An atmospheric and mysterious tale of love and death, set in a crumbling Breton
castle An isolated castle stands in a wild, desolate landscape, surrounded by da
rk woods. Its new owner, a rich, dissolute young man, has invited his best frien
d to stay. When he arrives, he brings with him a radiant, seductive and strangel
y detached young woman.
She, in turn, will bring death and destruction to the
Chateau d'Argol.?? With its opulent, atmospheric descriptions of a savage, surr
eal Breton landscape and its exquisite sense of foreboding, Chateau d'Argol is a
work of beauty and terror. "[Gracq] is...the best landscape gardener of our lit
erature-more precise than Chateaubriand, more musical than Stendhal, more sensua
l than Proust." Telerama Julien Gracq (1910-2007) taught history and geography i
n various lycees. A close friend of Andre Breton, his work was inspired by Germa
n Romanticism, and combines startling imagery with a rich, precise metre.
