The Last Days of New Paris

A thriller of a war that never was, The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville fuses real historical figures and events with a hallucinatory imagination. Spanning 1941 Marseille and a transformative, hallucinogenic Paris in 1950, the novel follows American engineer and occultist Jack Parsons as he encounters Surrealist power and clandestine anti-Nazi networks, with consequences that reshape the war and the city. Across timelines, a lone Surrealist fighter named Thibaut must navigate living images, texts and the looming forces of Hell, while teaming up with Sam, an American photographer recording the ruins—and pursued by danger and secrets that challenge loyalties to each other, to Paris, and to reality itself.

Parsons’s encounter with Surrealist thinkers, including André Breton, unlocks dreams and nightmares with far-reaching effects on the war and the world. In 1950, Thibaut’s Paris becomes a strange battleground where dissident politics, revolutionary art, and surreal imagery collide, forcing new alliances with enigmatic figures of chance and rebellion: the exquisite corpse. The work blends historical detail with inventive fiction, offering a vivid, thought-provoking reading experience that explores the politics of Surrealism and the power of imagination.

• Surreal, historical alternate Paris and Marseille
• 1941 wartime intrigues with Parsons and Breton
• 1950 hallucinogenic Paris, Nazis vs. Resistance
• Thibaut and Sam navigate loyalty and danger
• Exquisite corpse as a symbolic ally and motif
• Dream and nightmare powers altering war and reality

Kenmerken

• Surrealistische geheimen en historische setting
• Twee tijdlijnen: 1941 en 1950
• Hoofdpersonages: Parsons, Breton, Thibaut, Sam
• Thema’s: macht van dromen, rebellie en realiteit
• Verhaalweergave: combinatie van feiten en fictie
• Kritische lof en ambitieuze geschiedenisdetail