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Last Times
Last Times, Victor Serge’s epic novel of the fall of France, is based—like much of his fiction—on firsthand experience. The author was an eyewitness to the last days of Paris in June 1940 and joined the chaotic mass exodus south to the unoccupied zone on foot with nothing but his manuscripts. He found himself trapped in Marseille under the Vichy government, a persecuted, stateless Russian, and participated in the early French Resistance before escaping on the last ship to the Americas in 1941.
Exiled in Mexico City, Serge poured his recent experience into a fast-moving, gripping novel aimed at an American audience. The book begins in a near-deserted Paris abandoned by the government, the suburbs already noisy with gunfire. Serge’s anti-fascist protagonists join the flood of refugees fleeing south on foot, in cars loaded with household goods, on bikes, pushing carts and prams under the strafing Stukas, and finally make their way to wartime Marseille. Last Times offers a vivid eyewitness account of the city’s criminal underground and no less criminal Vichy authorities, of collaborators and of the growing resistance, of crowds of desperate refugees competing for the last visa and the last berth on the last—hoped-for—ship to the New World.
Exiled in Mexico City, Serge poured his recent experience into a fast-moving, gripping novel aimed at an American audience. The book begins in a near-deserted Paris abandoned by the government, the suburbs already noisy with gunfire. Serge’s anti-fascist protagonists join the flood of refugees fleeing south on foot, in cars loaded with household goods, on bikes, pushing carts and prams under the strafing Stukas, and finally make their way to wartime Marseille. Last Times offers a vivid eyewitness account of the city’s criminal underground and no less criminal Vichy authorities, of collaborators and of the growing resistance, of crowds of desperate refugees competing for the last visa and the last berth on the last—hoped-for—ship to the New World.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
39 people are currently reading
619 people want to read
About the author
Victor Serge
105 books232 followersVictor Lvovich Kibalchich (В.Л. Кибальчич) was born in exile in 1890 and died in exile in 1947. He is better known as Victor Serge, a Russian revolutionary and Francophone writer. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks five months after arriving in Petrograd in January 1919, and later worked for the newly founded Comintern as a journalist, editor and translator. He was openly critical of the Soviet regime, but remained loyal to the ideals of socialism until his death.
After time spent in France, Belgium, Russia and Spain, Serge was forced to live out the rest of his life in Mexico, with no country he could call home. Serge's health had been badly damaged by his periods of imprisonment in France and Russia, but he continued to write until he died of heart attack, in Mexico city on 17 November 1947. Having no nationality, no Mexican cemetery could legally take his body, so he was buried as a 'Spanish Republican.'
After time spent in France, Belgium, Russia and Spain, Serge was forced to live out the rest of his life in Mexico, with no country he could call home. Serge's health had been badly damaged by his periods of imprisonment in France and Russia, but he continued to write until he died of heart attack, in Mexico city on 17 November 1947. Having no nationality, no Mexican cemetery could legally take his body, so he was buried as a 'Spanish Republican.'
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February 12, 2023Not one of Serge's best books: the introduction makes clear he was under pressure to deliver a commercial success, which meant not saying impolite things about Stalin, given the alliance against Nazism. Which is reasonable enough in a book about the fall of France in the second world war, as characters make their way to Marseilles and Spain to avoid the occupying army. With that said, Serge still manages to make his point about the equivalence of the Russian and German regimes: "Until history descended on us with rains of shrapnel , with dictatorships , propaganda , castor oil , socialist inquisitions , liberating revolutions transformed into tyrannies , abject tyrannies affirming by decree the genius of rational organization , an anti - socialist national socialism , a Bolshevism that exterminated the Bolsheviks .... A revolution transformed into a dictatorship , executions on an industrial scale , tons of propaganda rammed down your throat . But they still sang the “ Internationale ” ; the executioners and the executed"
January 14, 2023
I’ve now read most of Victor Serge’s novels and a large chunk of his non-fiction and for me he is one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, and also one of the most fascinating figures in our recent history. When I think about my favourite writers, I have a clear preference for writers who suffered in some way – physically and psychologically – and Serge very definitely ticks those boxes. He was born in 1890 to a couple of Russian exiles in Belgium. The family were so poor his brother died of starvation. His parents split up when he was 15 and from then on he was on the streets. He did a five year stretch in solitary confinement for anarchist activities, a year in a concentration camp and when he spoke out against Stalin he was imprisoned, interrogated and cast into internal exile. Eventually he escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe and settled in Mexico City where he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 56. When his son went to identify the body, the first thing he noticed when he saw his father’s remains lying on the slab was the holes in his boots. Victor Serge was born in abject poverty and died in abject poverty. During his life he struggled to get anything published, especially after his rejection of Stalinism. Publishers in Britain and the USA were either hostile (not because he was a Marxist but because of his anti-Stalinism) or terrified of upsetting the Soviets. It was the kind of moral cowardice that Serge raged against.
