The Mercy of God | |
Author: | Jean Cau |
Title Orig: | La Pitié de Dieu |
Translator: | Richard Howard |
Country: | France |
Language: | French |
Publisher: | Éditions Gallimard |
Pub Date: | 29 September 1961 |
English Pub Date: | 1963 |
Pages: | 275 |
The Mercy of God is a 1961 novel by the French writer Jean Cau. It tells the story of four murderers—a doctor, a boxer, a workman and a gambler—who share a prison cell and tell their respective stories. An English translation by Richard Howard was published in 1963.[1]
The novel was awarded the Prix Goncourt.[2]
Hans Koningsberger of The Saturday Review called the book "a splendid novel", and wrote: "The tradition of the book is very Sartrian and very French[.] Cau has continued and greatly contributed to this pattern rather than emulated it. The formula may sound pat, the book is fresh and original." The critic continued: "I objected, at least in this translation, to the similarity in speech between four men of such vastly different background, but, apart from that—a minor point—this novel deserves nothing but praise."[3]