
PAUL BOURGET
E-text prepared by Juhani Kärkkäinen and Tapio Riikonen
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In a crumbling palace turned field hospital, a weary surgeon recounts his nine‑month stint on the war‑scarred front. The once‑grand halls of Saint‑Guillaume now echo with the soft moans of the wounded, and the narrator, a former medical student exempted from combat because of a heart condition, finds himself thrust into a world of endless operations and fleeting moments of peace beneath the garden’s ever‑changing leaves.
Amid the clatter of scalpels and the rustle of newspaper‑stained sheets, he reflects on the strange juxtaposition of history and horror—walls that have housed dukes, prisoners, and marshals now sheltering broken bodies. His thoughts turn to the paradox of duty: the soldiers’ bravery, the relentless tide of suffering, and his own uneasy place as a healer who can’t escape the war’s shadow. The narrative captures the haunting rhythm of daily life in a makeshift sanctuary, where each sunrise brings a new wave of pain, hope, and the quiet resolve to bear witness.
Language
fi
Duration
~5 hours (298K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2018-05-14
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1852–1935
A sharp observer of society and inner life, this French writer helped shape the psychological novel at the end of the 19th century. He moved from poetry and criticism into fiction that explored belief, morality, and the pressures of modern life.
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