Last Times begins in the days before Paris fell to the Nazis in 1940 and continues through the division of France into occupied and “free” zones. It follows the stories of several characters, most of whom are living in the same building in the Rue du Roi-de-Naples. They are all faced with the agonising decision whether to stay in Paris or flee to the “free” zone and either settle there or try to get a visa for anywhere: Brazil, Mexico, the USA. One character who decides to stay is a servile pub landlord, Anselme Flotte, but he finds that giving Nazi salutes to German soldiers coming into his bar doesn’t save him from being arrested and held hostage. Later we hear of him being shot in reprisal for some Resistance incident. Other characters also come to a bad end or avoid a bad end by the skin of their teeth. One character, a soldier who seems to be suffering from PTSD, murders a fellow French citizen and seems to get away with it in all the chaos.
You can speculate that Victor Serge must have encountered several of these characters in real life and that he himself suffered similar experiences. In 1940 he was living in France after spending several years in internal exile in Soviet central Asia. As a Marxist writer and former Comintern agent he would have been a prime target for liquidation by the Gestapo. He and his son escaped from Paris, crossed into the “free” zone and eventually got passage on a ship bound for Mexico. It’s possible that the character Ardatov is based on Victor Serge.
As a UK reader and a British English bigot I must admit that the American translation sometimes grates. However, I have to give credit to NRB for publishing Serge. It beats me why Penguin haven’t touched him. This edition has a useful introduction by Richard Greeman and a note on the translation which details the problems the first translator, Ralph Manheim, had getting the novel published in the US in the 1940s. Greeman points out that Serge’s female characters are not fully developed. Hilda, the German anti-Nazi activist, is disappointingly one-dimensional and most of the other female characters seem to be sex workers. That is a weakness of Serge’s writing and it’s a fairly common weakness of many male novelists. You either accept it and read him or you leave him on the shelf.
Despite that, I would recommend this novel to anyone who has enjoyed Victor Serge’s other novels, or his non-fiction. He has plenty to say about a terrible period in human history and he always gives you a sense that something better is just over the horizon.
Last Times begins in the days before Paris fell to the Nazis in 1940 and continues through the division of France into occupied and “free” zones. It follows the stories of several characters, most of whom are living in the same building in the Rue du Roi-de-Naples. They are all faced with the agonising decision whether to stay in Paris or flee to the “free” zone and either settle there or try to get a visa for anywhere: Brazil, Mexico, the USA. One character who decides to stay is a servile pub landlord, Anselme Flotte, but he finds that giving Nazi salutes to German soldiers coming into his bar doesn’t save him from being arrested and held hostage. Later we hear of him being shot in reprisal for some Resistance incident. Other characters also come to a bad end or avoid a bad end by the skin of their teeth. One character, a soldier who seems to be suffering from PTSD, murders a fellow French citizen and seems to get away with it in all the chaos.
You can speculate that Victor Serge must have encountered several of these characters in real life and that he himself suffered similar experiences. In 1940 he was living in France after spending several years in internal exile in Soviet central Asia. As a Marxist writer and former Comintern agent he would have been a prime target for liquidation by the Gestapo. He and his son escaped from Paris, crossed into the “free” zone and eventually got passage on a ship bound for Mexico. It’s possible that the character Ardatov is based on Victor Serge.
As a UK reader and a British English bigot I must admit that the American translation sometimes grates. However, I have to give credit to NRB for publishing Serge. It beats me why Penguin haven’t touched him. This edition has a useful introduction by Richard Greeman and a note on the translation which details the problems the first translator, Ralph Manheim, had getting the novel published in the US in the 1940s. Greeman points out that Serge’s female characters are not fully developed. Hilda, the German anti-Nazi activist, is disappointingly one-dimensional and most of the other female characters seem to be sex workers. That is a weakness of Serge’s writing and it’s a fairly common weakness of many male novelists. You either accept it and read him or you leave him on the shelf.
Despite that, I would recommend this novel to anyone who has enjoyed Victor Serge’s other novels, or his non-fiction. He has plenty to say about a terrible period in human history and he always gives you a sense that something better is just over the horizon.
