The Last Days of New Paris

A thriller of a war that never was. In The Last Days of New Paris, China Miéville entwines true historical events and people with his daring, uniquely imaginative brand of fiction, reconfiguring history and art into something new. `A page-turner whose end left me almost physically applauding.’ Michael Moorcock, New Statesman 1941. In the chaos of wartime Marseille, American engineer and occult disciple Jack Parsons seeks to capture and channel the imaginative power of the Surrealists, in order to defeat the Reich. His experiment will change the course of the war – and the face of the city – forever. 1950. A lone Surrealist fighter, Thibaut, walks a new and hallucinogenic Paris where Nazis and the Resistance are trapped in unending conflict, and the streets are stalked by living images and texts – and by the forces of Hell. To escape the city, Thibaut must join forces with Sam, an American photographer intent on recording the ruins. But Sam is being hunted. And new secrets will emerge that will test all their loyalties – to each other, to Paris old and new, and to reality itself. `A hallucinatory jeu d’esprit . . . Fun, very inventive and thoughtful, particularly for readers interested in Surrealism’s revolutionary politics. I loved it.’ Daily Telegraph `Joyously vivid . . . thrills with the sheer depth of its ambition, invention and historical detail.’ Glasgow Sunday Herald Weaving together the historical and the imagined, China Miéville's The Last Days of New Paris is a surreal and extraordinary work, from the author of The City & The City.1941. In the chaos of wartime Marseille, American engineer and occult disciple Jack Parsons stumbles onto a clandestine anti-Nazi group, including Surrealist theorist André Breton. In the strange games of dissident diplomats, exiled revolutionaries, and avant-garde artists, Parsons finds and channels hope. But what he unwittingly unleashes is the power of dreams and nightmares, changing the war and the world for ever.1950. A lone Surrealist fighter, Thibaut, walks a new, hallucinogenic Paris, where Nazis and the Resistance are trapped in unending conflict, and the streets are stalked by living images and texts - and by the forces of Hell. To escape the city, Thibaut must join forces with Sam, an American photographer intent on recording the ruins, and make common cause with a powerful, enigmatic figure of chance and rebellion: the exquisite corpse.But Sam is being hunted. And new secrets will emerge that will test all their loyalties - to each other, to Paris old and new, and to reality itself.

Pagina's: 224, Editie: Eerste editie, Paperback, Pan Macmillan