Ask me about everything except the message. And shouldn't there have been a message in the first place? Is it safe for the author to claim that he has presented a successful solution to human problems and let the readers put the book aside as poets, believing that they haven't wasted their time in vain? Is it a mutual hypocrisy between the author and the readers? Or is it the absurdity itself that convinces us of the sincerity of most things that have no substance behind them.

What I read in the preface is similar to the stance that Fernand Celine maintains throughout this book as he mocks by throwing stones at everything that is noble and precious among the great majority of people: nationality, love, friendship, morality... etc. To the extent that he didn't refrain from demeaning his own origin and the history of his country, where he speaks through the mouth of the hero of his story about one of the characters who believes in the purity of French blood: "His noble blood was nothing but a mouthful of filth from examples like mine: eyes of a vulture, bodies ravaged by syphilis, bones softened by the cold. They came from the four corners of the continent, led by hunger, typhus, ulcers, and wretchedness, and then they stopped here. They couldn't move forward because of the ocean. That is France, and that is the French people."

Even war, even death, couldn't escape Celine's inhumane mockery, as he spits in everyone's face, and that is the predominant feature in the novel, which most critics find to be a virtue.

The first part of the novel is characterized by a lot of travels, adventures, and a continuous variety between different scenes: the Franco-German wars, France, the Congo, America... Therefore, I found the first part of the novel to be more enjoyable and attractive. After the text takes you on travels, it brings you back to France and then wanders a little from city to city and within places that you can't imagine that one person could move between all of them: a small clinic on the outskirts of Paris, the theater, a mental hospital. I think that all this alternation between the scenes reflects Celine's longing for adventure and his hatred of stagnation and the cessation of experiences.

In addition to the mockery that spares no one and reminds you of Voltaire's "Candide" satire, you will find the nothingness of "The Stranger" by Camus, the presence of "Letters from Underground" by Dostoyevsky, and you will touch the absurdity of relationships and emotions that was characteristic of "The Sun Also Rises" by Hemingway and something of the hypocrisy of society that is present in "The Catcher in the Rye" by Salinger. In the end, you will find yourself outside a flamboyant, critical text that ridicules humans for their contradictions, hypocrisy, and lies to themselves. For me, what I found pleasurable in it was its contempt for propaganda and the jumbled, romantic slogans.

This book came to me as a gift from a dear friend who, on the first day of acquaintance, included it in hericeless gift, which touched my heart deeply.

It has been about fifteen months since I received it. So, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to this kind person.

However, regarding the book itself, at first glance, I was very worried. I had not read anything by Selin before, and the main reason was that the first thing the reader sees is a book of a hundred and something pages, with a small font and text that seems to be stuck together!

At the beginning, I expected to be dealing with an average story and a verbose writer. Of course, we can't deny that Selin is extremely verbose! :)) But it's a touching verbosity!

Sometimes, a writer may stretch the text and try to explain something but fail. However, although Selin is verbose, it is far from making the reader feel frustrated. At least for me, it was like this...

The plot of the book is so up and down, so full of ups and downs, and so beautifully intertwined that now, after finishing the book, when I think back to the beginning, I say to myself, "That's the story right there!!"

The reader follows the hero of the story. At the beginning of the book, both the hero and the reader are pure, young, and full of hope as they start their journey...

Now, on the contrary, at the end of the book, wrinkles have appeared on the face of the hero of the story and also on the reader. Both are lost in thought and both are older because of this journey...

In the last few lines, when the hero of the book is saying the last sentences, the scene is set so beautifully that you feel as if you are sitting beside him... He looks into your eyes and says the last sentences, and then both take a deep breath and fall back into thought...

I dare to say that my world of reading has been divided into two parts since tonight... The first part is before reading this book, and the second part is after reading it!

I feel that now, the few nights I spent on this book have been completely worthwhile, and I have become much more mature than before! Or rather, I have become older and even failed!

I don't have the habit of giving away the story or writing good sentences about the book, although I should have highlighted eighty percent of this book! :))

The last point is that if you want to give this book as a gift to someone, first make sure that the person is not new to the world of reading. Because naturally, a beginner in the world of books will have great difficulty concentrating and may even give up on reading this work halfway through!

