French
DeutschForce ennemie
| Author | John Antoine Nau |
|---|---|
| Language | French |
| Genre | Science fiction |
Publication date | 1903 |
| Publication place | France |
| Media type | |
| Awards | Prix Goncourt |
Force ennemie (1903; English: Enemy Force) is a novel by French author John Antoine Nau. It won the inaugural Prix Goncourt in 1903.[1] The novel describes life inside an asylum and gives insight into the insane mind.[2]
Plot summary
[edit]The main character is a poet who mysteriously wakes up in a rubber room, locked away in a lunatic asylum, apparently at the request of a relative, due to alcoholism or perhaps jealousy.[3][4] He becomes possessed by an "alien force" from another planet, Kmôhoûn, whose crazy voice is constantly screaming in his head.[3][4] He then falls in love with a female inmate, Irene, but she leaves, and so he follows her to the ends of the earth, while the alien force cohabits his body.[3][4]
Critical reception
[edit]Force ennemie was reviewed in The Journal of Mental Science by British physician Havelock Ellis, who stated that the novel is a "vivid description of life inside an asylum", and that the novel provides "extraordinary insight" into an insane mind. He added that the book is not a criticism of asylums.[2]
The novel won the inaugural Prix Goncourt in 1903.[1] Paul Léautaud's Le Petit Ami was a close second.[5] Académie Goncourt members later privately regretted their choice.[5] Nevertheless, the president of the academy, Joris-Karl Huysmans, defended the decision, saying, "Force ennemie is still the best we have crowned".[6] The situation rankled Léautaud, who refused to write another novel for consideration by the academy, dismissing the award: "The Prix Goncourt has really only been given once—the first time to Nau".[5][3]
Translations
[edit]In 2010, Michael Shreve translated the book into English as Enemy Force.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Ryley, M. Beresford (16 January 1904). "Personalities: J. A. Nau". The Academy and Literature. 66 (1654): 75.
- ^ a b Ellis, Havelock (January 1905). "Force Ennemie". The Journal of Mental Science. 51 (212): 163–165.
- ^ a b c d "Enemy Force and The Emerald Eyes". The Brooklyn Rail. August 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
- ^ a b c Shreve, Michael (2011). "Nau, John Antoine". Michael Shreve. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011.
- ^ a b c Green, John A. (December 1968). "Marcel Schwob and Paul Léautaud, 1903-1905". Modern Language Quarterly. 29 (4): 419.
- ^ Descaves, Lucien (1918). "Preface". Force ennemie. Ernest Flammarion. Archived from the original on 18 November 2006.
- ^ Nau, John Antoine; Shreve, Michael (2009). Enemy Force. Hollywood Comics. ISBN 978-1-935558-49-1.