Muerte a crédito

Ferdinand Bardamu—the same Céline alter ego found in *Journey to the End of the Night*—is a young, unclassifiable doctor who treats the poor; they rarely pay him but fully exploit his availability. As the First World War looms, nothing seems capable of tempering the storm of ideas and emotions ravaging the protagonist—through whom we see a reflection of the surrounding world, a place of constant absurdity and squalor. Written in 1936 as a pseudo-autobiography, *Death on Credit* sees Céline continue the literary transposition of his own life. The narrative constantly slips back into past memories and occasionally flashes with fantasy—particularly during sexual escapades—yet it is the raw, abrasive style that overwhelms the reader: the struggle for survival, the daily tragedies, the illnesses, and the marvelous gallery of failures and misfits, all driven by their own stupidity, malice, lust, and greed. A memorable novel.