Pierre Gascar

(pseudonym of P. Fournier). Born Mar. 13, 1916, in Paris. French author.

Beginning in 1940, Gascar spent five years in a fascist prison. His first novella was Insane Asylum (1947). He wrote the novel Property (1948) and the antifascist novella Time of the Death (1953; Goncourt Prize). The influence of naturalism can be seen in the collection of short stories Beasts (1953) and The Women (1954). When Gascar takes a historical approach (the book of essays Open China, 1955) and is socially alert (the novel Grain, 1955; Russian translation, 1965), he is able to re-create realistically the character of the young person of the 1930’s (the novel The Grass of the Streets, 1956) and the living conditions in eastern countries (the book of essays Journey to the Living, 1958; Russian translation, 1960). His irony pointedly strikes at the petite bourgeoisie (the play Steps in Vain, 1958), the colonialists (the novel Coral Barrier, 1958), and the fascists (the novel The Fugitive, 1961). At the same time, his characteristic symbolism finds expressive force (the cycle of stories The Sunny Ones, 1960). The novels The Best in Life (1964) and Charms (1965) voice a hymn to the joy of life and the enchantment of childhood and adolescence. As a journalist Gascar reflects about the period of France’s enslavement by fascist Germany (the study A History of the French in Captivity in Germany: 1939-1945, 1967).