Coup de Grace (Paperback)

by Marguerite Yourcenar (Author), Grace Frick (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The eerie effect of [Yourcenar's] prose . . . is all the more extraordinary in that she was not present in Lithuania in the years immediately following World War I. Her accomplishment is like that of Stephen Crane in The Red Badge of Courage or Stendahl's in the Waterloo chapters of The Charterhouse of Parma." --Louis Auchincloss, The New York Times Book Review
-- Review

Review

"The eerie effect of [Yourcenar's] prose . . . is all the more extraordinary in that she was not present in Lithuania in the years immediately following World War I. Her accomplishment is like that of Stephen Crane in The Red Badge of Courage or Stendahl's in the Waterloo chapters of The Charterhouse of Parma." --Louis Auchincloss, The New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 1, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374516316
• ISBN-13: 978-0374516314
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #948,592 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a slanted orientation, August 30, 2001

By	Doug Anderson (Miami Beach, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This novella which takes place during the national and ethnic conflicts in Eastern Europe at the time of WW1 explores life through the eyes of a soldier and his two best friends. The soldier however has a code by which he lives and he conducts himself with utmost respect to this code and this code only. Tragedy follows. This may remind a few readers of some of Conrads short works that deal withthe same theme. Yourcenar's working of this material is stretched to novella length though and will try some readers patience as the character is not all that fascinating, what is fascinating is how the writing never wavers(not too much anyway)or tells too much. She lets the character live the consequences of his chosen code. There is a wonderful scene toward the end where the main character seems baffled by his own existence. Not a masterpiece of a novella but to readers who like fiction of this length this is an exercise in the possibilities of the form. Yourcenars introductory essay is very interesting on this point.