The Colonel's Photograph

by Eugène Ionesco

"Il se leva, mit son chapeau de feutre orné d'un crêpe noir, son pardessus gris-fer, prit sa lourde serviette bourrée qu'il laissa tomber avant d'avoir fait un pas. Celle-ci s'ouvrit dans sa chute. Nous nous précipitâmes, en même temps. D'une des poches de la serviette, des photos s'étaient échappées, représentant un colonel en grand uniforme, moustachu, un colonel quelconque, une bonne tête plutôt attendrissante. Nous mîmes la serviette sur la table, pour y fouiller plus à l'aise : nous en sortîmes encore des centaines de photos avec le même modèle. "Qu'est-ce que cela veut dire ? demandai-je, c'est la photo, la fameuse photo du colonel ! Vous l'aviez là, vous ne m'en aviez jamais parlé !"" Les récits de ce recueil constituèrent le point de départ de quelques-unes des plus célèbres pièces de Ionesco (Rhinocéros, Victime du devoir). Comme dans son théâtre, leur réalisme précis rejoint tout naturellement le fantastique, l'imaginaire.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, France, Theatre

177 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Eugène Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu, was a Romanian playwright and dramatist; one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, Ionesco's plays depict in a tangible way the solitude and insignificance of human existence.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 2 out of 5]

I respect the surreal, the absurd, the loop-de-loo, the batshitteristic, and the Bob Todd. But this is soporific surrealism at its zzzyist.

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been trying to find more books where I can say "I've never read anything like this before." These stories qualify. They're propulsive and exuberant and there's a wooden roller coaster feeling to them--they leave me a little breathless. I kept laughing out loud, even though the stories aren't funny; instead they are just very surprising, and each sentence takes a new twist in an unexpected direction. Unlike a lot of avant garde writing these stories seem very humane, full of kindness.

[Deniz Ata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Öykü okumayı sevmem ama yazarın kalemi iyiyse o kadar tadından yenmez bir keyif veriyor ki .Bunu her fırsatta bu tadı bulduğum yazarlar için söyleyeceğim .

Yazarla tanışma kitabım ama her öyküsüne bayılmam bu aşk değil de ne etkisi yaptı .

Amerikayı yeniden keşfedip topladım külliyatını .Deniz Ata kendine keyifli okumalar diler .

Bu kitapta bahsi geçen tüm varoluş sancılarını okudum bildim ama bu kadar oyuncaklısını görmedim 🤣 Resmen zihnimi aktive etti .Dil anlatım muazzam .

Bu arada bazı romanlarının emekleme aşaması var anladığım kadarıyla onların gelişimini de merak ediyorum .Süreç sonunda benim için entresan bir kazanım olacak .

[Beril Heral · Rating 5 out of 5]

son zamanlardaki kitap seçimlerimde üst üste fire verdikten sonra ilaç gibi gelen o kitap.
hiç utanmadan basıyorum 5 yıldızı.

hikayelere sırasıyla puanlarım:
Sancak - 7/10
Albayın Fotoğrafı - 8/10
Hava Yayası - 7/10
Vazife Kurbanı - 5/10
Gergedan - 8/10
Balçık - 6/10
1939 Baharı - 8/10

yer yer biraz gabriel garcia marquez'i anımsatsa da en son ne zaman "daha önce buna benzer bir şey okumamıştım" dediğimi hatırlamıyorum.

ölmesine rağmen büyümeye devam eden bir ceset, yakalanmak isteyen ama polisin aptalına denk gelen bir katil, uçup ufukta dünyanın sonunu gören bir aile babası, gergedana dönüşen insanların mahcubiyeti, savaş arifesinde bir adamın kopuk kopuk anıları...

absürt, eğlenceli, delice ama bir yandan da altta gizlenmiş bir hüzün, eleştiri, isyan var, hele ki son öyküde iyice gün yüzüne çıkıyor. sizi çok da yormadan düşündürüyor, 1 buçuk-2 kupa kahve eşliğinde tamamlayabilirsiniz.

[Metin Dirim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anı kırıntıları. Bazen merak ediyorum, acaba bana mı aitler diye. Gecenin ortasında belli belirsiz parıltılar. Yokluğun sonsuz deryasında beliren birkaç adacık. Suya dalmaya hazırlar. Son kalıntılar.

Eugène Ionesco - Albayın Fotoğrafı ( La photo du colonel )

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting to read these stories, most of which are also plays by the author. It is not clear if the stories were written before the plays or afterwards, but according to the inside flap of the dust cover, Ionesco prefers writing fiction to drama. There is certainly a sense of wonder, in his characters, over the events that happen in these absurdist pieces, and the playfulness, particularly in "Stoller" comes through nicely. A work such as "Oriflamme" or "Rhinoceros" might work better on stage because of the shock value of actually seeing a growing corpse or people turning in to rhinoceroses.

"Spring 1939" was interesting. I'm not sure if it's actual fragments of a journal or a story to come off that way. It grew a little tedious, which makes me think it's truly a journal.

For me this was a real pleasure. There isn't much Ionesco that I haven't already read (in English), so to find something like this, which is new to me is an absolute prize.

