Herewith a new book-
La Rose de Java by Joseph Kessel.
Kessel was born in Villa Clara, Entre Ríos, Argentina, because of the constant journeys of his father, a Litvak physician. From 1905 to 1908, Joseph Kessel lived the first years of his childhood in Orenburg, Russia, before the family moved to France in 1908. He studied in lycée Masséna, Nice and lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris and took part in the First World War as an aviator. He was also an aviator during the Second World War, in the Free French Groupe de Bombardement n° 1/20 "Lorraine" (342 Squadron RAF) with RAF Bomber Command,[citation needed] with Romain Gary, who was also a talented French novelist.
Kessel wrote several novels and books that were later represented in the cinema, notably Belle de Jour (by Luis Buñuel in 1967). In 1943 he and his nephew Maurice Druon translated Anna Marly's song Chant des Partisans into French from its original Russian. The song became one of the anthems of Free French Forces during the Second World War.
Kessel was elected at the Académie française in 1962 and died on 23 July 1979 in Avernes, Val-d'Oise. He is buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Résumé :
1919, Extrême-Orient. Après avoir parcouru la moitié du monde pour servir en Sibérie, deux lieutenants aviateurs français regagnent leur patrie. Ils sont très jeunes, ardents à vivre vite et fort : alcool, jeu, rixes et femmes.
Ils embarquent à Kobé (Japon) sur un vieux cargo hollandais, la Rose de Java, qui doit les mener à Shanghaï. Ils croyaient y trouver quelques jours de repos, mais ils découvrent à bord une jeune femme surnaturellement belle, séquestrée dans une cabine par un vieil Anglais. Qui est cette femme ? Et lequel des deux jeunes gens en fera sauvagement la conquête au péril de sa vie ?
It is a truly unique book and not like any other I have ever read. Would love to hear if others read it. It was a suggested book by Alliance Française.
I give it a 8/10 and promise you that you can not anticipate the ending.