philosophy and Literature) "The reader will find this study a rich source of perspectives on Céline's narrative art - perspectives which should please the mind's eye and tantalize the intellect as food for thought." (Tobin H.Jones, Philosophy and Literature)