The BURIED Book Club discussion

*I can't get this topic to link to Ferry's GR profile. Any help in doing so would be appreciated. At best, I can get his main book to populate, just not him.*

Jean Ferry (1906-1974) made his living as a screenwriter for such filmmakers as Luis Buñuel and Louis Malle, cowriting such classics as Henri-Georges Clouzot's Le Quai des orfèvres and script-doctoring Marcel Carné's Les Enfants du paradis. He was the first serious scholar and exegete of the work of Raymond Roussel (on whom he published three books) and a member of the Collège de 'Pataphysique.

His only work of fiction - The Conductor and Other Tales - has been reissued within the last two weeks. Here's the description from the publisher:

First published in French in 1950 in a limited edition of 100 copies, then republished in 1953 (and enthusiastically praised by André Breton), The Conductor and Other Tales is Jean Ferry's only published book of fiction. It is a collection of short prose narratives that offer a blend of pataphysical humor and surreal nightmare: secret societies so secret that one cannot know if one is a member or not, music-hall acts that walk a tightrope from humor to horror, childhood memories of a man never born, and correspondence from countries that are more states of mind than geographical locales. Lying somewhere between Kafka's parables and the prose poems of Henri Michaux, Ferry's tales read like pages from the journal of a stranger in a familiar land. Though extracts have appeared regularly in Surrealist anthologies over the decades, The Conductor has never been fully translated into English until now. This edition includes four stories not included in the original French edition and is illustrated throughout with collages by Claude Ballaré

(It took me about thirty seconds to order this after I came across it. Review in a week or so once I get it)

Ronald wrote: "*I can't get this topic to link to Ferry's GR profile. Any help in doing so would be appreciated. At best, I can get his main book to populate, just not him.*"

No worries. We'll use the title. goodreads is dumb.

Don't leave us hanging on the review please. Nice find.

Ferry seems great for sure! There are two Ferry stories in The Dedalus Book of Surrealism: The Identity of Things, "Letter to an Unknown Person" and "Rapa-Nui", on the basis of which, i've been meaning to check out that Wakefield collection! The only of his screen work I've seen is 1971 lesbian vampire decadence Daughters of Darkness but that one's a much better-written than it needs to be and balances classiness and trash quite well (via, also, its non-genre director Harry Kumel).

There's one more Ferry story, "My Aquarium" in the second Dedalus Surrealism book, but I've not got to it yet.

Just in case any of those aren't in the collection, those are all the anthologized Ferry I've run into.

A screenwriter for Luis Buñuel??? WOW. That's a must-get for me, as I adore Buñuel and I HATE nearly ALL movies. Thanks for the heads-up!

The promised review of this can be found here.

By the way Nate, all three stories that you referenced are contained here, just as an FYI. But, despite having intent, I've yet to read either of those Dedalus books, which I should remedy soon.

I want to read basically all the dedalus collections. The regional Dedalus Book of ______ Fantasy collections are especially essential, as they're often cover to cover full of any given country's great strange lit, usually which have otherwise never been translated.

Nate D wrote: "I want to read basically all the dedalus collections. The regional Dedalus Book of ______ Fantasy collections are especially essential, as they're often cover to cover full of any given country's ..."

Oh goddamn you. (and I mean that nicely)

And now I have a bunch of books (the two surrealism volumes included) coming my way. As if I don't have enough stuff to read already.

You seem to be doing very well with your to-reads though! I really wish I had as much reading time now as I used to.

Nate D wrote: "You seem to be doing very well with your to-reads though! I really wish I had as much reading time now as I used to."

Trying my best to get through the piles! I need to restrain the book buying a bit next year though, I think I probably averaged out at about 4-5 books bought to each book read through the year. So I'm set for a while.