January 2, 2024
Reading Last Times by Victor Serge was an epic experience. This was my first time delving into historical fiction based on first hand account, and I was immersed by Serge's descriptive and creative writing tone. I would recommend anyone who plans to read Last Times first research the story of Victor Serge. Knowing the hardships he must have endured in his life as a refugee adds another element to the reading experience, turning the "shady figure standing in the alley" into an critical fight or flight confrontation as you're fully invested in the well-being and survival of the characters.
Last Times starts off by setting the scene of Paris in 1940 as the frightened citizens plan to either stay or escape the city as the inevitable German invasion closes in. Gunshots racket through the city streets, leaving even the most hard-nosed citizens with a feeling of discontent. Serge describes the tone and emotions of the panicked people who at that time have accepted their home will be turned to rubble in the coming days. Last Times then follows the story of refugees as they endure corrupt police officials, assassinations, the struggle of obtaining visas, and the overarching anxiety of the German forces and geopolitical turbulence looming as an interminable dark cloud. I would recommend anyone reading this also brush up on their knowledge of the general political climate of the time, as well as Marxism, the Bolshevik Revolution, Anglo-Saxons, etc. Overall, I enjoyed the reading experience and will highly consider reading Victor Serge's other pieces of work in the future. This is not the easiest read given it is translated from French, but well worth diving into.
Last Times starts off by setting the scene of Paris in 1940 as the frightened citizens plan to either stay or escape the city as the inevitable German invasion closes in. Gunshots racket through the city streets, leaving even the most hard-nosed citizens with a feeling of discontent. Serge describes the tone and emotions of the panicked people who at that time have accepted their home will be turned to rubble in the coming days. Last Times then follows the story of refugees as they endure corrupt police officials, assassinations, the struggle of obtaining visas, and the overarching anxiety of the German forces and geopolitical turbulence looming as an interminable dark cloud. I would recommend anyone reading this also brush up on their knowledge of the general political climate of the time, as well as Marxism, the Bolshevik Revolution, Anglo-Saxons, etc. Overall, I enjoyed the reading experience and will highly consider reading Victor Serge's other pieces of work in the future. This is not the easiest read given it is translated from French, but well worth diving into.
June 14, 2025
An apocalyptic vision of Europe destroyed during World War 2, with the possibility of a new world being born from the destruction... but fairly pessimistic too. I loved the writing, many vivid episodes and descriptions. I found the female characters unfortunately unrepresented and undeveloped. I would have liked a list of characters because at times they became confused in my head, and more explanatory notes would have been helpful since Serge references a lot of different things in this novel. Overall, a striking portrayal of a fascinating and terrifying time in history.
February 22, 2025
I had a tough time getting through this, not because the content or material was difficult (though, it is) but because the story gets worn down by asides and commentary. At least, I think that’s what happens. Moments of narrative tension are lost. Great passages, lines and observation are overshadowed by text. I don’t know how else to put it. There are memorable moments in this book, but methinks Serge would’ve been better served by a more ruthless editor.
October 1, 2024
Serge is a brilliant writer: one of the most underrated of the twentieth Century. And this book is about a huge human upheaval, the defeat and flight from Paris as the Nazis conquered France - exactly the kind of huge, painful, overwhelming human experience he is so brilliant at conveying. He knew what he was writing about, and he describes the horror and shock and rootlessness and chaos as it affected a huge range of people, from an establishment French poet to the refugee leftists he knew best.
And yet, I can't bring myself to give this book more than five stars. The genesis of the novel probably didn't help - it was written when he needed to write something fast and for money, not least because he had just been through horrors of the kind described in the book. Further, it was in French - not his usual Russian, though he was undeniably very capable in the language.
Perhaps that's why there's so much more randomly purple prose, why it feels overdone and overwrought in a way his writing doesn't normally - whether it's the second language, or the different French writing style underlying the translation, or even the translator. And it's constantly and needlessly crude.
More than that, though, the book doesn't really hang together - it's much more disjointed and much less satisfying than his great books. The different eyes through which we see these happenings don't quite come together enough.
Still, it's an important book, since it conveys in Serge's usual fictionalised way the realities of a horrific moment of history; it shows the banal evil of Nazi rule, the cruelty of the KGB, and the simple awfulness and despair of a moment of history we all too easily forget.
And yet, I can't bring myself to give this book more than five stars. The genesis of the novel probably didn't help - it was written when he needed to write something fast and for money, not least because he had just been through horrors of the kind described in the book. Further, it was in French - not his usual Russian, though he was undeniably very capable in the language.
Perhaps that's why there's so much more randomly purple prose, why it feels overdone and overwrought in a way his writing doesn't normally - whether it's the second language, or the different French writing style underlying the translation, or even the translator. And it's constantly and needlessly crude.