The intended audience for this book is someone who has spent at least a year or two reading. At the beginning, the dense text and slow progress may bother you, but keep going and continue... The more pages you turn, the faster your progress will be...

Without a doubt, I will read the second book of this duology, that is, the same "Slow Death", in the coming days... I recommend that you read it too... Fifty stars out of five stars are still too few for this masterpiece!

As I write, I feel... They look down on me, saying that I am bad-tempered and have unrefined language.

They constantly criticize my books for being violent and heartless.

What should I do?

If this world changes its nature, I will also change my style.

Selene

I am constantly facing criticism and being looked down upon. It makes me feel frustrated and helpless. But I also realize that if I want to make a change, I can't just wait for the world to change first. I need to take the initiative and start changing myself. Maybe I can work on improving my temper and being more refined in my language. And when it comes to my books, I can try to explore different themes and writing styles to show a more diverse and positive side.

After all, only by changing myself can I have the power to influence the world around me.

Fardin, my dear friend, almost one and a half of me. I can't remember having such a good friend for a short time. How much new life I experienced with you, and of course, great sorrows and heartaches. I never saw you smile, I have no good memories of you. You described the dark end of your mind and actions very well. Even I didn't see my own sorrow. In other words, I didn't see any state of yours in your thoughts, in your actions, in your beliefs, even in love, even in pleasure, neither in anger nor in sadness. But with these qualities, your rich and charming world attracted me. Maybe it was in accordance with my state and conditions at that time that I became friends with you.

You were not devoid of human emotions, not at all and never. But your being had a difference with the other beings in my mind. This is also a kind of being with permanence now after almost eighty-nine years. Being with you is like being in a real pit.

Reading and becoming friends with others along with you, I definitely recommend. There are few people like you. Wait for new friendships, Fardin, with a bad heart :).

The depth and honesty of this book, in my opinion, are frequently misconstrued as being solely cynical and depressing. Celine has a profound understanding of the intricacies of humanity and presents it to you in an unvarnished way.

The truth is indeed an unappealing thing to confront, yet there is also beauty to be found here. It lies not only in the prose, which is perhaps rough around the edges but also in the life that is vividly portrayed within these pages. Amidst his darkness, I manage to catch a glimmer of light.

Don't misunderstand me, I don't have a great affinity for people in general. However, this book forces me to look beyond the surface and see the raw and real nature of humanity. It makes me question my own perceptions and prejudices.

Despite its flaws, there is something about this book that keeps drawing me back. Maybe it's the honesty, or maybe it's the hope that lies hidden within the despair. Either way, it has made an indelible mark on me.

Travel to the End of the Night

Mr. Celine, I am one of your fans. Sometimes, while reading, I am inspired to think that if Celine had the courage to express himself differently from satire, what kind of book would come out? Many times, I have the feeling that the author has come to a dead end in the story and is only following his own train of thought, and the scope of these thoughts is so vast that there is no choice but to give up the story.

Travel to the End of the Night is not just a journey, but a lesson in traveling within all human emotions and feelings, accompanied by all the beauties and uglinesses, wars and pasts. Bravo!

I have a lot to write about it and have nothing to say from that side. The challenge of these days of mine is similar to the challenge of Selin at the end of the book. It was really great.

It was supposed to be finished by the end of January and it was finished and it marked one of the most enjoyable reading experiences of my life. It was right with Agha that I didn't pray but why Selin? I don't think I will read another book by Selin in 2021 but I will definitely read "Death by Installments" as well.

I feel that Selin is a few sleepwalkers with a flowing river under my ear.

In contrast to the attractiveness of some books, one only has to remain silent...

My view of the world has never been like that of Ferdinands. I always find something in the worst conditions so that I don't feel the bitterness.

But the bitterness of this book, I wanted to feel it more and read it more.

Just like a kind of addiction, yes, now my soul needs more bitterness.

Well, the world is also interesting from this perspective.

I feel that I have to read more of Selin...

This text seems to express a person's unique perception and attitude towards books and the world. The author compares the attractiveness of different books and shows that they have a special preference for a book with bitterness. They seem to find a certain kind of satisfaction and meaning in this bitterness, as if it is a kind of addiction. At the same time, the author also reflects on the world from this perspective, finding that it has its own interesting aspects. Overall, it gives a sense of a person exploring and experiencing in the world of books and life.

Σίγουρα δεν θα ήθελα να είναι ο Σελίν φίλος μου.

Τουλάχιστον από αυτά που έχουν φτάσει στ’αυτιά μου, είναι μισάνθρωπος, αντικοινωνικός, εμμονικός. Προς το τέλος της ζωής του ζούσε μέσα στη μαύρη μπίχλα και φυσικά κάργα ναζιστής και ρατσιστής. Ε! δεν λες τον τύπο και την καλύτερη παρέα. Ίσως και γι’αυτό δεν είχα πιάσει κάτι δικό του. Και τσουπ! εμφανίζεται το προαιώνιο λογοτεχνικό ερώτημα, ‘ο συγγραφέας έκανε το έργο ή το έργο του συγγραφέα’. Κοινώς μας νοιάζει τι κάνει ο συγγραφεύς στη ζωή του όταν γράφει αριστουργήματα. Απάντηση δεν έχω, αλλά ναι ο Σελίν έγραψε κάτι πολύ καλό.

Πρόκειται για ένα κατά βάση αυτοβιογραφικό βιβλίο. Φαίνεται πως η ζωή του Σελίν δεν ήταν και η πιο εύκολη, ίσως γι’αυτό μετά να το ριξε και στα βαριά χιτλερικά. Κεντρικός ήρωας ο Φερδινάνδος και παρουσιάζεται η ζωή του, από τότε που βρίσκεται στα χαρακώματα του Α’ παγκοσμίου πολέμου, μέχρι τα τελευταία του χρόνια. Η ζωή του περιλαμβάνει τον τραυματισμό του, τα στρατιωτικά νοσοκομεία, την αποικιοκρατική Αφρική, την Αμερική και τα πρώτα εργοστάσια, την εργασία σε αλυσίδα, την καπιταλιστική κοινωνία, την ζωή στα περίχωρα της Γαλλίας, την ιατρική επιστήμη, τις μικροαπατεωνιές, όλα.

Το έργο του Σελίν έγινε classic και δεν αποκαθηλώθηκε παρά την αποκαθήλωση του ιδίου του δημιουργού του, για τον απλούστατο λόγο πως μιλάει για όλα τα ανθρώπινα υπαρξιακά. Ήταν αυτός που τόλμησε να ‘βγάλει τη γλώσσα’ στη γαλλική λογοτεχνία του τότε και τόλμησε κι έγραψε σε γλώσσα καθημερινή με αργκό διαλόγους. Εντάξει αυτό τώρα, μπορεί να φαίνεται mainstream και να μην το καταλαβαίνεις στην ελληνική μετάφραση, όμως το έργο όταν πρωτοκυκλοφόρησε, τάραξε τα νερά της γαλλικής λογοτεχνίας.

Το ύφος του Σελίν είναι κάργα κυνικό και ωμό εν μέρει, όμως εμένα μου πήγε πολύ γιατί έτσι κυνικό κι απαράδεκτο είμαι κι εγώ στην προσωπική μου ζωή. Η κριτική που κάνει στην κοινωνία και στην καθημερινότητα είναι ευφάνταστη, από τους γιατρούς μέχρι τους στρατιωτικούς, από τις αιθέριες υπάρξεις του έρωτα μέχρι τις ‘γυναίκες – βεντούζες’ που δεν λεν να ξεκολλήσουν από πάνω σου, από γριές που έχουν θεό το χρήμα, από τη ματαιότητα του πολέμου μέχρι τη λιποταξία.

Ομολογώ πως το πρώτο κομμάτι που αναφερόταν στον Α’ παγκόσμιο πόλεμο των χαρακωμάτων, μου θύμισε σε πολλά τη «Ζωή εν τάφω» του δικού μας Στρατή Μυριβήλη και θα ήταν πολύ ενδιαφέρον μάθημα συγκριτικής λογοτεχνίας για όσους ενδιαφέρονται.

