Au Chateau d'Argol

About “Au Chateau d'Argol”

The Castle of Argol is a 1938 novel by French writer Julien Gracq. The story takes place at a castle in Brittany and follows a man who invites a friend, who brings a young woman. The plot is abstract and filled with symbols. The novel incorporates elements from Gothic horror and reflects ideas from Hegelian philosophy. It also shows stylistic influences from the surrealist movement. In a preface, Gracq calls the book a "demonic version" of Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)