Talk:Joseph Kessel

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Didn't dare to edit the article itself, but I always heared that Joseph Kessel was a fighter pilot during world war I81.245.186.215 23:31, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

The above assertion is correct. Joseph Kessel was one of the first to fly, and did so extensively, and was also a contemporary a well as a compatriot of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who penned "Le Petit Prince"-- often read by students of the French language, among other books. Saint-Exupery died not far from my parents residence on Long Island, living his later years in the Asharoken Beach area, according to the Huntington Arts Council, supporting verbal assertions I heard while living in Suffolk county for 28 years. But back to Kessel---his sole Hollywood film credit is a poor version of "Les Cavaliers", which would be a difficult book to film---his best known novel is perhaps "Belle de Jour" or "Le Lion" (the lion). I have read only "Belle de Jour" and "The Horsemen" (translated by an Patrick O'Brian, published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, and to be had for remarkably little in money, used, considering that it is set in Afghanistan, and is a powerful novel of male ego, courage, foolhardiness and determination, characteristics that would well describe events in modern Afghanistan), and the English translation of "Les Cavaliers"--I have posted a review on Amazon.com if you would like to read that.

I had also worked on a translation of the Academie Francaise's biography of Kessel, but did not get to send it to them for review, as idomatic translation requires assistance and I am a bit of a perfectionist---they altered their biography substantially between that time, a year and a half ago, and the time my PC was virused 3 times in succession, before I became more 'savvy' about computer security. I also did not know I could have posted the rough translation here, and would have done so to preserve it and to work further on it, or to seek assistance---the Academie Francaise article, at last viewing, is substantially altered and considerably more complex than its former incarnation---a good bibliography of Kessel's titles and works would be a good small project for me to work on in my "spare time" (kind of an oxymoron such as "left-over wine" :)...Anyhow, "Le Lion" is a story about a man who learns maturity from emulation of a lion, from an African (Kenyan, I believe) guru---and is considered Kessel's best, or at least his most famous work. Personally, I would select "the Horsemen" as is most powerful work. On a chance, desiring to trace the fantastic description of a "lemon-squeezer" type of portal from the Band-i-Amir lakes to the Steppes of Northern Afghanistan, I purchased for $200, a rare pictorial book with an introduction by Kessel at www.alibris.com. Oddly enough, and by a synchronistic fluke, the description of the original defile or mountain pass was present in that book. It is now the most expensive book in my home library, and one of the most valuable. ---Douglas W. Reiss, Memphis, TN. March 11, 2007.

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