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La mal jaune.
" Ce roman est l'histoire de deux villes qui n'existent plus : Hanoï et Saïgon. Ceux qui les aimèrent - et ils furent nombreux - contractèrent auprès d'elles un mal dont ils n'arrivent point à se guérir : le Mal jaune ; une sorte de nostalgie qui devient poussée de fièvre certains soirs de cafard, certains jours d'abandon. " Jean Lartéguy " Ce roman est l'histoire de deux villes qui n'existent plus : Hanoi et Saigon. Ceux qui les aimèrent - et ils furent nombreux - contractèrent auprès d'elles un mal dont ils n'arrivent point à se guérir : le mal jaune, une sorte de nostalgie qui devient poussée de fièvre certains soirs de cafard, certains jours d'abandon. " Jean Lartéguy
Sur les traces de Jérôme, journaliste, spécialiste de l'Extrême-Orient, et d'autres Français, baroudeurs, militaires, correspondants étrangers, tous marqués par la bataille de Diên Biên Phu, Le Mal jaune est un beau roman nostalgique sur le passé de l'Indochine française mais lucide sur son avenir.
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Sur les traces de Jérôme, journaliste, spécialiste de l'Extrême-Orient, et d'autres Français, baroudeurs, militaires, correspondants étrangers, tous marqués par la bataille de Diên Biên Phu, Le Mal jaune est un beau roman nostalgique sur le passé de l'Indochine française mais lucide sur son avenir.
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Board Book
First published January 1, 1965
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64 people want to read
About the author
Jean Lartéguy
115 books55 followersLartéguy was born into what he called "one of those families of poor mountain peasants whose names are found inscribed on war memorials, but not in history books." Both his father and uncle had served in the First World War. With his country conquered by the Germans, Lartéguy escaped from France into Spain in March 1942. He remained there for nine months and spent time in a Francoist jail before joining the Free French Forces as an officer in the 1st Commando Group (1er groupe de commandos). During the war, he fought in Italy; Vosges and Belfort, France; and Germany. He remained on active duty for seven years until becoming a captain in the reserves in order to enter the field of journalism. Lartéguy received numerous military awards, to include: Légion d'honneur, Croix de guerre 1939-1945, and the Croix de guerre T.O.E.
After his military service, Lartéguy worked as a war correspondent, particularly for the magazine Paris Match. He covered conflicts in Azerbaijan, Korea, Palestine, Indochina, Algeria, and Vietnam. In pursuit of a story at the start of the Korean War, Lartéguy volunteered for the French Battalion and was wounded by an enemy hand grenade during the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge. In Latin America, he reported on various revolutions and insurgencies, and in 1967 encountered Che Guevara shortly before his capture and execution. In the July 1967 issue of Paris Match, Lartéguy wrote a major article entitled "Les Guerilleros", where he wrote: "At a time when Cuban revolutionaries want to create Vietnam's all over the world, the Americans run the risk of finding their own Algeria in Latin America."
In 1955, he received the Albert Londres Prize for journalism
His experiences as a soldier and war correspondent influenced his writing. Some of the most emphasized topics in his writing are decolonization, nationalism, the expansion of Communism, the state of post-war French society, and the unglamorous nature of war. His novel Les chimères noires evokes the role played by Roger Trinquier during the Katanga Crisis. Published in 1963 it portrays vividly the chaos of civil war in the Congo after the murder of Patrice Lumumba and the conflict between Moise Tshombe secessionist government and the United Nations Forces. The novel is very critical of Belgian colonialism and is also a reliable expression of European views of Central Africa after independence. Several of his book titles were translated into English, with the most successful being his Algerian War series: The Centurions and The Praetorians. The former was adapted into a major motion picture in 1966, entitled Lost Command and starred Anthony Quinn.
Also, with his novel The Centurions, Lartéguy is credited with being the first to envision the 'ticking time bomb' scenario, which has regained relevance in recent debates on the use of torture in a counter-terrorism role. His novels have been read by military professionals, including General David Petraeus, in the new context of modern terrorism.
