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novelist and physician. Born in Courbevoie, a Paris suburb, he studied
medicine and from 1924 to 1928 traveled widely as a physician and medical
researcher. Back in France, he joined the staff of a state clinic in Clichy,
working mainly as a physician to the poor. His nihilistic first novel,
Journey to the End of the Night (1932; trans. 1934) was followed by a
similar work, Death on the Installment Plan (1936; trans. 1938), and Guignol's
Band (1944; trans. 1954). Celine's savagely misanthropic outlook, combined
with his anti-Semitic writings of the late 1930s, caused him to be accused
of collaboration with the Nazis, although he was a pacifist. As a result,
Celine fled to Germany in 1944. Finally exonerated by the French government,
he returned to France in 1950. His experiences in exile are recorded fictionally
in Castle to Castle (1957; trans. 1968) and two later works. His writings
continue to be valued for their stylistic innovations and absurdist outlook.
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