Le Vanetsi Une enfance arménienne

Rights available.Le Vanetsi is the new edition, in one volume, of Victor Gardon's famous trilogy published between 1959 and 1970. Gardon's ambitious saga follows the destiny of Vahram Gavakian, a young Armenian boy who lives in Van with his grand-mother at the beginning of the 20th century. The novel initially takes the form of a colourful tale of country-side existence, celebrating daily life in the village where Vahram is growing up. However, under the Turkish domination Armenia was to suffer a series of terrible upheavals and repressions. The 'Young Turks' deposed the sultan and seized power, bringing hope to Armenia, but the start of WWI destroyed all expectations: as massacres begun it was time to leave the ancestral home and Vahram's family started on its exodus. From Igdir to Tiflis, they roamed through a ruined country. At the beginning of the Russian revolution, the family was confronted with the advance of the Turks. They decided to leave Georgia for good and took to the road again... Vahram's was no ordinary childhood, and we see the world through his eyes, as he describes all he sees, even the most atrocious scenes, with an almost clinical detachment. The great sensuality and the poetry that pervade each page turn this tale into a deeply affecting testimony.Victor Gardon, a.k.a Vahram Gakavian was born in Van, Armenia, in 1903, and died in 1973 in Paris. In 1915, his family flew the Turkish massacres, and in 1923, he left Turkey for France. A prisoner during WWII, he escaped and joined the resistance under the pseudonym of Victor Gardon. After the liberation, he became part of the Armenian and French intellectual circles. He passed away just after having completed the fourth volume of his saga, La résistance, which has not been found yet.