Last Nights Of Paris [Paperback]

Philippe Soupault (Author), William Carlos Williams (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2008

Written in 1928 by one of the founders of the Surrealist movement, and translated the following year by William Carlos Williams (the two had been introduced in Paris by a mutual friend), Last Nights of Paris is related to Surrealist novels such as Nadja and Paris Peasant, but also to the American expatriate novels of its day such as Day of the Locust. The story concerns the narrator's obsession with a woman who leads him into an underworld that promises to reveal the secrets of the city itself... and in Williams' wonderfully direct translation it reads like a lost Great American Novel. A vivid portrait of the city that entranced both its native writers and the Americans who traveled to it in the 20s, Last Nights of Paris is a rare collaboration between the literary circles at the root of both French and American Modernism.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Soupault's 1928 novel, translated by the great modernist poet, explores the surreal world of Paris.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

French writer Soupault (1897-1990) was a prominent member of the Surrealist movement until he was expelled in 1926 for refusing to toe the party line. This short novel appeared two years later and was translated by American poet William Carlos Williams the year after that. It follows the wanderings of a nameless narrator who sees Paris "for the first time" through his obsession with a young streetwalker and who witnesses the aftermath of a grisly crime. Last Nights of Paris is mildly mysterious, but its attraction for modern readers may be that of a charming period piece, a relic of an age that was more easily shocked and thrilled than ours. Buy accordingly.
- Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Exact Change (January 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878972057
• ISBN-13: 978-1878972057
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Le seul livre du XXè siècle, c'est à peine exagéré ..., December 11, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Rennes, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Nights Of Paris (Paperback)

Ce livre magistral de Soupault contient en effet tout son siècle. Publié la même annnée que Nadja de Breton (1928), il offre au surréalisme l'un de ses plus beaux textes chargé d'onirisme. La poésie urbaine s'accompagne d'une vision apocalyptique propre à Soupault et n'est pas surchargé de passages théoriques que l'on retrouve dans Nadja ou dans les textes de Breton en général. Traduit par William Carlos Williams, il garde toute sa force, toute sa vitalité notemment dans son rapport au monde et aux gens. Les personnages de la prostituée ou du bookmaker ne sont décrits ni avec complaisance ni avec sarcasmes : Soupault se contente de les faire vivre. Comme le narrateur, ces personnages puisent leur énergie dans les rues de Paris. Avec eux le lecteur renverse le vieux monde dans les formidables incendies qui ravagent les quartiers de Paris. C'est cette même énergie que l'on retrouvera l'année suivante dans le roman Le Nègre où Edgard Manning assassine dans une violence sexuelle une autre prostituée nommée Europe... Mais à ne lire les livres de soupault que dans la seule optique surréaliste, c'est passer à côté de la modernité de celui-ci. Dès le Bon Apôtre, et cela se confirme dans les romans ultérieurs, la narration joue tout son rôle et prend tout son sens. On a pu dire que ces romans préfigurent déjà les techniques qui deviendront à la mode avec le nouveau roman... Qui autre que W-C Williams aurait été plus à même de traduire ce texte essentiel mais passé depuis en france sous un silence que l'on aimerait croire admiratif ?

emmanuel

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the shadows of Breton, April 20, 2009

By 

Tebes "Buchlieber" (Niagara Region, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Nights Of Paris (Paperback)

I came across this title accidentally. I ordered Breton's Nadja and perused this work as a recommendation.

Let us say it is not a typical read. The narrator lives and wanders in a Parisian world of prostitutes, thieves and murderers. He follows various characters, from Georgette to her brother Octave, through the streets, making mental notes about the men and women he meets and their opinions of each other. The novel focuses on chance, the happenings that could be coincidental.

It is a fascinating read and certainly, if you enjoy twentieth-century French literature, a must. Translated by William Carlos Williams, this book is considered more of a Dadaist classic. Soupault was apparently kicked out of the Surrealist group by Breton and his followers for adhering to the old rules of literature. This would explain the narrative strength of Last Nights of Paris.

Where it diverges from the average narrative is that you never get the feeling or sense you are actually coming to a conclusion about this book. Characters appear, more and more and the narrator listens to the different people telling their stories. I really have to shake my head. I don't know if this is supposed to be about something. Usually we can say of a book it concerns a certain plot or a series of incidents. Or we talk about character development. This book is more about how life really cannot be understood or contained by a linear structure. Life is life and Last Nights of Paris is simply Last Nights of Paris.

I will say, the prose is beautiful, closer to poetry at times. Soupault's narrator describes the rue de Medicins as "the street of everlasting rain". "The days which followed that night were like a cloud" give an example of the texture of his writing. "Paris swelled out with boredom...". Reading Soupault reminded me of some of the poetry of Prevert.

The only qualm I have is that the energy of the beginning falters in the middle and rises towards the end. It feels as if Soupault launched into his work with the best intentions, threw the best poetry into the first forty pages and then tired until towards the last twenty. At first you are confused but it is beautiful. Slowly, you are still confused and the prose doesn't have the same vibrancy.

Nonetheless, worth checking out.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More haunting than Nadja, March 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Last Nights Of Paris (Paperback)

For me, Nadja is only the second greatest book of the 20th century. Soupault's novel comes across the finish line a full length ahead, but for no discernible reason.

I've always admired this book, and it seems I go back to it almost every day, and try to peek into it. I first read it twenty years ago, and still don't feel that I know what it is about, and I don't think anybody else does either. The French criticism doesn't go into the obvious Spenglerian feeling of the title, nor does it go into detail concerning the strange murders and deaths that take place within a double love-story. As the Seine winds through Paris, so the narrator winds, with a strange and curious indifference as well as passion. This book details odd meetings with thieves, prostitutes, and the clock at the top of what is now the Musee d'Orsay (but was then a major train station). But why? The book is so strange, and yet so familiar, like walking in Paris at night, and yet more vividly observed than one would believe possible. Nothing happens in the book, and yet everything happens. This book is a freak that no one will ever understand. It just has to be experienced, like a dream that seems to have a mysterious cogency that one can never formulate into anything that can be logically understood.

-- Kirby Olson