''La Presqu’île'' (''The Peninsula'', 1970) is a collection of three short pieces by French writer

Julien Gracq Julien Gracq (; born Louis Poirier; 27 July 1910 – 22 December 2007) was a French writer. He wrote novels, critiques, a play, and poetry. His literary works were noted for their dreamlike abstraction, elegant style and refined vocabulary. He ...

that takes its name from its second work, a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

, which is preceded by ''La Route'' and followed by ''Le Roi Cophetua'' (''King Cophetua''). ''The Peninsula'' and ''King Cophetua'' have been published separately in English by

Green Integer Green Integer is an American publishing house of pocket-sized belles-lettres books, based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1997 by Douglas Messerli, whose former publishing house was Sun & Moon, and it is edited by Per Bregne. Gre ...

(2011) and

Turtle Point Press Turtle Point Press, founded in 1990, publishes new fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry, memoirs, works in translation, and rediscovered classics. History Jonathan D. Rabinowitz established Turtle Point Press in 1990. During his tenure the press ...

(2003), respectively. ''La Route'' has yet to be translated into English. ''King Cophetua'' was the basis for the 1971 film ''

Rendezvous at Bray ''Rendezvous at Bray'' aka ''Appointment in Bray'' () is a 1971 French-Belgian drama film directed by André Delvaux and starring Anna Karina. It was entered into the 21st Berlin International Film Festival. Much of the film may be imagined b ...

'', directed by

André Delvaux André Albert Auguste Delvaux (; 21 March 1926 – 4 October 2002) was a Belgian film director. He co-founded the film school INSAS in 1962 and is regarded as the founder of the Belgian national cinema. Adapting works by writers such as Joh ...

''La Route''

''The Peninsula''

Translated by Elizabeth Deshays, ''The Peninsula'' concerns the wanderings of a solitary man, Simon, on a day he spends driving around the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

coast. He spends his time exploring the area and revisiting the sites of childhood vacations while he waits for his mistress Irmgard to arrive at the train station later that evening. The story contains much highly descriptive and poetic detail of the area as Simon experiences it, woven together with his thoughts and sensations as they change throughout the day.

''King Cophetua''

Translated by Ingeborg Kohn.

References

External links

''La Presqu’île''
at the French publisher's website 1970 short story collections Books adapted into films French short story collections Works by Julien Gracq {{1970s-story-collection-stub