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The Inferno
The Inferno
The Inferno
Ebook158 pages3 hours

The Inferno

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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The intriguing story of a young man living in a Paris boardinghouse who spies on his neighbours through a hole in his bedroom wall. Seen through the eyes of a voyeur, the narrative discusses different human attitudes including adultery, marriage, and homosexuality.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 26, 2012
ISBN9781625582393
The Inferno
Author

Henri Barbusse

Henri Barbusse (1873-1935) was a novelist and member of the French Communist Party. Born in Asnières-sur-Seine, he moved to Paris at 16. There, he published his first book of poems, Pleureuses (1895) and embarked on a career as a novelist and biographer. In 1914, at the age of 41, Barbusse enlisted in the French Army to serve in the First World War, for which he would earn the Croix de guerre. His novel Under Fire (1916) was inspired by his experiences in the war, which scarred him and influenced his decision to become a pacifist. In 1918, he moved to Moscow, where he joined the Bolshevik Party and married a Russian woman. Barbusse briefly returned to France, joining the French Communist Party in 1923, before moving back to Russia to work as a writer whose purpose was to support Bolshevism, illuminate the dangers of capitalism, and inspire revolutionary movements worldwide. In addition to his writing, Barbusse took part in the World Committee Against War and Fascism and the International Youth Congress, as well as worked as an editor for Monde, Progrès Civique, and L’Humanité. His final work was a biography of Joseph Stalin, which appeared in 1936 after his death from pneumonia in Moscow. Buried in Paris, his funeral was attended by a half million mourners. Among his many friends and colleagues were Egon Kisch, Albert Einstein, and Romain Rolland.

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Rating: 3.33124998 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A man finds a hole in the wall separating his room in a boarding house from his neighbor's. He begins to obsessively spy on various inhabitants as they occupy the room, and ponders the differences between the way we act in private (our real selves?), and the way we act in public or with others. This is an introspective and intellectual book. It did not captivate my mind in a visceral way, and sometimes moved slowly and required will power on my part to finish reading. I read Barbusse's Under Fire, a novel about life in the trenches in WW I not long ago. It touched me in a deep way, and was beautifully written. Although this is more philosophical (or perhaps because this IS philosophical) I did not like it nearly as much as Under Fire.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There are books to read for pleasure and then there are books that draw you into a world that is deep with emotion. Henri Barbusse’s The Inferno, or Hell, is one such book.This book is about a man who finds a hole in the wall between his room in a boarding house and another room that sees a variety of tenants. His spying reveals the interactions between lovers, the last moments of a man’s life, theft, deceit, and innocence. He finds himself looking past the appearance people put for the public to see and begins to dive into their minds, hearts, and souls to see the pain along with the joy. He sees more than he wants to see and finds himself in the hell of truth.This is a very thought-provoking book that covers a myriad of topics. I see this as a perfect book for a book club where each scene the man witnesses can be discussed over and over. It is not a quick read. It is not something you’d enjoy for a lighthearted day at the beach. This is a book for the serious moments of your reading life.Note: I purchased this book with my own funds.

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The Inferno - Henri Barbusse

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