Crevel was born in Paris to a family of Parisian bourgeoisie. He had a traumatic religious upbringing. At the age of fourteen, his father committed suicide by hanging himself.
From 1924, Crevel wrote novels such as Détours and Mon Corps et moi ("My Body and Me") where he would extensively write about his fears, his revolt and his feeling of malaise. In 1926 was published La Mort difficile ("Difficult Death"), a novel where he depicts his lover McCown as "Arthur Bruggle". The publication ended their love affair, though Crevel would be close to McCown till the end of his life.
Also in 1924, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which caused him to frequently leave Paris for sanatoriums, especially in Switzerland. The 1929 exile of Léon Trotsky persuaded him to rejoin the surrealists. Remaining faithful to Breton, he struggled to bring communists and surrealists closer together. In 1928, during a short stay in Berlin, he met Carl Sternheim's daughter, Dorothea, with whom he fell in love. Much of Crevel's work deals with his involvement as a communist and his inner turmoil at being bisexual.[1]
Crevel killed himself by turning on the gas on his kitchen stove the night of 18 June 1935—exactly the same way as he described in his first published book[2]—several weeks before his 35th birthday. There were at least two direct reasons: (1) There was a conflict between Breton and Ilya Ehrenburg during the first "International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture" which opened in Paris in June 1935. Breton, who, like all fellow surrealists, had been insulted by Ehrenburg in a pamphlet which said—among other things—that surrealists were pederasts, slapped Ehrenburg several times on the street, which led to surrealists being expelled from the Congress. Crevel, who, according to Salvador Dalí, was "the only serious communist among surrealists",[3] spent a whole day trying to persuade the other delegates to allow surrealists back, but he was not successful and left the Congress at 11:00 pm, totally exhausted. (2) Crevel reportedly had learned that he suffered from renaltuberculosis right upon leaving the Congress.[4] He left a note which read "Please cremate my body. Loathing."
When Breton included the question "Suicide: Is It a Solution?" in the first issue of La Révolution surréaliste in 1925, Crevel was one of those who answered "Yes". He wrote "It is most probably the most correct and most ultimate solution."
Putting My Foot in It (translation of Les Pieds dans le plat; Dalkey Archive Press, 1994)
Difficult Death (translation of La Mort difficile; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986)
1830 (Elysium Press, 1996)
The Noble Mannequin Seeks and Finds her Skin; 1934 (translation from French in 'The Surrealism Reader); Tate Publishing 2015, ISBN9781854376688
Are You All Crazy? (translation of Êtes-vous fous?; Snuggly Books, 2023)
Referencesedit
^Renee Winegarten, "The golden boy of Surrealism: On René Crevel", The New Criterion, February 1987, "The golden boy of Surrealism by Renee Winegarten". from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
rené, crevel, french, kʁəvɛl, august, 1900, june, 1935, french, writer, involved, with, surrealist, movement, born, 1900, august, 1900paris, francedied18, june, 1935, 1935, aged, paris, france, contents, life, publications, original, french, english, translati. Rene Crevel French kʁevɛl 10 August 1900 18 June 1935 was a French writer involved with the surrealist movement Rene CrevelBornRene Crevel 1900 08 10 10 August 1900Paris FranceDied18 June 1935 1935 06 18 aged 34 Paris France Contents 1 Life 2 Publications 2 1 Original French 2 2 English translations 3 References 4 External linksLife editCrevel was born in Paris to a family of Parisian bourgeoisie He had a traumatic religious upbringing At the age of fourteen his father committed suicide by hanging himself Crevel studied literature and law at the University of Paris He met Tristan Tzara and joined the Dada movement as early as 1923 Crevel would play the Eye character in Tzara s play Le Coeur a Barbe in July 1923 then got closer to Andre Breton and the Surrealists During the 1923 1924 winter a love affair between Crevel and American artist Eugene McCown began Through McCown Crevel mingled with a chic bohemian crowd and got to know Nancy Cunard Francis Scott Fitzgerald Caresse and Harry Crosby and others From 1924 Crevel wrote novels such as Detours and Mon Corps et moi My Body and Me where he would extensively write about his fears his revolt and his feeling of malaise In 1926 was published La Mort difficile Difficult Death a novel where he depicts his lover McCown as Arthur Bruggle The publication ended their love affair though Crevel would be close to McCown till the end of his life Also in 1924 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which caused him to frequently leave Paris for sanatoriums especially in Switzerland The 1929 exile of Leon Trotsky persuaded him to rejoin the surrealists Remaining faithful to Breton he struggled to bring communists and surrealists closer together In 1928 during a short stay in Berlin he met Carl Sternheim s daughter Dorothea with whom he fell in love Much of Crevel s work deals with his involvement as a communist and his inner turmoil at being bisexual 1 Crevel killed himself by turning on the gas on his kitchen stove the night of 18 June 1935 exactly the same way as he described in his first published book 2 several weeks before his 35th birthday There were at least two direct reasons 1 There was a conflict between Breton and Ilya Ehrenburg during the first International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture which opened in Paris in June 1935 Breton who like all fellow surrealists had been insulted by Ehrenburg in a pamphlet which said among other things that surrealists were pederasts slapped Ehrenburg several times on the street which led to surrealists being expelled from the Congress Crevel who according to Salvador Dali was the only serious communist among surrealists 3 spent a whole day trying to persuade the other delegates to allow surrealists back but he was not successful and left the Congress at 11 00 pm totally exhausted 2 Crevel reportedly had learned that he suffered from renal tuberculosis right upon leaving the Congress 4 He left a note which read Please cremate my body Loathing When Breton included the question Suicide Is It a Solution in the first issue of La Revolution surrealiste in 1925 Crevel was one of those who answered Yes He wrote It is most probably the most correct and most ultimate solution Publications edit nbsp Crevel s work on Paul Klee 1930 Original French edit Detours 1924 Mon Corps et moi 1925 La Mort difficile 1926 Babylone 1927 L Esprit contre la raison 1928 Etes vous fous 1929 Le Clavecin de Diderot 1932 Les Pieds dans le plat 1933 Le Roman casse et derniers ecrits 1934 1935 English translations edit My Body and I translation of Mon Corps et Moi Archipelago Books 2005 Babylon translation of Babylone translated by Kay Boyle North Point Press 1985 ISBN 0 86547 191 6 Sun and Moon Press 1996 Putting My Foot in It translation of Les Pieds dans le plat Dalkey Archive Press 1994 Difficult Death translation of La Mort difficile Farrar Straus and Giroux 1986 1830 Elysium Press 1996 The Noble Mannequin Seeks and Finds her Skin 1934 translation from French in The Surrealism Reader Tate Publishing 2015 ISBN 9781854376688 Are You All Crazy translation of Etes vous fous Snuggly Books 2023 References edit Renee Winegarten The golden boy of Surrealism On Rene Crevel The New Criterion February 1987 The golden boy of Surrealism by Renee Winegarten Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 Retrieved 2013 12 26 Detours Paris Gallimard 1924 La Nouvelle Revue francaise Crevel Rene 1932 Le Clavecin de Diderot Paris Editions Surrealistes p 161 Afterword Crevel Rene 1932 Le Clavecin de Diderot Paris Editions Surrealistes p 162 Afterword External links editPutting My Foot in It Official site for this translation Rene Crevel Freud de l Alchimiste a l Hygieniste Revue Le Disque Vert 2e annee 3e Serie n 1 1924 Rene Crevel Notes en vue d une psycho dialectique Revue Le Surrealisme Au Service De La Revolution n 5 May 1933 Rene Crevel at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rene Crevel amp oldid 1211590831, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
