''Guignol's Band'' is a 1944 novel by the French writer

Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( ; ), was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel '' Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the ' ...

. Set in the mid 1910s, the narrative revolves around Ferdinand, an invalided French

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

veteran who lives in exile in London, and follows his small businesses and interacting with prostitutes. It was followed by a sequel, '' London Bridge: Guignol's Band II'', published posthumously in 1964.

Writing process

spent a number of months in London after an injury in

, and the novel bears some autobiographical elements from that time. The French literature scholar Merlin Thomas wrote in his biography on Céline: "In the chronology of Céline's life as seen through the novels, ''Guignol's Band'' should be a massive insert in '' Voyage'', coming immediately before the African section of that work."

Publication

The novel was first published by

Éditions Denoël Éditions Denoël is a French publishing house founded in 1930. Acquired by Éditions Gallimard in 1951, it publishes collections spanning fiction, non-fiction and comic books. It published some of the most important French authors of the interwa ...

in April 1944 and received very little attention; Céline was highly unpopular at the time, due to his outspoken anti-Semitic stance in combination with the ongoing

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was republished by

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

in 1952, and again did not receive much notice. In 1954 it was published in English.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * 1944 French novels Novels by Louis-Ferdinand Céline French autobiographical novels French historical novels Novels about British prostitution Novels set in London Novels set in the 1910s Éditions Denoël books {{1940s-hist-novel-stub

Writing process

Publication

See also

References