''The Officers' Ward'' (
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, ''La chambre des officiers''), is a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by
Marc Dugain
Marc Dugain (born 1957) is a French novelist and film director, best known for ''La Chambre des Officiers'' (English, '' The Officers' Ward'') (1999), a novel set in World War I.
Dugain was born in Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pu ...
, published in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
(
1999 in English). It is supposedly based on the experiences of one of the author's own ancestors during
World War I.
Synopsis
Adrien Fournier, a handsome lieutenant in the Engineers, is the narrator and main protagonist. Adrien is wounded on a simple reconnaissance mission on the first day of French involvement in the Great War. He is hit by a stray shell, which kills his fellow officers and his horse, and destroys the centre of Adrien's face. Devastated and permanently disfigured, he spends the rest of the war in a hospital, in a maxillofacial unit, with a small group of others who have similar injuries—including a woman, Marguerite, who has been wounded while nursing at the Western Front. Adrien's palate and jaw are gradually reconstructed by pioneering plastic surgeons.
The novel follows the experiences of the group in the aftermath of the war and their subsequent lives, right up to
World War II and beyond.
Reception
The novel won eighteen literary prizes
and was made into a
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, directed by
François Dupeyron and starring
Eric Caravaca
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
as the central character.
References
1998 French novels
Novels set during World War I
French novels adapted into films
Medical novels
1998 debut novels
{{1990s-WWI-novel-stub