More than that, though, the book doesn't really hang together - it's much more disjointed and much less satisfying than his great books. The different eyes through which we see these happenings don't quite come together enough.
Still, it's an important book, since it conveys in Serge's usual fictionalised way the realities of a horrific moment of history; it shows the banal evil of Nazi rule, the cruelty of the KGB, and the simple awfulness and despair of a moment of history we all too easily forget.
January 11, 2023
Good writing in many places but bogged down a little in some (for me). A bit too wordy in part.
July 24, 2023
Very beautifully written and extremely boring. Sorry Victor try again sweatie!
April 24, 2024
This is a somewhat unique novel from Serge, at least of what I've read. Unlike such masterpieces as Memoirs of a Revolutionary or Unforgiving Years or Conquered City, Last Times was written with an eye for for commercial success. Having fled to Mexico City in the footsteps of Trotsky, Serge was broke and sinking into dire straights, clearly willing to compromise his artistic integrity.
Eventually he was able to have the work published after much of the overtly political parts were cut in 1946 (it must also be said this new translation restores all of the original). After finally finding success as a writer, Serge, a man of exile and ill health resembling many of the characters in this book, unfortunately died of an embolism less than a year later, age 57.
Though written in a more popular audience than much of his other work, Serge did manage to slip in some of the impressionistic early modernist style for which he is known:
Eventually he was able to have the work published after much of the overtly political parts were cut in 1946 (it must also be said this new translation restores all of the original). After finally finding success as a writer, Serge, a man of exile and ill health resembling many of the characters in this book, unfortunately died of an embolism less than a year later, age 57.
Though written in a more popular audience than much of his other work, Serge did manage to slip in some of the impressionistic early modernist style for which he is known:
Night spread over Paris. That this filthy prison should be only a few yards from a street where people were taking their evening strolls became hard to believe. Mûrier placed it in the midst of unknown catacombs, full of larvae, decomposed flesh, creeping fears, and disgusting pleasures. The shadowy Seine with its sudden reflections of moonlight passed over it, sweeping along its dead animals, its bluish corpses, its rotten vegetables, its undersized gudgeon. The Métro passed overhead, carrying its human cargoes—inconceivable. At what Alpine heights above him were the benches of the outer boulevards in the shade of moth-eaten trees, the bars, the enigmatic urinals, the numbered, partitioned houses and their commonplace histories, the cafés, the editorial offices, the rotary presses turning out great sheets of print covered with nonsense, lies, baseness—and a few rays of wit like pearly shells beneath the muck, pure fire under the dung.
December 29, 2024
VS witnessed chapters in history that other writers have written about as well but mostly without experiencing them first hand. That the author lived through such experiences is apparent in the telling, lending a sense of authenticity to his prose. Moreover, his painterly writing conveys a palpable sense of those times that can ignite the imagination. This, his last novel, started soon after VS escaped occupied France, conveys episodes in the lives of a diverse cast of characters as France capitulates to the Nazis during WWII and people fend for themselves in various ways. His value as a witness to these times and his talent as a writer deserve high praise (hence four stars). Yet this last novel seems fragmented, sketching one character and then another in various chapters without ever going very deep or arriving anywhere. Nor was the narrative consistently engaging, leaving this reader prone to distraction. Overall, I was disappointed in this novel after having so thoroughly enjoyed several others written by this author.
September 5, 2025
I'm glad to have come across Victor Serge's work through some happenstance.
He has this unique skill of showing tragic scenes without lingering on them, almost as if to emphasize their banality and commonplace nature.
What I did struggle with was the ever-changing perspective this novel would take. Perhaps it's my attention span that was the problem, but it was quite jarring to switch perspectives from one narrator to another, when nothing much had yet happened in the chapter of the former. I also kept having to remind myself of who the characters were exactly, and how they related to one another.
Regardless, I really admired Serge's storytelling and world-building. From the beginning of the novel, Serge gave the reader a tactile sensation from his descriptions of the streets of Paris pre-invasion and its people. I just love it when the setting of a story feels alive and lived-in, as if it has existed in and outside the author's head for decades.
This is the closest thing to a five-star read it could be.
He has this unique skill of showing tragic scenes without lingering on them, almost as if to emphasize their banality and commonplace nature.
What I did struggle with was the ever-changing perspective this novel would take. Perhaps it's my attention span that was the problem, but it was quite jarring to switch perspectives from one narrator to another, when nothing much had yet happened in the chapter of the former. I also kept having to remind myself of who the characters were exactly, and how they related to one another.
Regardless, I really admired Serge's storytelling and world-building. From the beginning of the novel, Serge gave the reader a tactile sensation from his descriptions of the streets of Paris pre-invasion and its people. I just love it when the setting of a story feels alive and lived-in, as if it has existed in and outside the author's head for decades.
