{"product_id":"great-liberty-9781939663894","title":"Great Liberty","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA previously untranslated gem of Surrealist prose poetry from the acclaimed French novelist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1941, Julien Gracq, newly released from a German prisoner-of-war camp, wrote a series of prose poems that would come to represent the only properly Surrealist writings in his oeuvre. Surrealism provided Gracq with a means of counteracting his disturbing wartime experiences; his newfound freedom inspired a new freedom of personal expression, and he gave the collection an appropriate title, \u003ci\u003eGreat Liberty\u003c\/i\u003e: \"In the occult dictionary of Surrealism, the true name of poetry is liberation.\" Gracq the poet rather than the novelist is at work here: Surrealist fireworks lace through bewitching modernist romance, fantasy, black humor and deadpan absurdism. A later, postwar section entitled \"The Habitable Earth\" presents Gracq as visionary traveler exploring Andes and Flanders and returning to the narrative impulse of his better-known fiction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJulien Gracq\u003c\/b\u003e (1910-2007), born Louis Poirier, is known for such dreamlike novels as \u003ci\u003eThe Castle of Argol\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Dark Stranger\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Opposing Shore\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBalcony in the Forest\u003c\/i\u003e. He was close to the Surrealist movement, and André Breton in particular, to whom he devoted a critical study.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wakefield Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/09\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781939663894\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 168","brand":"Julien Gracq","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42769864065205,"sku":"9781939663894","price":12.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_c9381d65-5f4d-457b-a81e-94cb8f11fbc9.jpg?v=1678839301","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/great-liberty-9781939663894","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}