1936
Death on the Installment Plan
Louis-Ferdinand Céline · 1894–1961 · France
Originally Mort à crédit (French)
Why it matters
A hallucinatory, scatological account of a Parisian boyhood among shopkeepers, quacks, and family catastrophe. Céline's prequel to Journey pushes his broken, breathless style even further.
At a glance
autobiographical fictionpicaresque
Difficulty 7/10fast pace480 pagesHallucinatory, breathless, scatological prose pushed even further than its prequel.
Where to go next
Louis-Ferdinand Céline · 1932Journey to the End of the NightLvl 6Fast paced
António Lobo Antunes · 1979The Land at the End of the WorldLvl 8Slow burn
André Malraux · 1933Man's FateLvl 6Medium pace
Raymond Queneau · 1959Zazie in the MetroLvl 5Fast paced
Albert Camus · 1942The StrangerLvl 3Medium pace
Jules Verne · 1870Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaLvl 3Medium pace