Force ennemie
1903 novel by John Antoine Nau
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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]
Title page for Force ennemie (1903) | |
| Author | John Antoine Nau |
|---|---|
| Language | French |
| Genre | Science fiction |
Publication date | 1903 |
| Publication place | France |
| Media type | |
| Awards | Prix Goncourt |
Plot summary
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
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
In 2010, Michael Shreve translated the book into English as Enemy Force.[7]