English language
Published Sept. 1, 2001
Under the Sun of Satan (French: Sous le soleil de Satan) is Georges Bernanos's first published novel, appearing in 1926 in Paris. According to Michel Estève, the novel draws on three primary inspirations: the life of the curate Jean-Marie Vianney, which informs the character Donissan; the writers Léon Bloy and Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, from whom Bernanos takes the idea of a world deprived of God and the idea of a union of reality and the supernatural, respectively; and the social climate of France after World War I, which Bernanos vocally decried.It is listed #45 on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century.