Customer Reviews

The Walnut Trees of Altenburg

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The narration shifts back and forth between father and sonduring two world wars in the Alsace region. The book opens with oneof the narrators enduring life as a prisoner of war, with the sense of time having ceased to exist. The descriptions of literary life before WWI set up a vivid contrast with the account of a gas attack on the Russian front. A reader well versed in philosophy and history, or reading the original French text, will no doubt understand more of the implications in the dialogues. Read the preface carefully to get acclimated, but don't miss the unexpected developments of this novel.

This book has been unavailable in Canada for many years. So, that was my motivation to get it. Why? What was so different about it that you couldn't buy it here?

Well, it was worth the wait. Malraux's description of the gas attacks should be read by all of the crazy leaders we have in this world and then apply it to them. Maybe that would stop the insanity.

In the same French manner as Camus and others Malraux has described a horrer within a horrer but still keeping us thinking about what lie ahead. It is well worth the read.