After his military service, Lartéguy worked as a war correspondent, particularly for the magazine Paris Match. He covered conflicts in Azerbaijan, Korea, Palestine, Indochina, Algeria, and Vietnam. In pursuit of a story at the start of the Korean War, Lartéguy volunteered for the French Battalion and was wounded by an enemy hand grenade during the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge. In Latin America, he reported on various revolutions and insurgencies, and in 1967 encountered Che Guevara shortly before his capture and execution. In the July 1967 issue of Paris Match, Lartéguy wrote a major article entitled "Les Guerilleros", where he wrote: "At a time when Cuban revolutionaries want to create Vietnam's all over the world, the Americans run the risk of finding their own Algeria in Latin America."
In 1955, he received the Albert Londres Prize for journalism
His experiences as a soldier and war correspondent influenced his writing. Some of the most emphasized topics in his writing are decolonization, nationalism, the expansion of Communism, the state of post-war French society, and the unglamorous nature of war. His novel Les chimères noires evokes the role played by Roger Trinquier during the Katanga Crisis. Published in 1963 it portrays vividly the chaos of civil war in the Congo after the murder of Patrice Lumumba and the conflict between Moise Tshombe secessionist government and the United Nations Forces. The novel is very critical of Belgian colonialism and is also a reliable expression of European views of Central Africa after independence. Several of his book titles were translated into English, with the most successful being his Algerian War series: The Centurions and The Praetorians. The former was adapted into a major motion picture in 1966, entitled Lost Command and starred Anthony Quinn.
Also, with his novel The Centurions, Lartéguy is credited with being the first to envision the 'ticking time bomb' scenario, which has regained relevance in recent debates on the use of torture in a counter-terrorism role. His novels have been read by military professionals, including General David Petraeus, in the new context of modern terrorism.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 11, 2019
This review is for the book Le Mal Jaune (English title: Yellow Fever) by Jean Larteguy. The reviews attached to this edition--based on their summaries and plot details--have been imported from another book, probably one with the same English title.
A quick summary of Lartéguy's book:
Le Mal Jaune follows a group of French journalists as they live through the transfer of Hanoi to the Vietminh in 1954, and then picks up their lives a year later after they had resettled in Saigon, which was struggling to stay out of a civil war.
Although many characters reappear in each half of the book, this was actually two independent works which were then packaged together--the first is primarily a mournful look at the last days of French rule in Hanoi, while the second is a description of events just prior to the transition from the State of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam, which is also the point at which America stepped up its role in the country's affairs, filling the vacuum left by the French. In both sections, there is a overwhelming feeling of loss and of missed opportunities--I don't know that Larteguy thought things could have turned out any different than they did, but he does wax nostalgic over the disappearance of the mixing of French and Vietnamese culture. In fact, the subtitle of the book is 'The Story of Two Metisses, which is something like 'mixed' as in 'mixed race', though without any stigma attached to it. The two metisses may refer to the two cities, or perhaps to two women who come to symbolize each place, but from the vantage point of time, this culture seems French-dominated and colonial in spirit rather than one of equal partners, though I doubt Larteguy would have seen it that way.
This novel, which really isn't a novel at all, doesn't really succeed--it's too fragmented, often confusing, and characters seem to appear without any previous background. This almost reads like a long extended epilogue, where characters who were introduced in a previous novel or novels were reunited to tell how they fared at the end of French involvement in Vietnam. Yet these two novellas were Lartéguy's first published works--which might explain some of the flaws. But craftmanship aside, what I did like about the novel was the picture of this period of French and Vietnamese history. Since almost all of the reading I've done about Vietnam has been through the lens of the American involvement, it was extremely interesting to me to read about the French experience, as well as an indication of what the in-country French thought about the loss of their influence. Larteguy, who would go on to receive much more attention for his book The Centurions, was a former soldier himself, turned journalist, and covered hotspots all over the world, including Vietnam. Le Mal Jaune is fiction, but I suspect that it closely reflects prevailing attitudes of the time.
