Rating: 
Summary: Even a flower sometimes grows in excrement.
Review: Wow! What a book!This book should be canonized into some religious text. Bardamu, the protagonist, is the quintessential anti- hero. He is a bourgeoisie everyman with many moral and psychological short comings but one great strength: he cannot be deluded by the degradation, everyman for himself ethos, ridiculous follies and pipe dreams that surround him in the three different continents that he schleps through. He sees things as they are, not what he wishes them to be and yet he still does not completely lose his romantic idealism. Bardamu is truly beautifully jaded flower.
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Summary: Catch-22 meets Notes from Underground...
Review: ...get the drift? Not in a good way, either. It's as if Dostoevsky's Underground Man had replaced Yossarian, and the goofy names and obnoxious anti-logic of Catch-22 had been toned down accordingly. In short, another 'confessions of a self-described coward who wants to amuse the reader, and yet is disgusted with himself for wanting to....' type of book. Not that this would spoil it for anyone interested in what has the feel, frankly, of David Sedaris/Kurt Vonnegut if either was German: it's all about the laffs, the laffs that bring up a little bile...if you are angry enough to read this book, why not go all the way and read Nietzsche's Zarathustra? Blech! All right!
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Summary: Trace the development of the plain-language style
Review: I picked this book up because I'd heard Charles Bukowski mention Celine as one of his favorite authors. If you're a lit wonk, or like to drink alone until you puke, this book is definitely for you. Make sure to pick up Ham on Rye, read it first, then read this book.
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Summary: The Best
Review: This is absolutely the best and truest book I have ever read. Shatters all the pathetic, stupid and widely held illusions most of us hold dear. Puts politicians, militarists, religionists and capitalists in their place. Offers amazing insight into the life of the poor and working class and the murderous passions lurking in so many families. Couldn't be more vivid and funny. Pulls away the masks we wear to justify exploiting and killing each other. Anyone who reads this book will find it more difficult to believe in anyone or anything.
I'm surprised that none of the reviewers noticed that this book is a long riff on Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS, which ends with the anguished, "The horror, the horror". Celine's book gets moving when Bermadiu realizes one can be virgin to horror as one is a horror to sex, and then he proceeds to describe the horror on a much wider canvass than Conrad did. The painting analogy is an apt one--JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT is Hieronomys Bosch in words. Most horrible of all and what is most contemptuous about human beings is how easily and stupidly most conform and the disastrous consequences:"All the world's a stage," he writes, "and you had better take a part or get off.."
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but uneven.
Review: Journey to the End of the Night seems like a mixture of several novels. The first part - the one that concerns the war - echoes Voltaire's Candide, the part concerning Africa resembles Heart of Darkness, and the rest sounds like a bunch of loosely connected diary entries. The best and most cohesive part, say I, is the first, in which Celine skewers patriotism, heroism, nationalism and the like in the most corrosive way imaginable. The rest are iffy. True, there are some outright hilarious parts, but here's the thing: all the humour is told in much the same fashion and involves much the same topics. Thus, after awhile it seems repetitive and ceases to really work. The same goes for Bardamu's nihilism - after awhile, it's just...tiring. Thus, I found the best parts of the book to be the ones where Celine actually treats certain people with kindness. There are very few of these, but you'll know them when you see them. For instance, the conclusion to the chapter about the prostitute Molly is oddly extremely poignant, made all the more so by the oppressive characterizations of the rest of the book. Later, Celine spends a lot of time about one Robinson and his connection to the Henrouille family - an amount of time I found to be entirely disproportionate to the value of this subject. From that point, the book doesn't really pick up. The focus on Robinson, I must say, completely mystified me; he is suddenly presented as Bardamu's constant travelling companion and best friend, even though his status as such is never established anywhere in the book. By contrast, Bardamu's misadventures in America are, with the exceptions of his encounter with his ex-girlfriend Lola and his meeting Molly, largely glossed over. Thus, I can only describe Journey to the End of the Night as "uneven." You should still probably read it, though.
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Summary: One of the XX Century Classics
Review: The other one being Joyce's Ulysses. Celine is not well known among the anglophones as he should be. I cannot read French myself and am grateful for this translation. The novel is possibly the finest description of the human condition at the start of the XX century and well applies for the rest of it. After witnessing the mechanized horror of WWI in which old Europe arguably died, the Author became a physician among the Paris poor where he quickly gained notoriety for refusing to charge for his services. Goes on to show that most of the people do not recognize a blessing when it hits them straight into face. Stylistically this novel is not the lavish wordplay that Joyce's is but most will appreciate hard clear prose on it's own merits.
Celine is considered by many critics to be the highlight of non positivist view of the humanity's achievements with Ernst Junger being his German counterpart. Oh yes, this is the novel read by one of the scheming teenagers (Neve Campbell's character) in the movie Wild Things for the more pop minded among you.
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Summary: Comic misery at its finest
Review: Ah, Celine, Celine, how can anyone read this book and not laugh out loud at this least 10 times a chapter? What lightning fast wit the narration possesses. Leave it to the french to spawn an inspiration that lasts thru the ages like this has. Great things to say about the hollowness of patriotism, everyday mundane existence, and even flea counting! The fact that it's so funny in the midst of all its pessimism is proof that Celine has his moments of true compassion. He understood exactly what was going on. And maybe after you're done reading this, you will, too.
A rare, and all too knowing literary treat.
Rating: 
Summary: Turn on the lights, please!
Review: As far as I can see, this book has given birth to all sort of favorable and unfavorable comments. From my point of view I think there are a couple of things it must be given credit for. The first one is language. There is a major problem with the language used throughout the novel: it is extremely difficult to translate since it is a colloquial sort of speech. The taste the reader may find in this kind of literature relies too much on the original language it was written in. He may have the sensation that the author does not write: he directly speaks in the reader's ear. Celine succeeds in producing a rhythmic, almost musical flow of words and ideas that is hard to keep pure when translated. And this is one of the most appealing traits Journey possesses. The other is the approach to subjects like war, capitalist exploitation, science, society and mankind disappointment. Although I don't agree with the general view of the world Celine depicts along this novel I must admit that his description of war scenes are really moving and the sarcasm he pours here and there regarding human nature is fairly placed.
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Summary: In Response to T. Ross's Review
Review: There is nothing like an amateur critic of literature to 'attempt' to debase one of the most important books of the 20th century. It is obvious that he is incapable of truly understanding what Celine was trying to state in his book. This book was not "revolutionary" in the sense that it wanted to eradicate modern society for a better social ideal, it was only revolutionary in the way it changed language, which by now, after having his ideas pilfeered again and again, seems so standard. He then goes on to state that there are "no commendable sentiments expressed", what exactly does that mean? I could go on and on but I suggest he stick with his prosaic Anne Rice novels.
Rating:
Summary: Sadistically funny
Review: Although i am sure i am not as elequent and informed on the author as some of the reviewers for this work, I have to say that i love this book. To bring it down to all us non-academics. This book is a must read if you are looking for an experience in dark humor, shocking honesty, and thoes moments when you read a book and find yourself scoffing involuntarily. It is truely genius, and everyone should at least aquaint themselves with this fabulous work. A good place to start if you are interested in his other works.
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