Moravagine

It is obvious that this book is one of Cendrars most ambtious novels. It is so well written that each minor and major shock create a seamless flow within a paradox of uncontrolled energies on one level - yet controlled energies on other levels - coupled with an almost invisible hatred of the human for the entire human condition. To me, it is the most frightening book I have every read. ALso, it is in the realm of the greatest of classics. I cannot help but wonder where or not Blaise Cendrars was or had been an avid reader of Balzac (This is based upon some of his structuring of the story).

Every time I read this there is a new layer of meaning that jumps out; from the adventure story examining the limits and constraints of human nature to Cendrars' brilliant digressions in which each one paragraph could be fodder for entire books. It will have you rethink what it means to be human.

This may be described as an exquisitely depraved travelogue of regions both geographic and psychological. Other reviewers have more than adequately laid out the storyline and in that regard I have nothing to add. I will simply admonish readers that this is not a book for the queasy, the timid, or those of a markedly nervous disposition. That said, if you took pleasure from Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Dorian Gray, J.K. Huysmans' A Rebours (Against Nature), or, stretching a bit, even the fantastical satire of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, then this decadent, entertaining romp may be just what the "doctor" ordered. But you have been warned: I accept no responsibility for psychotic breaks triggered by this gruesome literary morsel.

One of the best books I have read. But it doesn't surprise me that I never hear about it. The end of the millenium and the vocabulary that people would use to describe it is taboo.... mmm... I would say this is about beauty of experience through contrast. Read it. Go through and beyond.

This is a depraved and beautiful book that should be read by everyone. It is the literary equivalent of the best meal you've ever eaten to the point of sickness--you wouldn't want to do it every night but you don't want to die without ever having done it once. Everyone who cares about literature, especially the decadent literature of this century, should check this out.