I've read everything that Céline, almost, you can trust me: it is simply his best novel. Good luck to you to discern the real from the imagined. The boundaries are blurred in the extreme. The beginning of the work, very politically incorrect lament of a nonconformist but tired old man, is dazzling in its style and realism. Céline talking to you! The remainder covers a little known chapter in the history of France, all on Guignol and grotesque background, as usual. Middle of last reached between pleasure and to give the reader uneasy feeling to share, which was not the case Cursed sighs which is a much more difficult reading. Most Celinian written Celine is one and no other.