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'''''Le Libera''''' (Éditions de Minuit, 1968), translated as '''''The Libera Me Domine''''', is the ninth [[novel]] by [[Swiss]]-born [[French writer]] [[Robert Pinget]]. The title is a reference to a Catholic liturgical chant sung at funerals ("''Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda''" which translates as "Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day").<ref>[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09214a.htm ''Le Libera'' at New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia]</ref>
'''''Le Libera''''' (Éditions de Minuit, 1968), translated as '''''The Libera Me Domine''''', is the ninth [[novel]] by [[Swiss]]-born [[French writer]] [[Robert Pinget]]. The title is a reference to a Catholic liturgical chant sung at funerals ("''Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda''" which translates as "Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day").<ref>[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09214a.htm ''Le Libera'' at New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia]</ref>
The final page of the French edition has no page number printed on it, "reflecting perhaps the growing awareness of the voice that the process in which it is engaged will continue until death."


The novel was translated into English by [[Barbara Wright]] for [[Calder and Boyars]] in 1972.<ref>[https://lccn.loc.gov/72172356 ''The Libera me Domine'' at the Library of Congress]</ref>. The [[Red Dust]] edition includes a note from the author at the end of the text, not present in the original French.
The novel was translated into English by [[Barbara Wright]] for [[Calder and Boyars]] in 1972.<ref>[https://lccn.loc.gov/72172356 ''The Libera me Domine'' at the Library of Congress]</ref>. The [[Red Dust]] edition includes a note from the author at the end of the text, not present in the original French.
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==Plot summary==
==Plot summary==
==Reception==
==Reception==
In ''The New York Times'', John Sturrock writes: "Like each of Mr. Pinget's novels, ''The Libera Me Domine'' Is the record of someone failing lamentably to construct a single coherent story, but that record is so rivetingly, so eloquently told, that this failure has to go down as a thumping success . . . Mr. Pinget's are spoken novels, written in order to be heard. His chief interest in writing them, he has said, is to impersonate a particular 'tone' of voice and to sustain this over many pages. In a book such as ''The Libera Me Domine'', the voice is beautifully consistent and rhythmic, and its monologue is irresistible."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/29/archives/pessimistic-diversions-pinget-authors-query.html "Pessimistic Diversions" by John Sturrock in ''The New York Times'', April 29, 1979, Section BR, Page 3]</ref>
An anonymous reviewer in ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'' writes: "Like [[Samuel Beckett|Beckett]], with whom he has marked affinity, Pinget concerns himself with the
An anonymous reviewer in ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'' writes: "Like [[Samuel Beckett|Beckett]], with whom he has marked affinity, Pinget concerns himself with the
timbre of human speech in its more problematic self-definitions. Apart from ''L'Inquisitoire'', ''Libera Me Domine'' is Pinget's most notable accomplishment, and one which challenges the assimilative ingenuity of the cleverest reader of contemporary fiction."<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/26436285 ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'', Summer 1979, Vol. 55, No. 3, p. 98.]</ref>
timbre of human speech in its more problematic self-definitions. Apart from ''L'Inquisitoire'', ''Libera Me Domine'' is Pinget's most notable accomplishment, and one which challenges the assimilative ingenuity of the cleverest reader of contemporary fiction."<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/26436285 ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'', Summer 1979, Vol. 55, No. 3, p. 98.]</ref>
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🇫🇷 ''This article about a French novel is a stub'' 📚
🇫🇷 ''This article about a French novel is a stub'' 📚
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1979/09/17/1979-09-17-165-tny-cards-000115714

Latest revision as of 02:21, 3 October 2026

The Libera me Domine
Cover of the first edition
AuthorRobert Pinget
Original titleLe Libera
TranslatorBarbara Wright
LanguageFrench
GenreNovel
PublisherÉditions de Minuit
Calder & Boyars
Red Dust
Publication date1968
Publication placeParis
Published in English
1972
Media typePrint
Pages215
ISBN9780714503394
LC ClassPZ4.P653 Li

Le Libera (Éditions de Minuit, 1968), translated as The Libera Me Domine, is the ninth novel by Swiss-born French writer Robert Pinget. The title is a reference to a Catholic liturgical chant sung at funerals ("Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda" which translates as "Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day").[1]

The final page of the French edition has no page number printed on it, "reflecting perhaps the growing awareness of the voice that the process in which it is engaged will continue until death."

The novel was translated into English by Barbara Wright for Calder and Boyars in 1972.[2]. The Red Dust edition includes a note from the author at the end of the text, not present in the original French.

Background and composition

Plot summary

Reception

In The New York Times, John Sturrock writes: "Like each of Mr. Pinget's novels, The Libera Me Domine Is the record of someone failing lamentably to construct a single coherent story, but that record is so rivetingly, so eloquently told, that this failure has to go down as a thumping success . . . Mr. Pinget's are spoken novels, written in order to be heard. His chief interest in writing them, he has said, is to impersonate a particular 'tone' of voice and to sustain this over many pages. In a book such as The Libera Me Domine, the voice is beautifully consistent and rhythmic, and its monologue is irresistible."[3]

An anonymous reviewer in The Virginia Quarterly Review writes: "Like Beckett, with whom he has marked affinity, Pinget concerns himself with the timbre of human speech in its more problematic self-definitions. Apart from L'Inquisitoire, Libera Me Domine is Pinget's most notable accomplishment, and one which challenges the assimilative ingenuity of the cleverest reader of contemporary fiction."[4]

References

🇫🇷 This article about a French novel is a stub 📚

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1979/09/17/1979-09-17-165-tny-cards-000115714