I can't imagine too many people liking this as I did, so it doesn't get recommended, but it does get "thumbs up."

[belisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

uçuk ama ortalama öyküler, biraz da günlük alıntısı

[Safa Furkan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ionesco gerçekten muazzam bir yazar. Son öykü hariç çok keyifli metinlerdi. Buna ek olarak tiyatro olan metinlerin ilk hallerini görmek çok güzeldi. Son olarak Yapıkredi çok güzel bir kapak yapmış kitaba.

[Michael sinkofcabbages · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ive always loved Ionesco. And ive always thought that he occupies a certain space in lit/ drama/ biography(auto). And i dont just mean the usual speel about absurdism, fragmentation of narrative and the usual stuff. I think writing came easy to him and thats why he kind of struggled with it. He felt the "unsaid" in interactions between people, society, and dreams/reminences. I can understand peoples responce to studying Ionesco's plays. they say things like "they all bassically achieve the same thing". Thats why books like this are nice. They give a different overview of his writing on the whole. But on the other hand they continue his overall vision/universe. And i think people that complain about the interjections he puts into story collections about his childhood or life are missing a hughe point. these interjections tie together everything (plays, stories, etc.) on a purely emotional level.
If your tired of Ionesco plays; then read this book.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first short story in this collection, "Oriflamme," en francais when I was in high school, which was confusing (if you're still learning a language it can be hard to tell if something fantastical is happening or if you just don't understand the text), but also really delightful. It definitely stuck with me, so I was happy to track down this book. Some of the stories are definitely better than others, but I found all of them sufficiently engaging.

I think all of these stories became plays, so it would be fun to see how he translated them to a different genre. I've read Rhinoceros, but it was about 10 years ago, so I don't remember the details incredibly well. I may try revisiting that one first.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ionesco is a treasure. And this collection are the short story versions of the plays. Well, come of them.
I simply love reading these when rocks are falling within my head.

[Paul Sonnenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tenderness infuses these dark parables, and that tender heart is laid bare in the reminiscences of the book's last piece: "Spring 1939". A revelatory collection.

[Bezen Coskun · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Yavaşça ceplerimdeki iki tabancayı çıkardım, sessizce, iki saniye boyunca ona doğrulttum, hiç kımıldamadı, indirdim tabancaları, kollarımı iki yanıma bıraktım. Kendimi zayıf, savunmasız, umutsuz hissettim: Zira kurşunlar ve benim gücüm kuvvetim soğuk nefrete ve ısrara, akılsız amansız mutlak barbarlığın sonsuz enerjisine karşı ne yapabilir ki?" p.27

"Avusturalya!da da Rusya'da da köprüler vardır. Ama onları gören olmaz, zira köprülerle ilgilenmezler, ne işe yaradıkları ile ilgilenirler. Bu nedenle de köprü varlığını yitirir. Sadece köprü olmayan şey kalır geriye. Fayda bilinci yıkıcıdır." p.35

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

3½. Every story in this collection was turned later into a play. "Oriflamme" became "Amédée," the titular story became "The Killer," "The Slough" became "The Mire," etc. Except for "A Victim of Duty," which I now know I hate both as a play and a short story, these tales were all good, but pale in comparison to the plays they became. The only exception is "The Slough," which works much better as a story than a script for the stage. I've read nearly every Ionesco play that's been translated into English so there wasn't much new for me here, but I still enjoyed it.

[Cem Mustafa Demir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kasvetli bir ruh haline merhem gibi bir kitap.

Hatta daha da ötesi, kasvetinize ortak olan ve kesinlikle eminim ki birkaç adım atabilmenize de yarayacak bir kitap, yazar. Eğlenceli bir dil, edebi bir hayat. Kısa kısa öyküler ve son bölümde 8 günlük bir çocukluğa dönüş, hem de büyük bir savaş arifesinde.

Yazarı ilk bu kitapla tanıdım ve sanırım büyük bir maceranın ilk ayağıydı.

[Laroy Viviane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Facile à lire, l’auteur passe facilement d’un univers réaliste qu’il hyperbolise parfois à l’extrême dans des mondes totalement oniriques et fantaisistes. Et pourtant ancrés dans ce que l’être humain a de plus profondément ancré en lui : la peur du vide et de a mort, l’amour et la violence etc.

[Rob Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astoundingly supreme selection of short stories. Rightly up there with the best short stories I've read. The sheer beauty of these stories are nourishing, awe inspiring, humorous, and also a little sad. A true master!

[alpi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
öyküleri gerçekten de absürttü, balçık öyküsü bayağı iyiydi, fakat sondaki 35 sayfalık anı derlemesini okurken fenalık geçirecektim, hiç umursamadım anılarını

[Matteo Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5, in realtà...

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not complete the final story which read as a series of fanciful diary entries. I found the fluidity of the language and the magical quality of some of the imagery in this writing to be really interesting and beautiful. All of the stories are difficult to follow if you are looking for a linear narrative as each one has the the feel of a hallucinatory dream vision.

[Perry Ruhland · Rating 4 out of 5]

That title story........ GOAT