''Le Chemin des écoliers'' (1946), literally "The Way of the Schoolboys," but translated as ''The Transient Hour'', is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by French writer

Marcel Aymé Marcel Aymé (; 29 March 1902 – 14 October 1967) was a French novelist and playwright, who also wrote screenplays and works for children. Biography Marcel André Aymé was born in Joigny, in the Burgundy region of France, the youngest ...

that takes place during the German occupation of Paris. It is the second book in a trilogy which covers the pre-war,

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, and

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

periods in France. The first is '' Travelingue'' (1948), set in the time of the

Front Populaire The Popular Front (, ) was an alliance of French Left, left-wing movements in France, including the French Communist Party (PCF), the socialist French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO and the Radical Party (France), Radical-Socialist ...

; the third book, ''

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

'', focuses on post war France and the

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an ...

: the social cleansing which sought to discipline collaborators.

Plot introduction

Pierre Michaud is a tender, scrupulous man, who clings to outdated conceptions of the world. His sons, Frédéric and Antoine, unwittingly teach him how to live again by forcing him to accept more current notions of reality. The novel presents a wide range of characters whose behaviors range from refusal to compromise with the occupier to total

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The ...

with the Germans. As their father becomes increasingly more corrupt, Frédéric and Antoine distribute anti-Nazi leaflets and profit from the

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

English translation

''Le Chemin des écoliers'' has been translated into English as ''The Transient Hour'' by Eric Sutton for the

Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...

in 1948.

Film adaptation

The book was filmed in 1959 by

Michel Boisrond Michel Jacques Boisrond (9 October 1921 – 10 November 2002) was a French film director and screenwriter. His work spanned five decades, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Career A former apprentice of Jean Delannoy, Jean Cocteau, and René Clair ...

References

1946 French novels Novels set in Paris Works about France in World War II French novels adapted into films Novels by Marcel Aymé {{1940s-WWII-novel-stub