Jacques Spitz
Encyclopedia
Jacques Spitz was a French
novelist.
Born in Nemours (now Ghazaouet
, in Algeria
), Spitz was an engineer; he wrote several science fiction
novel
s which were greatly influential in European science fiction. Cynical, ironic, often pessimist, influenced by Surrealism
, his style is reminiscent of Pierre Boulle
's. Although some of his novels were reissued recently in France
, he is presently mostly forgotten and his novels are very difficult to find, even in France. However, some of his works has been translated into Italian:
L'œil du purgatoire, L'Homme Élastique, La Guerre des Mouches, and Les Signaux du Soleil (the latter being published in 2009). At least one novel was translated into Swedish: L'Agonie du Globe (När jorden rämnade, 1937). Two of his novels were translated into Greek: Les Évadés de l'an 4000 (Οι Δραπέτες του 4.000 μΧ, 1971) and L'Expérience du Dr. Mops (Κραυγή από το Μέλλον, 1971)
His masterworks are considered La guerre des mouches, L'homme élastique, and L'œil du purgatoire. The latter, meaning "The Eye of Purgatory", is about a man whose eyes, due to an exotic bacterium, start to see things as they will appear in the future.
Spitz died in Paris in 1963.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
novelist.
Born in Nemours (now Ghazaouet
Ghazaouet
Ghazaouet is a town and commune in Tlemcen Province in northwestern Algeria.-References:...
, in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
), Spitz was an engineer; he wrote several science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s which were greatly influential in European science fiction. Cynical, ironic, often pessimist, influenced by Surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, his style is reminiscent of Pierre Boulle
Pierre Boulle
Pierre Boulle was a French novelist largely known for two famous works, The Bridge over the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes .-Biography:...
's. Although some of his novels were reissued recently in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, he is presently mostly forgotten and his novels are very difficult to find, even in France. However, some of his works has been translated into Italian:
L'œil du purgatoire, L'Homme Élastique, La Guerre des Mouches, and Les Signaux du Soleil (the latter being published in 2009). At least one novel was translated into Swedish: L'Agonie du Globe (När jorden rämnade, 1937). Two of his novels were translated into Greek: Les Évadés de l'an 4000 (Οι Δραπέτες του 4.000 μΧ, 1971) and L'Expérience du Dr. Mops (Κραυγή από το Μέλλον, 1971)
His masterworks are considered La guerre des mouches, L'homme élastique, and L'œil du purgatoire. The latter, meaning "The Eye of Purgatory", is about a man whose eyes, due to an exotic bacterium, start to see things as they will appear in the future.
Spitz died in Paris in 1963.
Works
- La Croisière Indécise (1926)
- La Mise en Plis (1928)
- Le Vent du Monde (1928)
- Le Voyage Muet (1930)
- Les Dames de Velours (1933)
- L'Agonie du Globe (1935)
- Les Évadés de l'an 4000 (1936)
- L'Homme Élastique (1938)
- La Guerre des Mouches (1938)
- L'Expérience du Dr. Mops (1939) (translated by Brian StablefordBrian StablefordBrian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...
in The Eye of Purgatory (2010) ISBN 978-1-935558-64-4) - La Parcelle "Z" (1942)
- Les Signaux du Soleil (1943)
- L'Œil du Purgatoire (1945) (translated by Brian Stableford in The Eye of Purgatory (2010) ISBN 978-1-935558-64-4)
- La Forêt des Sept-Pies (1946)
- Albine au Poitrail (1956)
External links
- A review of L'Œil du Purgatoire by Denis Philippe
- An article from Figaro Littéraire of 8 April 1950 (in French)
- http://markus.chez-alice.fr/transition.htmA list of French science fiction authors from Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
to René BarjavelRené BarjavelRené Barjavel was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the grandfather paradox in time travel. He was born in Nyons, a town in the Drôme department in southeastern France...
] - "French Science Fiction: The Occluded Genre"