Particularize Books To A Very Long Engagement
| Original Title: | Un long dimanche de fiançailles |
| ISBN: | 0452272971 (ISBN13: 9780452272972) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Prix Interallié (1991) |
Sébastien Japrisot
Paperback | Pages: 327 pages Rating: 3.9 | 5819 Users | 533 Reviews
Present Epithetical Books A Very Long Engagement
| Title | : | A Very Long Engagement |
| Author | : | Sébastien Japrisot |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 327 pages |
| Published | : | September 1st 1994 by Plume (first published September 6th 1991) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Cultural. France. War. World War I. Romance |
Description Concering Books A Very Long Engagement
In January 1917, five wounded French soldiers, their hands bound behind them, are brought to the front at Picardy by their own troops, forced into the no-man's land between the French and German armies, and left to die in the cross fire. Their brutal punishment has been hushed up for more than two years when Mathilde Donnay, unable to walk since childhood, begins a relentless quest to find out whether her fiancé, officially "killed in the line of duty," might still be alive. Tipped off by a letter from a dying soldier, the shrewd, sardonic, and wonderfully imaginative Mathilde scours the country for information about the men. As she carries her search to its end, an elaborate web of deception and coincidence emerges, and Mathilde comes to an understanding of the horrors, and the acts of kindness, brought about by war. A runaway bestseller in France and the winner of the 1991 Prix Interallié, this astonishing novel is many things at once: an absorbing mystery, a playful study of the different ways one story can be told, a moving and incisive portrait of life in France during and after the First World War, and a love story of transforming power and beauty.Rating Epithetical Books A Very Long Engagement
Ratings: 3.9 From 5819 Users | 533 ReviewsAssessment Epithetical Books A Very Long Engagement
Oh my, explaining why I have rated this three stars is complicated, just as complicated as the book is. When it ended, I liked it a lot. Very much in fact, so it should get four stars! Right? Except that if you have been following the comments I have been making about it at diverse places at GR you will have noted that I have been annoyed, exasperated and at wits' end as I read this book! So what is going on? As I stated, the book is complicated. If you are adept at solving mysteries and loveI halfway through this book had lost much of the enthusiasm that I had at the beginning of the book. The premise was interesting that five French soldiers in WWI who intentionally shot themselves in the hand so they could get discharged and avoid getting killed in the trenches in the senseless bloody trench warfare got sentences of death imposed on them and rather than execution by firing squad were sent to the front lines with their hands tied behind their back and sent into no-mans land
A story of WW I translated from the French. Just before the war begins, a young woman who is confined to a wheelchair meets the love of her life. Of course he goes off to war and perishes in the trenches. Little by little, over ten years, she learns odds and ends of details of what actually happened to him.We learn right at the beginning of the novel that so many soldiers were deserting and getting self-inflicted wounds that army officers decided to make an example of five such men. Instead of
This was a wonderful novel -- with fascinating characters, a good mystery, plus an interwoven love story.I learned a lot about WWI in France, about France during that time period, and about French geography.What is remarkable about this novel is the way thatthe clues are many tiny snippets of information,told by different people in different ways. Over the years, the protagonist gathers these snippets (often helped by her many assistants) and fits themtogether. Reading the book requires careful
This is a powerful novel which touches on how war can destroy the human psyche. As I read, I thought that each of us has a breaking point. Some reach that point sooner than others, and, if we're lucky, most of us never have to find out for ourselves what triggers it. The five men of the GR description reached their breaking point and chose self-mutilation in order to avoid further time at the front. Each has been court-martialed for that offense and sentenced to death. Instead of facing the
This book is a detective story, a story of the horrors and inhumanity of war, a love story -- or stories. The premise is complex and horrific.But... there are a lot of characters. OK, too many characters. And probably too many words. Some of the characterizations are palpable, but most are not. I would have preferred knowing half as many people twice as well. Even the basis of the relentless persuit of Matilde is somewhat obscure. Oh well, that's the way love is, I guess.I don't know that this
Neither truly a love story, nor a war story, nor a detective story, this book somehow manages to be all three, but also much more: it's a book about the painful complications of being human in a situation where nothing makes sense and about how one disabled young woman will let nothing stop her from getting to the truth.In this intricately plotted novel, Japrisot tells the story of Mathilde, a wheelchair-bound painter from Cap Breton, who's beloved fiancé Manech is sent to the Great War. All the
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