" The Devil in the Flesh is so assured that one wonders how (Radiguet) would have written in maturity" The Guardian
"The Devil In The Flesh, a masterpiece of promise. (Radiguet) belonged to the solemn race of men whose lives unfold too quickly to their close"
JEAN COCTEAU
"He could drag himself from pub to pub, get no sleep for whole nights, wander from one hotel room to another - his spirit worked with a constant lucidity, with a wonderful and sound logic " JOSEPH KESSEL
"Cocteau described Radiguet as being at once his master and his pupil"
MARTIN TURNELL, from his book "The rise of the French novel"
ABOUT THE BOOK
Raymond Radiguet wrote The Devil in the Flesh between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, following his own love affair with a married woman.
Francois, the adolescent narrator, meets Marthe in Paris at the start of the First World War. They fall in love with each other while her husband is away at the Front. Their passion leads to a tragic climax four years later when Marthe passes off their love child as her husband’s legitimate child even though everyone knows the truth. The themes of freedom, family and passion against a background of war and honour in The Devil in the Flesh created a scandal at the time of publication (the year of the author’s death).
The story was adapted for screen in the film Le Diable au Corps (with Gerard Philipe and Micheline Presle, by Claude Autant-Lara) which won the 1947 Grand Prix and the International Critics Prize in Cannes. Marco Bellochio and Scott Murray both directed a remake in 1986 and 1989 respectively.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RAYMOND RADIGUET was born in 1903 and died tragically young in 1923 of typhoid fever, having written only two short but celebrated novels and a volume of poetry. Radiguet entered Parisian literary circles upon leaving school, becoming the protege of Jean Cocteau. His only other novel is Count d’Orgel, also available from Pushkin Press, first published posthumously by Cocteau whose afterword appears in the Pushkin Press edition.
Cocteau endorsed The Devil in the Flesh in a speech given in honour of Radiguet at the College de France.
Translated by Christopher Moncrieff
Afterword by Christopher Moncrieff
ISBN 978 1 906548 254
