The Mad King
Gustave Kahn
Translated by Sue and Colin Boswell
Gustave Kahn (1859-1936), prominent art critic and one of the founders of the Symbolist Movement, in 1894 published his first novel, The Mad King, which is here presented for the first time in English in an adept translation by Sue and Colin Boswell. Written when the author was living in Belgium and editing the anarchist review La Société nouvelle, The Mad King, highly experimental in nature, is a minor masterpiece of fin-de-siècle irony, chronicling, with considerable humour, the story of Christian, King of Hummertanz, and his faithful Palace Marshal, the Duke of Sparkling, via unreliable narration, acrobatic syntax, and an exceptionally rich vocabulary.
This remarkably eccentric novel, at once a study of symbols, sciences, and philosophies, and composed with a poet’s pen, will be a welcome addition to any library of avant-garde literature.
About the Author
Gustave Kahn (1859-1936) founded the first wholly Symbolist periodical, La Vogue, in 1886. His pioneering collection of “vers libre”—a term he claimed to have invented — Les Palais Nomades (1887) also included prose “Interludes” and he became one of the most prolific writers of Symbolist prose, extending his work in that vein well into the twentieth century.
About the Translators
Sue Boswell also studied French at UCL and for a time taught French at Goldsmiths. She then moved into university administration, specialising in external relations and communications. Later she became a translator for the Wiener Holocaust Library, and translated Arnaud Rykner’s novel “Le Wagon” as The Last Train (Snuggly Books 2020). Her other translations include Marcel Schwob’s The Assassins and Other Stories and Ilarie Voronca’s The Confession of a False Soul and The Key to Reality, also for Snuggly Books. Sue and Colin live in London and Ouveillan, a village near Narbonne in the Languedoc.
Colin Boswell studied French Language and Literature at University College London. Whilst completing a PhD he began his career lecturing in French at Goldsmiths University of London and later at the University of Kent, where he was also Development Director. He then created and served as Executive Director of the first European office of the US-based Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He has published books and articles on the French language and on Émile Zola. For Snuggly Books he has translated Petrus Borel’s The Treasure of the Arcueil Cavern (2022), and Octave Mirbeau’s The 628-E8 (2022).
Paperback, 230 pages
1st edition: July 12, 2021
ISBN-13: 978-1-64525-075-3
Price: US$16.00