On Leave A Novel
On Leave A Novel by Daniel Anselme is a poignant exploration of the experiences of soldiers returning home from an unpopular war. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on March 4, 2014, this first edition spans 224 pages and is presented in English. The novel, originally published in Paris in 1957, addresses the unsettling realities faced by three soldiers as they navigate their lives in Paris after serving in a distant conflict.
Readers will find a vivid portrayal of the emotional turmoil experienced by a sergeant, a corporal, and an infantryman during their leave. The narrative captures their feelings of alienation and disconnection, as they grapple with the unspeakable aspects of their wartime experiences. Through David Bellos’s translation, this literary work sheds light on the often-overlooked psychological impacts of war, offering insights into the shame and terror that accompany soldiers returning home. The themes of war and military life resonate throughout, making this novel a significant addition to the discourse on the effects of conflict.
Official synopsis Publisher
A long-lost French novel in which three soldiers return home from an unpopular, unspeakable war
When On Leave was published in Paris in 1957, as France’s engagement in Algeria became ever more bloody, it told people things they did not want to hear. It vividly described what it was like for soldiers to return home from an unpopular war in a faraway place. The book received a handful of reviews, it was never reprinted, it disappeared from view. With no outcome to the war in sight, its power to disturb was too much to bear.
Through David Bellos’s translation, this lost classic has been rediscovered. Spare, forceful, and moving, it describes a week in the lives of a sergeant, a corporal, and an infantryman, each home on leave in Paris. What these soldiers have to say can’t be heard, can’t even be spoken; they find themselves strangers in their own city, unmoored from their lives. Full of sympathy and feeling, informed by the many hours Daniel Anselme spent talking to conscripts in Paris, On Leave is a timeless evocation of what the history books can never record: the shame and the terror felt by men returning home from war.
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