Ο νεκρός αρπάζει το ζωντανό

by Henri Troyat, Γιάννης Μαγκλής (Μεταφραστής)

Μέσα απ' τις σελίδες του έξοχου αυτού μυθιστορήματος, ο Τρουαγιά γνωρίζει να κρατά αμείωτο το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη. Ο ήρωας παλεύει μέσα από τα αντικρουόμενα συναισθήματά του να εξισορροπήσει την ανάγκη του για τη δόξα και τη δημοσιότητα με μια βαθύτερη ηθική, που του κεντρίζει το εσώτερο εγώ του.

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Troyat was a French author, biographer, historian and novelist.

Troyat was born Levon Aslan Torossian in Moscow to parents of Armenian descent. His family fled Russia in anticipation of the revolution. After a long exodus taking them to the Caucasus on to Crimea and later by sea to Constantinople and then Venice, the family finally settled in Paris in 1920, where young Troyat was schooled and later earned a law degree. The stirring and tragic events of this flight across half of Europe are vividly recounted by Troyat in 'Tant que la terre durera'.

Troyat received his first literary award, Le prix du roman populaire, at the age of twenty-four, and by twenty-seven, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt.

Troyat published more than 100 books, novels and biographies, among them those of Anton Chekhov, Catherine the Great, Rasputin, Ivan the Terrible and Leo Tolstoy.

Troyat's best-known work is La neige en deuil, which was adapted as an English-language film in 1956 under the title The Mountain.

He was elected as a member of the Académie française in 1959. At the time of his death, Troyat was the longest serving member of the Academy.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Shanel Akerley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but wouldn't recommend it. 4 stars.

[Clarisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je suis surprise que ses livres aient si peu de reviews sur cette appli

[Paroles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have picked up this book at a used book store in Venice without knowing anything about the author or his works. I loved the book, I will read more by Troyat. I found the premise of the book exceptionally original: the protagonist publishes a book written by his late friend under his own name, just to make some money and suddenly receives the avalanche of fame and recognition without having done anything to deserve it. The euphoria quickly turnes into a deep personal crisis... The book kept me guessing how it all will end and I confess, I did not guess correctly. But the ending turned out to be quite satisfying.

The book made me think about something. Probably anyone at some point asks himself: how does fame feel? How does it feel to be famous and desired by crowds? The main character receives exactly this: he gets to find this out and experience it exactly the way any average man would experience it, because he gets an "empty" fame, without having earned it first, without realizing the biggest difference between an artist (a true talent) and an average man: an artist lives for his art and not for the fame, so it's impossible to feel the fame exactly the same way as an artist would.

The choice of the first person narration makes the story especially easy to relate to. A reader is forced to look inside him/herself and wonder : "What would I do in similar circumstances?.."

[georgina ^_^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Από τα καλύτερα βιβλία που διάβασα αυτόν τον μήνα (και διάβασα πολλά!). Ο αφηγητής κλέβει το χειρόγραφο του νεκρού φίλου του και το εκδίδει ως δικό του βιβλίο. Όμως η φήμη και τα φώτα της δημοσιοτητας δεν ειναι αρκετά για να σκεπάσουν τη δυστυχία, με τον ήρωα μας να οδηγείται σταδιακά στην τρέλα...Με πρωτότυπη πλοκή και γλαφυρές περιγραφές, αυτή η ωδή στις τύψεις δεν μπορεί να αφήσει ασυγκίνητο ούτε τον πιο απαιτητικό αναγνώστη.

[Amelia Peniche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se narra la historia de Jacques Sorbier, personaje sin muchos escrúpulos que vive una vida anodina, hasta que conoce Suzanne, viuda de un su antiguo amigo Georges Gallard. ¿Es la fama un monstruo transformador? ¿Hasta dónde podemos llegar con tal de lograr la fama?