The Death of Napoleon
| Author | Simon Leys |
|---|---|
| Original title | La Mort de Napoléon |
| Translator | Patricia Clancy and Simon Leys |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary novel |
| Publisher | Éditions Hermann |
Publication date | 1986 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 119 pp. |
| Awards | 1992 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, winner |
| ISBN | 270566050X |
The Death of Napoleon is a 1986 novella by the Belgian/Australian author Simon Leys, originally published in France by Éditions Hermann.[1] It was translated, from the original French, into English in 1991 by Patricia Clancy and the author.[2]
It was the winner of the 1992 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction.[3] This prize was awarded for the English translation.
Synopsis
Napoleon escapes from his prison on St. Helena, disguised as a pudgy cabin hand on board a ship, leaving behind a double. His aim is to re-enter France and re-establish his power base. But his ship is rerouted from Bourdeaux to Antwerp and he enters Europe alone and with no support. As he travels back into France he visits the battlefield at Waterloo which has now been turned into a tourist attraction.
Critical reception
Reviewing the English translation for The Times Literary Supplement D. J. Enright called the novel "an elegant and engaging piece of alternative history, gently tragic and wryly comic".
In The Age Peter Craven saw much greater depths in the novella beyond the simple story of its plot: "The Death of Napoleon is only in the pretextual sense a novella about Bonaparte. 'Napoleon' is rather the form of words that comes to stand for an identity that is foresaken, the forlornness of the self that is unacknowledged and finds no image in the world's mirror."[4]
Publication history
- 1986 Éditions Hermann, France (in the original French)[1]
- 1991 Quartet Books, UK[2]
- 1991 Allen & Unwin, Australia[5]
- 1992 Farrar Strauss and Giroux, USA[1]
- 1993 Picador, UK[1]
- 2002 Labor, Belgium (in the original French)[1]
- 2006 Black Inc., Australia[1]
Awards
- 1992 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, winner[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Austlit — La Mort de Napoléon by Simon Leys". Austlit. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ^ a b "The Death of Napoleon by Simon Leys (Quartet)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ^ a b "Author creates more than a tingle of excitement". Sydney Morning Herald, 5 September 1992, p4. ProQuest 2527534076. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ^ ""A moral fable of great eloquence"". The Age, 7 March 1992, Books Extra p9. ProQuest 2521906216. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ^ "The Death of Napoleon by Simon Leys (A&U)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2025.