On the Marble Cliffs

Now in a new translation, an imaginative, darkly radiant fable about a pair of brothers, formerly warriors, whose idyll is shattered by an encroaching fascistic force. Set in a world of its own, Ernst Jünger’s On the Marble Cliffs is both a mesmerizing work of fantasy and an allegory of the advent of fascism. The narrator of the book and his brother, Otho, live in an ancient house carved out of the great marble cliffs that overlook the Marina, a great and beautiful lake that is surrounded by a peaceable land of ancient cities and temples and flourishing vineyards. To the north of the cliffs are the grasslands of the Campagna, occupied by herders. North of that, the great forest begins. There the brutal Head Forester rules, abetted by the warrior bands of the Mauretanians. The brothers have seen all too much of war. Their youth was consumed in fighting. Now they have resolved to live quietly, studying botany, adding to their herbarium, consulting the books in their library, involving themselves in the timeless pursuit of knowledge. However, rumors of dark deeds begin to reach them in their sanctuary. Agents of the Head Forester are infiltrating the peaceful provinces he views with contempt, while peace itself, it seems, may only be a mask for heedlessness. Tess Lewis’s new translation of Jünger’s sinister fable of 1939 brings out all of this legendary book’s dark luster. Sober Reconstructions Of The Main Tenets Of Both Classical And Modern, Both Literary And Theoretical Texts, They Have Attained The Status Of Model Readings For Authors As Diverse As Da Vinci And Kierkegaard, Melville And Proust, Moliere, Goethe, And Mallarme.--jacket. Kierkegaard's Journals -- Master Eckhart -- The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell -- On Hindu Thought -- Inner Experience -- The Experience Of Proust -- Rilke -- The Myth Of Sisyphus -- The Myth Of Orestes -- The Myth Of Phaedra -- The Notebooks Of Leonardo Da Vinci -- How Is Literature Possible? -- Studies On Language -- Literature -- The Silence Of Mallarmé -- Is Mallarmé's Poetry Obscure? -- Bergson And Symbolism -- Poetics -- The Baroque Poets Of The Seventeenth Century -- Reflections On The New Poetry -- Involuntary Poetry -- Poetry And Language -- After Rimbaud -- Léon-paul Fargue And Poetic Creation -- Lamartine's Position -- An Edition Of Flowers Of Evil -- Mallarmé And The Art Of The Novel -- Lautréamont -- The Art Of The Novel In Balzac -- The New Novel -- The Enigma Of The Novel -- The Birth Of A Myth -- Mythological Novels -- The Novel And Poetry -- Poetry And The Novel -- Translated From Silence -- The Novel Of The Stranger -- The Angel Of The Bizarre -- Chaminadour -- The Novel And Morality -- The Secret Of Melville -- Interior Monologue -- Time And The Novel -- A Work By Ernst Jünger -- Molière -- Stendhal And Sensitive Souls -- Goethe And Eckermann -- André Gide And Goethe -- The Solitude Of Péguy -- The Criticism Of Albert Thibaudet -- A Work By Paul Claudel -- On The Subject Of The Fruits Of The Earth -- Alain's Thinking -- On Insolence Considered As One Of The Fine Arts. Maurice Blanchot ; Translated By Charlotte Mandell. "On the Marble Cliffs (Auf den Marmorklippen) is a novella by Ernst Jünger published in 1939 describing the upheaval and ruin of a serene agricultural society. The peaceful and traditional people, located on the shores of a large bay, are surrounded by the rough pastoral folk in the surrounding hills, who feel increasing pressure from the unscrupulous and lowly followers of the dreaded head forester. The narrator and protagonist lives on the marble cliffs as a botanist with his brother Otho, his son Erio from a past relationship and Erio's grandmother Lampusa. The idyllic life is threatened by the erosion of values and traditions, losing its inner power. The head forester uses this opportunity to establish a new order based on dictatorial rule, large numbers of mindless followers and the use of violence, torture and murder"-- Provided by publisher "Published in France in 1943, Faux Pas is the first collection of Maurice Blanchot's essays on literature and language, consisting of fifty-four short pieces that were originally issued as reviews in literary journals, and one long introductory mediation that defines the trajectory of the whole volume. These essays - like those collected in the other five books of criticism published over several decades - have established Blanchot as the most lucid and powerful French critic of the second half of the twentieth century. Sober reconstructions of the main tenets of both classical and modern, both literary and theoretical texts, they have attained the status of model readings for authors as diverse as da Vinci and Kierkegaard, Melville and Proust, Moliere, Goethe, and Mallarme."--BOOK JACKET. Published in France in 1943, Faux Pas is the first collection of essays on literature and language by Maurice Blanchot, the most lucid and powerful French critic of the second half of the 20th century.