Animals in Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s life

Animals in Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s life From memories about Celine : « He was wearing a faded brown jacket and dark blue trousers, dand...


Animals in Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s life

From memories about Celine : « He was wearing a faded brown jacket and dark blue trousers, danding on his skinny legs. On his neck he was caring a string with two hanging mittens, and in his left hand he was holding a voluminous bag in which some holes were made for air access. In this bag he carried a huge cat. That was such a strange outfit ; however the cat was a wonderful creature, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His size was comparable to a lamb and he seemed to be very pleased to stroll in such carriage ; funny creature… That was Louis-Ferdinand Céline and his cat Beber »
1932, Le Vigan bought a cat in the petshop « La Samaritaine » and called him Beber. And this cat in particular became the most famous one in the whole modern French literature. Readers can meet him in novels such as « North », « From castle to castle », « Rigodon ». Beber became Celine’s and Lucette’s (his wife) travel companion through the distroyed by war Europe ; he went with Celine into exile, prison, hospital, and died in 1952 in Meudon at the age of twenty.
From an interview with Lucien Morne : « My biggest expense is stamps. I don’t eat anything, my wife – very little. No meat at all. But animals need to be fed... »
Perhaps, Celine’s love and affection for animals keep him in Korsør more than his fear and disease. He has his cat Beber that he always carries with him, from Paris to Denmark through all Germany. Beber is still alive, even though he is old and ill. And besides, he is desperately jealous of newcomers, claiming his superiority for the master’s love. The newcomers are the straying cats who found the doors of Celine’s house open to them : Nana, Bean, Sarah, the twins Poton and Neutron, Pollux… And many more nameless ones who hunt during the daytime, and look for a place where they can get shelter and feed at night. They were about twenty, and leaving would be dooming them to death. Celine and his wife also have a beautiful dog called Bessie they picked up when she was still tiny and barely alive.







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