Bernard Clavel

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Bernard Charles Henri Clavel (born May 29, 1923 in Lons-le-Saunier , † October 5, 2010 in Grenoble ) was a French writer .

Life

Clavel's father was a baker , his mother a florist . In the family, value was placed on the shortest possible school time. At the age of 14, Bernard Clavel began an apprenticeship with a pastry chef who abused him. He initially earned his living doing a variety of odd jobs, including as a lumberjack and as a show fighter at the fair.

As an autodidact, he trained in painting and writing during those years. His first articles appeared in the daily Le Progrès de Lyon in the early 1950s . Orders for the editing of radio play texts for the radio followed. In 1956 he published his first novel, L'Ouvrier de la nuit , with the support of Hervé Bazin and Marcel Aymé . The book, in his own words "thrown on paper in a few feverish days and nights", marked the beginning of a life's work consisting of a long series of novels, stories, essays and biographies. More than 20 of his novels have been translated into several languages ​​outside of France. His stories were mostly action packed, with powerful heroes, and told in a way that drew the reader into the story and got them to take sides. He raised the Roman du terroir , the novel with local flavor , from a less valued genre to a literary level.

In 1968 he received the Prix ​​Goncourt for Les fruits d'hiver . This award triggered a crisis in the award committee because Louis Aragon would have preferred François Nourrissier as the winner. Aragon then resigned from the committee. In 1971, Clavel himself was appointed to the committee. For his part, he resigned from this mandate in 1978 because his own work did not allow him time to read the works of the award candidates.

A number of his works have been adapted for film and television, including L'Espagnol , directed by Jean Prat. The hero, Pablo, embodies a comrade from the Resistance whom he met in 1942.

Clavel turned down the Legion of Honor twice .

Awards

  • Prix ​​Goncourt for Les Fruits de l'hiver 1968
  • Member of the Académie Goncourt 1971–1977
  • Member of the Coordination française pour la Décennie de la culture de paix et de non-violence
  • Member of the Non-Violence-XXI-Group since 2001

Clavel and Canada

The author has visited Québec several times , from 1977 to 1979 he stayed there for two years. His work Les Compagnons du Nouveau Monde from 1981 is set in New France in the 17th century .

Under the series title Le Royaume du Nord , Clavel wrote another 6 novellas that take place in Abitibi , e.g. B. Harricana (1983) and L'Angelus du soir (1988). He describes the hardships, and sometimes the joys, of being a settler in Saint-Georges d'Harricana , a settlement community. The last volume, Maudits sauvages from 1989, addresses the misery of First Nations on James Bay , whose traditional way of life is being destroyed by modern technology.

Works (selection)

Youth books
  • Malataverne . Robert Laffont, 1960.
    • Edition for the GDR: Malataverne . Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1967. (translated by Ulrich Friedrich Müller)
    • Edition for the FRG: Night over Malataverne . Maier Verlag, Ravensburg 1978. (translated by Elinor Kirsch)
  • L'Arbre qui chante . Éditions la Farandole, 1967.
    • German: The Singing Tree . Urachhaus, Stuttgart 1979. (translated by Inge Thoris)
Novellas
  • L'Espion aux yeux verts . Robert Laffont, 1969.
Novels
  • L'Ouvrier de la nuit . Julliard, 1956 (first novel)
  • Les Pirates du Rhône . Julliard, 1957 (filmed in 1975)
    • German: Daughter of the Stream . DVA, Stuttgart 1959. (translated by Else Kraft)
  • La Grande Patience . Robert Laffont, Paris 1962 and 1968.
  1. La maison des autres .
  2. Celui qui voulait voir de la mer .
  3. Le coeur des vivants .
  4. Les fruits d'hiver .
  • Les Colonnes du ciel . Robert Laffont, 5 volumes, 1976–1981.
  1. The season des loips .
  2. La lumière du lac .
  3. La femme de guerre .
  4. Marie Bon Pain .
  5. Campagnons du nouveau-monde .
  • Cargo pour l'enfer . Albin-Michel, 1993. ISBN 978-2226062192 .
  • Les Roses de Verdun . Albin Michel, 1994.

literature

  • Pierre-Robert Leclerq: Bernard Clavel . Le Monde , October 8, 2010, p. 23

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Clavel, Bernard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clavel, Bernard Charles Henri (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French author
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Lons-le-Saunier
DATE OF DEATH October 5, 2010
Place of death Grenoble