Céline's Letters to Albert Paraz: A Correspondence from Exile

A new edition of Louis-Ferdinand Céline's letters to Albert Paraz, spanning 1947 to 1957, has been published by Gallimard in the 'Les Cahiers de la NRF' series, edited and annotated by Jean-Paul Louis. The correspondence documents Céline's life in Danish exile after World War II, where he was imprisoned and faced extradition threats. Following his transfer from prison infirmary to a civil hospital in Copenhagen in March 1947, Céline began an intense letter-writing campaign to regain a foothold in French literary circles. Paraz, a fellow writer published by Denoël, served as Céline's conduit to Parisian gossip and championed his cause through a 'crusade' among French critics. Paraz even published excerpts of Céline's letters in his own autobiographical works, 'Gala des vaches' (1948) and 'Valsez saucisses' (1950), during a period when Céline's texts were banned. The letters reveal Céline's views on style, language, and the writer's condition, with passages emphasizing the musicality of language and the role of death in artistic creation. The edition includes an introduction by Jean-Paul Louis, who notes that Paraz's advocacy 'inflected Céline's literary destiny.' The volume also references Céline's earlier work 'Maudits Soupirs' and a biography by Yves Buin.