But there is nothing about the novel tying it either to France or to the 1950s in fact, Gracq's novel, with its elaborate, richly detailed prose, will be of greater interest now than at any point in the last twenty years. For many French readers The Opposing Shore (published as Le rivage des Syrtes ), with its theme of transgressions and boundaries, spoke to the issue of defeat and the desire to fail: a paticularly sensitive motif in postwar French literature. Besides the narrator there are two other main characters, the dark and laconic captain of the base and a woman whose compex relations to both sides of the war brings the narator deeper into the story's web. As the narrator comes to understand, everything depends upon a boundary, unseen but certain, separating the two sides. Published in 1951, The Opposing Shore, a French novel by Julien Gracq, was the best surprise discovery of my reading life. Across the bay is territory of the enemy who has, for three hundred years, been at war with the narrator's countrymen the battle has become a complex, tacit game in which no actions are taken and no peace declared. The fort lies at the country's border at its feet is the bay of Syrtes. Set in a fictitious Mediterranean port city, The Opposing Shore is the first-person account of a young aristocrat sent to observe the activities of a naval base. With four elegant and beautifully crafted novels Julien Gracq has established himself as one. As the latest work in the Twentieth-Century Continental Fiction Series, Gracq'a masterpiece is now available for the first time in English. Buy a cheap copy of Le Rivage des Syrtes book by Julien Gracq. A mysterious and retiring figure, Gracq characteristically refused the Goncourt, France's most distinguished literary prize, when it was awarded to him in 1951 for this book. What does the author want to say? Is it about life (we fear things, we wait for something)?, politics (Jünger about the nazis?)? You just read and find your interpretation.With four elegant and beautifully crafted novels Julien Gracq has established himself as one of France's premier postwar novelists. With four elegant and beautifully crafted novels Julien Gracq has established himself as one of France's premier postwar novelists.Each novel is great! This is a triple door to many questions : Each novel shows people (in a fortress for the two first), waiting for an enemy, and invisible and frightening danger. I won’t do it here in my little blog, but if you dare, it’s a great thing to study.

Julien Gracq The Opposing Shore (France 1951)Įrnst Jünger On the Marble Cliffs (Germany 1939)

Dino Buzzati The Tartar Steppe (Italy 1940)

The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq