Death Sentence
Maurice Blanchot
1948
Around 80 pages
It was very strange to read the phrase "live, laugh, love" in a 1948 novel. I guess people were basic even in 1948. This was a short novel, which is probably why I enjoyed it more than some of the other experimental works we've had lately.
The novel begins with the narrator setting the intention of describing events in 1938. He has never been able to accomplish this before, and actually, he still doesn't really pull it off. There's not much of a plot here, but plots are passe anyway.
Like any sad boi, I enjoy the rumination on death, even if I couldn't get a strong foothold in the story. Maybe not a necessary read, but not a bad choice either.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Blanchot repeatedly wrote against the intellectual attraction to fascism, and notably against Heidegger's post-war silence over The Holocaust.
UP NEXT: 1984 by George Orwell.
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