Incognito

by Petru Dumitriu, 4 (Illustrator)

696pages. poche. broché.

Genres: French Literature, Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Prozator, dramaturg şi eseist, membru de onoare al Academiei Române.
De-a lungul timpului i-au fost decernate mai multe premii: Premiul de Stat (1950; 1954), Premiul Vikings (1968), Premiul ''Charles Oulmont'' (1990) din partea Fondation de la France.
A fost căsătorit între 1952-1957 cu Henriette Yvonne Stahl.
Intre 1958-1987 a fost casatorit cu Irina Medrea, cu care a avut două fete: Irina-Ileana născută în 1959 în România și Carolina născută în 1961, la Frankfurt.


Foto: (c) CRISTIAN NISTOR / AGERPRES FOTO

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This novel which in theme and character is a direct successor to Family Jewels (1961, p.1958) is even more insistently a portrait of the degeneracy of the old, titled ruling Roumanian (sic) elite- the boyars- which is in itself collateral with the dissolution of Europe between the wars in "an age ruled by frenzy". It is a book of many dimensions, beginning in 1915 with return to the ancestral estate at Dobrunu of one Dimitri Coziano, then a boy, ending with his political career in the '40's when Dimitri, like Roumania, makes the circumstantial, lesser of two evils choice between Russia and Germany. In between, separate sequences through the years trace the individual stories of the Cozianos, cousins, aunts, uncles and distant connections which in turn reveal the social and political patterns of the country from World War I, to the agrarian reforms, intermittent revolutionary protests, strikes and the insatiable, moral decadence apotheosized by King Carol. There's the beautiful, bored Elvira who uses her body and bed to reach the King; Ghighi, another cousin, one of the jeunesse doree who initiates the secret society in the house of corruption patronized by most of them; Sterie, the scapegoat for a Colonel's defection in the first war; Serban, the only intellectual who for a time attempts to find some of the answers through Marxism; etc., etc. It is, all in all, an evenly interesting, cumulatively powerful portrait of an equivocal society temporizing in a losing end game of self-interest and self-preservation." From the dust jacket of the 1962 English language edition (with American spelling which explains all 'z' instead of 's' in so many words above and also explains the old fashioned spellings such as 'Roumanian').

I discovered this writer thanks to Bruce Benderson's 'The Romanian' and I thought it wonderful and I am on the look for the rest of this author's oeuvre - it is a marvellous novel and a wonderfully acidic portrayal of the Romanian ruling class in all is dysfunctional glory. But the book is not confined to foibles of Bucharest's painted women and idle officers, it gives a quite brutal and honest picture of what the constant shifting borders meant for the regions peasants who with the constantly changing borders, first during the pre WWI Balkan Wars and then in the aftermath of WWI found themselves no longer the subjects of multi-ethnic empires but of 'nation' states and life now literally depended upon having the right religion, or the right creed of Christianity, of speaking the right language, etc. That so much of it was farce was known by everyone, that the result was that thousands were summarily shot was also known, but silence was expected of those who carried out brutal, stupid unjust orders. If you couldn't keep silent then you were ruined and might as well join the dead in the mass graves.

Petru Dumitriu was for a time well known in the UK and USA but his profile has faded here - unlike in France where his Boyar Trilogy is in print in new editions along with other of his works. In fact I believe he may have written some or all of his novels in French rather than Romanian. Dumitriu was a many languaged man and also a man of multiple ethnic and cultural heritages, which didn't prevent him from seeing himself as Romanian. But the diversity of his background is a good reminder of the complexities of the whole region and to be wary of simplistic nationalist explanations for events. It is time this fine writer was rediscovered in English language countries.

[Miranda Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this novel 30 years ago and was very impressed. Re-reading it after the collapse of communist Rumania, where it is set, it seems even more moving. This is a novel about politics and mysticism, and if you think a novel of ideas sounds dull it really isn't because Sebastian, the main character, is so interesting and sympathetic. We first meet him as a 17-year- old just before the Second World War, spending the summer with his stylish and intelligent family in a beautiful country house. He is impatient with this bourgeois idyll because he wants to be a hero, so he volunteers for the army, is captured by the Russians and after the war becomes a high ranking, and finally disillusioned communist. This is a family story as well as an intellectual journey and deserves to be a classic. The only edition I could get hold of was a battered second hand volume full of typos. Please, somebody, publish a cheap paperback.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

out of print ..... but worth getting your hands on a copy.

WARNING: Not a casual read .... must have time to read for a while, and space to think afterwards!

[Anil Srivastava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life in Romania after Soviet occupation, post World War II was a living hell. Dumitriu has captured love, loss, betrayal and persecution, so well. A must read book.