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Hell (1908) is a novel by Henri Barbusse. Immensely popular upon its publication in France, Hell earned Barbusse a reputation as a leading realist whose existential preoccupations predate the novels and plays of Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre by... Read Full Overview

Although Henri Barbusse grew up in a small town, he left for Paris in 1889 at age 16. In 1914, at the age of 41, he enlisted in the French Army and served against Germany in World War I. Invalided out of the army three times, Barbusse would serve in the war for 17 months, until... Read Full Overview

You, my love, will be poor, so as to be more like all other women. In order for us to live together I shall work all day and so be your servant. You will work affectionately for us both in this room -- and in my absence there will be nothing beside you but... Read Full Overview

"Hell", by Henri Barbusse translated by Edward J. O'Brien

"The Inferno" from Henri Barbusse. French novelist (1873-1935).

"The Inferno", Henri Barbusse's 1908 novel, is a brilliant examination of the philosophy of solipsism, which is the idea that knowledge outside of one's own mind is essentially unobtainable. Solipsism conjectures that the external world and the minds of other people can never... Read Full Overview

"You, my love, will be poor, so as to be more like all other women. In order for us to live together I shall work all day and so be your servant. You will work affectionately for us both in this room -- and in my absence there will be nothing beside you but the pure, simple presence... Read Full Overview

A young man staying in a Paris boarding house finds a hole in the wall above his bed. Alternately voyeur and seer, he obsessively studies the private moments and secret activities of his neighbors: childbirth, first love, marriage, betrayal, illness and death all present themselves... Read Full Overview

A young man staying in a Paris boarding house finds a hole in the wall above his bed. Alternately voyeur and seer, he obsessively studies the private moments and secret activities of his neighbors: childbirth, first love, marriage, betrayal, illness and death all present themselves... Read Full Overview

A young man staying in a Paris boarding house finds a hole in the wall above his bed. Alternately voyeur and seer, he obsessively studies the private moments and secret activities of his neighbors: childbirth, first love, marriage, betrayal, illness and death all present themselves... Read Full Overview