This is the closest thing to a five-star read it could be.
October 11, 2025
A book best enjoyed reading without any distractions, with no TV on, no music playing. Not an easy read, but a compelling one. It's about France as the Nazis march into Paris, and the aftermath. Most people seem to have lost hope. Some collaborate, some join the resistance, all of them wonder what the hell the world's come to. It's a lot like America during Trump 2.0. One complaint -- there's such a large cast of characters it's difficult to keep track of all of them. This novel needed a cast of characters at the beginning. A minor complaint. This book's so full of intriguing ideas, vivid description, unexpected acts of violence. Really great stuff.
October 8, 2025
When this book was initially published, the publisher supposedly edited it heavily. This current edition restored everything and probably, made it better. However, there were stretches that became slogs. Mr. Serge loved his similes, his metaphors, and any other literary devices available. Additionally, the book featured 15-25 significant characters, each with a Russian, French or Eastern European name ... (many with diminutives.) Be prepared for a slow go on this one. I had to do a lot of backtracking just to keep track of the characters. ... but it was worth it. I found "Last Times" to be a very satisfying read.
Mr. Serge paints a picture of a world populated by revolutionaries, criminals, resistance fighters, soldiers gone AWOL, motivated anarchists, and a famous poet. (The lines differentiating these groupings are very loosely drawn.) When the Nazis entered Paris, a few of them stayed, but a large group escaped to Marseilles and that migration is the background for the various stories. There are many.
Mr. Serge paints a picture of a world populated by revolutionaries, criminals, resistance fighters, soldiers gone AWOL, motivated anarchists, and a famous poet. (The lines differentiating these groupings are very loosely drawn.) When the Nazis entered Paris, a few of them stayed, but a large group escaped to Marseilles and that migration is the background for the various stories. There are many.
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September 4, 2025Gripping reconstruction of the chaotic conditions faced by refugees in France when the Nazis took over, including many who had run away from political persecution in Central Europe. Not to mention the Stalinist agents eager to eliminate Bolshevik dissidents who had managed to escape. The literary qualities are generally admirable, occasionally trying too hard for effect. All in all, tremendous.
December 16, 2022
Characteristically brilliant. I read this hot on the heels of Vasily Grossman's Life & Fate. They make superb companion pieces. I have nothing but praise for both. The limits of human endurance are breathtaking. Why we put ourselves through it, there's the puzzle.
March 22, 2025
A gorgeous translation from Richard Greeman of Serge's lyrical, poetical, painterly masterpiece.
(The quality of the Translator Notes far exceeds that of the Greeman's odd and annoying Introduction which absolutely should not be perused prior to reading the novel.)
(The quality of the Translator Notes far exceeds that of the Greeman's odd and annoying Introduction which absolutely should not be perused prior to reading the novel.)
November 1, 2025
serge goes potboiler with middling results
August 7, 2025
Two showcases offered luxurious toilettes in the Parisian taste to rich Americans, silk scarves in French colors, handkerchiefs with tender designs, little bottles, powder boxes. Such showcases would doubtless appear in museums towards the year 2500, when the present wars would be studied as curious cyclical crises bringing the sick collectivities of the capitalist era towards their ends or unforeseen rebirth - 76
The word visa could make asthmatics breathe again, relieve sufferers from heart trouble, cure neuroses, dispel the temptation of suicide; it reigned over condemned horizons as a mirage reigns over a desert strewn with bones — but this word also wrought devastation, giving rise to diseases of the personality hitherto unknown to psychiatry - 278
Pretty good! First Serge affair, apparently basically his only attempt at making a main stream novel. Some really interesting characters, Murier, Laurent, my king Ardatov, and Ortiga. The first days of the Nazi invasion into Paris and throughout France seems like an extremely stressful, chaotic, hopeless time. You can feel the author’s first person experience in France during this time. Definitely makes me want to dip back into his works.
The word visa could make asthmatics breathe again, relieve sufferers from heart trouble, cure neuroses, dispel the temptation of suicide; it reigned over condemned horizons as a mirage reigns over a desert strewn with bones — but this word also wrought devastation, giving rise to diseases of the personality hitherto unknown to psychiatry - 278
Pretty good! First Serge affair, apparently basically his only attempt at making a main stream novel. Some really interesting characters, Murier, Laurent, my king Ardatov, and Ortiga. The first days of the Nazi invasion into Paris and throughout France seems like an extremely stressful, chaotic, hopeless time. You can feel the author’s first person experience in France during this time. Definitely makes me want to dip back into his works.
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