This is the third book of Larteguy's that I've read--I like them for their perspective and for their unabashed machismo...they are certainly of their time, and may be insufferable to modern readers. Women, when they appear, are often merely sex objects or frail and dependent. There is also a thin veneer of tolerance in his books which seems to me to mask a kind of benevolent colonialism, and that too may be something modern readers would like to avoid. On the other hand, I think his books give a glimmer of what the mindset was from a soldier's point of view during the collapse of one of the former great powers, and I find that valuable in and of itself.
A quick summary of Lartéguy's book:
Le Mal Jaune follows a group of French journalists as they live through the transfer of Hanoi to the Vietminh in 1954, and then picks up their lives a year later after they had resettled in Saigon, which was struggling to stay out of a civil war.
Although many characters reappear in each half of the book, this was actually two independent works which were then packaged together--the first is primarily a mournful look at the last days of French rule in Hanoi, while the second is a description of events just prior to the transition from the State of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam, which is also the point at which America stepped up its role in the country's affairs, filling the vacuum left by the French. In both sections, there is a overwhelming feeling of loss and of missed opportunities--I don't know that Larteguy thought things could have turned out any different than they did, but he does wax nostalgic over the disappearance of the mixing of French and Vietnamese culture. In fact, the subtitle of the book is 'The Story of Two Metisses, which is something like 'mixed' as in 'mixed race', though without any stigma attached to it. The two metisses may refer to the two cities, or perhaps to two women who come to symbolize each place, but from the vantage point of time, this culture seems French-dominated and colonial in spirit rather than one of equal partners, though I doubt Larteguy would have seen it that way.
This novel, which really isn't a novel at all, doesn't really succeed--it's too fragmented, often confusing, and characters seem to appear without any previous background. This almost reads like a long extended epilogue, where characters who were introduced in a previous novel or novels were reunited to tell how they fared at the end of French involvement in Vietnam. Yet these two novellas were Lartéguy's first published works--which might explain some of the flaws. But craftmanship aside, what I did like about the novel was the picture of this period of French and Vietnamese history. Since almost all of the reading I've done about Vietnam has been through the lens of the American involvement, it was extremely interesting to me to read about the French experience, as well as an indication of what the in-country French thought about the loss of their influence. Larteguy, who would go on to receive much more attention for his book The Centurions, was a former soldier himself, turned journalist, and covered hotspots all over the world, including Vietnam. Le Mal Jaune is fiction, but I suspect that it closely reflects prevailing attitudes of the time.
This is the third book of Larteguy's that I've read--I like them for their perspective and for their unabashed machismo...they are certainly of their time, and may be insufferable to modern readers. Women, when they appear, are often merely sex objects or frail and dependent. There is also a thin veneer of tolerance in his books which seems to me to mask a kind of benevolent colonialism, and that too may be something modern readers would like to avoid. On the other hand, I think his books give a glimmer of what the mindset was from a soldier's point of view during the collapse of one of the former great powers, and I find that valuable in and of itself.
March 17, 2016
This book was very confusing and didn't have a clear plot line. There was nothing happy about this book whatsoever. In every chapter a loved one or family member died because of the yellow fever. The whole book was one big gruesome mess about how terrible the fever was and how everyone was going to be killed off because of it. It was just constantly one thing after the next and everyone was killed off until it was left to a young girl who ended up getting yellow fever anyways and the book ends with how she died a sick death
December 1, 2010
This book takes place in America and shows what deseases can do. With all the rave about the flu, its' an interesting book to assign because they should be able to relate to it. It's short so my students wouldn't be initimated and it's written from a 12 year olds point of view so that adds to the relatability. It is a sad story but that adds to the how engaging it is.
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April 24, 2015Yellow fever is caused by a virus that is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. These mosquitoes thrive in and near human habitations where they breed in even the cleanest water. Most cases of yellow fever occur in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America.
September 8, 2021
A quick, easy read that gives historical context during washington's presidency and how yellow fever affected philedelphia during that time. Well written, nice characters, good story.
July 8, 2010
i don't know the author so im not sure if this is the right book.
April 20, 2011
WORST BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF BOOKS EXCEPT FOR THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews