I read a few of Joseph Kessel's books when I was a teenager and liked them a lot. He was a larger than life figure that made me dream of a larger life. And what a life he had, full throttle full time...
All through my years as a student, I belonged to various Ciné Clubs, which were very popular in France in the sixties. We would watch what would be referred to here now as "Art Movies" by the major Directors of the day ( Fellini, Antonioni, Bergman, Bunuel, Hitchcock, Bertolucci, Polansky, Godard, Resnais, etc...), and have a discussion after the viewing.
In 1967, Luis Bunuel made "Belle de Jour" , one of Kessel's most controversial novels from1928, into a famous movie of the same name (with Catherine Deneuve playing the main character). Kessel was by then about my age, and had just published what many consider his masterpiece: "Les Cavaliers", which was made into a movie in 1971: "The Horsemen"(with Omar Sharif and Jack Palance).
A few months ago, I happened onto a copy of the book while sorting through the thousands of books I brought back from France over the years to satisfy my lifelong habit of bedtime reading. Except during the "morphine summer" of 2012, I can hardly think of a night when I didn't read in bed for a few hours before going to sleep. Even if I go to bed late, I still have to read for a while...
Anyhow, I read "Les Cavaliers" one more time, and enjoyed it so much I decided to read every Kessel book I could get my hands on.
I also decided I would bind them in leather, so I have been scouring eBay France for old 1920's to 1950's "in octavo" editions that can be taken apart and sewn into an old fashion binding( unlike our post 1960 modern books, the pages of which start falling off after two readings or two years, whichever comes first...!). Book binding is another old interest of mine I have discussed at length on my web site some years ago.
I have been reading Kessel books one after the other since, and am still not tired of him. He was a journalist traveling the world and reporting for the best newspapers of the day, and wrote novels that were basically about the people he met, himself and his adventures through life and through the world. He lived with gusto, and wrote as he lived. A born storyteller, he uses no literary effects or artifice, none of those contrived writing styles that get on my nerves so bad sometimes. He just tells the story with simple beautiful words put together just right, in a very cinematic way. Sometimes it is a simple story, sometimes an incredible adventure, it is told with the same preciseness and the same passion. He grabs you, takes you there, and doesn't let you go. Some of the shorter books I read straight through in one night. Very few writers can hold me captive as he does. Not surprisingly, many more of his novels were made into movies: "Fortune Carrée", "La Passante du Sans Soucis", "L'Armée des Ombres", "Coup de Grace", "Bataillon du Ciel", "Le Lion", "l'Equipage", and he wrote a number of screenplays. Surprisingly, even though he was a Lithuanian Jew, only one of his books mentions "jewishness"("La Passante du sans Soucis").
All through my years as a student, I belonged to various Ciné Clubs, which were very popular in France in the sixties. We would watch what would be referred to here now as "Art Movies" by the major Directors of the day ( Fellini, Antonioni, Bergman, Bunuel, Hitchcock, Bertolucci, Polansky, Godard, Resnais, etc...), and have a discussion after the viewing.
In 1967, Luis Bunuel made "Belle de Jour" , one of Kessel's most controversial novels from1928, into a famous movie of the same name (with Catherine Deneuve playing the main character). Kessel was by then about my age, and had just published what many consider his masterpiece: "Les Cavaliers", which was made into a movie in 1971: "The Horsemen"(with Omar Sharif and Jack Palance).
A few months ago, I happened onto a copy of the book while sorting through the thousands of books I brought back from France over the years to satisfy my lifelong habit of bedtime reading. Except during the "morphine summer" of 2012, I can hardly think of a night when I didn't read in bed for a few hours before going to sleep. Even if I go to bed late, I still have to read for a while...
Anyhow, I read "Les Cavaliers" one more time, and enjoyed it so much I decided to read every Kessel book I could get my hands on.
I also decided I would bind them in leather, so I have been scouring eBay France for old 1920's to 1950's "in octavo" editions that can be taken apart and sewn into an old fashion binding( unlike our post 1960 modern books, the pages of which start falling off after two readings or two years, whichever comes first...!). Book binding is another old interest of mine I have discussed at length on my web site some years ago.
I have been reading Kessel books one after the other since, and am still not tired of him. He was a journalist traveling the world and reporting for the best newspapers of the day, and wrote novels that were basically about the people he met, himself and his adventures through life and through the world. He lived with gusto, and wrote as he lived. A born storyteller, he uses no literary effects or artifice, none of those contrived writing styles that get on my nerves so bad sometimes. He just tells the story with simple beautiful words put together just right, in a very cinematic way. Sometimes it is a simple story, sometimes an incredible adventure, it is told with the same preciseness and the same passion. He grabs you, takes you there, and doesn't let you go. Some of the shorter books I read straight through in one night. Very few writers can hold me captive as he does. Not surprisingly, many more of his novels were made into movies: "Fortune Carrée", "La Passante du Sans Soucis", "L'Armée des Ombres", "Coup de Grace", "Bataillon du Ciel", "Le Lion", "l'Equipage", and he wrote a number of screenplays. Surprisingly, even though he was a Lithuanian Jew, only one of his books mentions "jewishness"("La Passante du sans Soucis").
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