439. Arcanum 17

Arcanum 17
Andre Breton
1944
Around 185 pages

The entire world in 1944 was upside down, so let's get a surrealist to lend some clarity to the situation. Honestly, I had a hard time following this one, which is nearly always the case with surrealist novels. 

Breton wrote this during a trip to Quebec in the weeks following D-Day. There isn't really much of a plot, or if there was, I didn't get it. Mostly, Breton is philosophizing and creating a chapbook about the War. 

This is a novel that poetry lovers will enjoy. I took one poetry class in college and had to present one poem every session. Novels like this trigger my PTSD. I wish Breton had told a more coherent story, but I guess it was difficult to make sense of anything during this time.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

By the end of World War II, Breton chose to embrace anarchy whole heartedly.

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