Reza Baraheni. Les saisons en enfer du jeune Ayyaz. Katayoun Shahpar-Rad, tr. Paris. Pauvert/Fayard. 2000. 428 pages. 140 F. ISBN 2-720-21387-X. THE FIRST PUBLICATION of a long-banned novel, even in translation, should be a significant event. As far as can be determined,...

FREDERIC GONSETH 1942 machte sich ein Sonderzug mit 250 Schweizer Ã"rzten, Krankenschwestern und Rettungshelfern auf den Weg an die Ostfront. Die sich freiwillig Gemeldeten glaubten, an einer rein humamtären Aktion des Roten Kreuzes teilzunehmen. In Russland angekommen, mussten sie realisieren, dass ihre Mission...

In the essay below, Hackett emphasizes the technical artistry and universal implications of Une Saison en enfer. Discussing each section in turn, the critic examines Rimbaud's language and imagery; his rhetorical method of statement and counterstatement; his use of certain structural devices to achieve coherence; and his ambiguous treatment of the motifs of time, salvation, the search for truth, and the essential duality of body and spirit.

In the following essay, Chadwick argues that Rimbaud demonstrated a much firmer sense of artistic control in the two parts of "Délires" than he did in other sections of the poem. The critic further contends that in "Délires I and II, " the principal themes of spiritual alienation, the search for a new verse form, and the impulse to reshape Western society are more fully articulated than in the preceding or following sections.

In the following essay, Lawler examines the self-reflexive nature of Une Saison en enfer, suggesting that like all Rimbaud's work, its essential purpose is dramatic rather than descriptive or didactic. The critic also points out the influence of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal on Rimbaud's depiction of a soul in anguish—though he argues that unlike Les Fleurs, Une Saison ultimately expresses belief in the possibility of deliverance.