Σαφώς δεν είναι βιβλίο που διαβάζεται απνευστί, θέλει το χρόνο του, προς το τέλος μου φάνηκε ολίγον τραβηγμένο από τα μαλλιά, οι τελευταίες πενήντα σελίδες με κούρασαν.

Πιστεύω πως η μετάφραση της Σεσίλ Ιγγλέση Μαργέλλου είναι εξαιρετική, αν και δυο μικρά πραγματάκια μου χτύπησαν κάπως. Α) τα γλυκά ‘μπαμπά’, εμείς εδώ στο Ελλάντα, τα λέμε ‘μπαμπάδες’. Β) ο ‘καφές με κρέμα’ και ‘καφές με κρέμα’. Φαντάζομαι πως θα είναι μετάφραση του cafe creme, αλλά αν αληθεύει τούτο μιλάμε για τον απλό απλούστατο καφέ με γάλα.

Εν πάση περιπτώσει, εάν ξεπεράσετε το γεγονός πως είναι ο Σελίν που έγραψε το «Ταξίδι στην άκρη της νύχτας», είναι ένα βιβλίο που σαφώς αξίζει ένα δεκαράκι, παρά τις μικρές κοιλιές που κάνει ενίοτε.

Υ.Γ. Άσχετον αλλά σχετικόν... ο Σελίν θεωρείται για τους Γάλλους ό,τι ο Τζέημς Τζόυς για τους Άγγλους ή ο Φώκνερ για τους Αμερικάνους. Αυτά.

The "Voyage" is a senseless flight, a continuous fleeing, a wandering, in the midst of a humanity doomed to the slaughterhouse, a world of depraved, failed, perverted people, in which nothing and no one is saved.

A world that leaves no escape for any moment of joy.

The vagrancy of the two protagonists, Bardamu - Robinson – one complementary to the other, almost twins - from the scenes of the First World War to colonial Africa, from the America of Fordism-Taylorism to the Paris of the poor, embodies the continuous dissatisfaction and despair of the man who has lost every moral value. "Courage Ferdinand, I repeated to myself to keep myself up, by dint of being beaten out everywhere, you will surely end up finding the trick that scares everyone, all the assholes who are out there: it must be at the bottom of the night. That's why they go there at the bottom of the night.." But in the end it emerges that "the only truth of this world is death".

"Every reader, when reading, reads himself. The writer's work is only a kind of optical instrument that he offers to the reader to allow him to discern what, without a book, he might not have seen in himself": says Proust. Well, at the end of the reading, a pessimism weighs on me so crushing that it prevents me from appreciating the grandeur of this book, of which all the admirers speak. I have only vaguely managed to glimpse it, this grandeur, without this having made me love the book more.

Poetic nihilism

It is a concept that delves deep into the realm of existential absurdity. It's like dissecting the cadaver of this absurdity not with the intention of finding a cause of death, but rather simply because the act of making those cuts helps pass the time in the morgue with a locked door.

What makes it truly disturbing is the very graphic descriptions of violence and sex that are presented. These are framed within a world that is characterized by brutality and an almost complete indifference to both the acts themselves and their consequences.

This world seems to be devoid of any moral compass or sense of right and wrong. The vivid depictions of violence and sex serve to shock and unnerve the reader, making them confront the darker aspects of human nature and the possible futility of existence.

Poetic nihilism thus challenges our perceptions and forces us to grapple with the uncomfortable questions that it raises about the meaning and purpose of life in a seemingly chaotic and amoral world.

This is not an ordinary novel.

The whole book is full of sorrow and pain, fear and horror, greed and ambition, disease, fleeing from war and fleeing from oneself and life and so on.

I listened to its audio file, and I feel that I must listen to it again, with more attention, without someone coming and saying "Mom, I want water. Mom, I'm itchy. Mom, Lina is bothering me. Mom, Dina won't let me into her room."

This novel seems to take me into a completely different world, a world full of various emotions and experiences. It makes me think about life, about human nature, and about the things we often take for granted. I can't wait to explore more of its contents and try to understand the author's intentions and messages.