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320 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1944
"I see them... I see them all... Over there... My old friends... Motionless... Altogether... Ah! That's a fact! Motionless. Just standing there! Nestor, not so tall, in the back of the room... with his big head cut off, in his hands!... He was carrying it on his belly!... A pimp from the Leicester!... He'd left the week before... And big fatso next to him!... And Motorbike Fred... And little-Arm Pierrot... And pretty kiss Jojo... And no-dough Rene, with his belly wide open!... They were all bleeding somewhere... That was the queer thing... And Lucien the gent and Lily boy... Fly killer in a marine light infantry uniform... And redheaded Lu as an artilleryman... All lined up perfectly at the back of the salon! In the darkness... They weren't saying anything... All standing there!... In uniform but bareheaded... Their faces were all pale... White... white... as if there were livid glints under their skins... a gleam...
Hi men" I call again. Hi men... Hi chumps... Hi buddies."
Readers, friends, less than friends, enemies, Critics! Here I am at it again with Book I of Guignol! Don't judge me too soon! Wait awhile for what's to follow! Book II! Book III! it all clears up! develops, straightens out! As is, 3/4 of it's missing! Is that a way to do things? It had to be printed fast because with things as they are you don't know who's living or dead!So begins Louis-Ferdinand Céline's third 'proper' novel, published in 1943 if you believe the blurb on the back of the book, but according to Frédéric Vitoux (Céline: A Biography, 1992) (and Wikipedia) was actually published in March 1944. Guignol's Band is vintage Céline, but it's fair to say that he's a problematic writer. I don't want to go in to too much detail but a few facts about the writer should be known before proceeding. First of all he wrote two ground-breaking works before the Second World War, Journey to the End of the Night (Voyage au bout de la nuit) in 1932 and Death on the Installment Plan or Death on Credit (Mort à crédit) in 1936. Following a visit to the Soviet Union he published a pamphlet in 1936, Mea Culpa, attacking communism. Over the next few years he published three more book-length pamphlets that were extremely anti-Semitic — see here for my review of one of them. Although he wasn't one for joining groups or parties his anti-Semitism and anti-communism meant that he collaborated, to some extent, with the Nazi occupiers. He was at least seen by others as a collaborator and so only months after the publication of Guignol's Band and with the advancement of the Allied powers, fearing for his life, he tried to escape to Denmark with his wife Lucette and their cat Bébert; this period is covered in the trilogy Castle to Castle, North and Rigodoon. He made it to Denmark, was tried in France, in absentia, of collaboration and was allowed to return in 1951. He died in 1961.
I'm doddering around like an old bumblebee, I'm all tangled up in the air, Ah sees it, I ain't tellin' things in the right order, what about it! You'll excuse me somewhat, kidding about my memories, digressing from rhyme to reason, jabbering away about my friends instead of showing you around!...Let's go! and let's keep going!...Let me show you around nicely...straying neither right nor left!...Guignol's Band takes place in London during the First World War where it centres on the London underworld, populated by many shady characters such as pimps, prostitutes, drug-dealers, dodgy cops, charlatans, deserters etc. We are introduced to Cascade, a pimp who is, rather reluctantly, taking on the girls of other pimps who are going to war. Ferdinand, the protagonist of the novel and Céline's alter-ego, turns up to stay with Cascade. It's revealed later in the novel that Cascade Farcy is an uncle of Raoul, someone with whom Ferdinand had made friends whilst convalescing from their war injuries; they had intended to visit London together but Raoul was court-martialled and executed for his self-inflicted wounds. Cascade, however, urged Ferdinand to come anyway.
"You're already drunk, Borokrom!" the old guy answers..."You've been drinking like a hole!"The fight only ends with the arrival of Claben's maid, Delphine, who prevents Borokrom from bashing his brains out. Borokrom retreats to the room upstairs and plays 'The Merry Widow Waltz' upon request from Claben, who is addicted to music. If this all sounds chaotic and confusing then you will need to prepare yourself for another episode later on, another bust-up, after Delphine comes home with some 'strange' cigarettes. It is even more bizarre and results in the death of one of the characters. Ferdinand escapes but is framed by the others for the murder. He evades the police and encounters an even odder character, called Sosthène, a charlatan; he's French but when Ferdinand first encounters him he is dressed as a Chinaman; one of his job descriptions on his business card is Explorer of Occult Hearths. Still, he is ready to employ Ferdinand who is just thankful to be off the streets.
They're at one another now...
"Like a hole?"...Ah! that's the limit!..."Tell me, what kind of hole? What kind of hole? Ass-hole, is that it?"
It's too outrageous!...Boro gets up! He wants to hear that to his face...what the old guy's insinuating! he's going downstairs...shit! He stumbles...he staggers...He gets to the stairs...His shirt hanging out like a smock, his belly sagging...He's reeling again...Boom!...he tumbles, upsets...rolls down...crashes into the shop...A mess...Right into the whole works...Right into the crockery...The pyramid of fruit dishes...plates! Thunder!...A cataract!...The old boy's choking with fury...The client in front of the counter yelps...she's bleating with horror...She wants to run away...she can't!...Everything falls all over her!...The old guy tries to help her, to pull her out! he yanks at her, by the shoes...he takes a firm stand...ho! hip! hup!...the whole works tumbles down again!...