''Balcony in the Forest'' (french: Un balcon en forêt) is a 1958 novel by the French writer

Julien Gracq Julien Gracq (; 27 July 1910 – 22 December 2007; born Louis Poirier in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, in the French ''département'' of Maine-et-Loire) was a French writer. He wrote novels, critiques, a play, and poetry. His literary works were note ...

. It tells the story of a French lieutenant, Grange, who is assigned to a concrete antitank blockhouse in the forest of the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

in the autumn of 1939, where he waits with three enlisted men for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to reach that section of France. An English translation by

Richard Howard Richard Joseph Howard (October 13, 1929 – March 31, 2022; adopted as Richard Joseph Orwitz) was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a graduate of Columbia University, w ...

was published in 1959. The book was the basis for a 1978 film with the same title directed by

Michel Mitrani Michel Mitrani (1930 - 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was the founder of the Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels in 1987. His 1974 film '' Les Guichets du Louvre'' was entered into the 24th Berlin International F ...

Reception

Max Bogart wrote in '' The Saturday Review'': "Julien Gracq has written a sensitive and analytical study of men enmeshed in a phony war—a war that would ultimately result in the tragic, dramatic fall of France. ... Gracq's characterizations are vivid and the story is completely credible with one major exception: the lieutenant's love affair mars the narrative's development, for Mona, a young widow, is an elusive, shadowy figure, who not only puzzled Grange, but whose role in this story mystified this reader. ... The facile pen of the author is evident on every page, especially in the descriptive passages of the phantom forest, the seasonal landscape colors, and the beauty of nature in contrast with man's destructiveness in wartime."

References

External links

''Balcony in the Forest''
at the French publisher's website 1958 French novels Fiction set in 1939 Novels set in the 1930s French novels adapted into films French-language novels Novels by Julien Gracq Novels set during World War II George Braziller books Ardennes in fiction {{1950s-WWII-novel-stub