- Frédéric Dard
Frédéric Dard ("Frédéric Charles Antoine Dard",
june 29 1921 inBourgoin-Jallieu -june 6 2000 inSwitzerland ) was a Frenchwriter and author of the "San-Antonio " series..Biography
He is one of the most famous French crime novels writers of the second half of the 20th century. He was also one of the most prolific, since he wrote more than 300 novels throughout his career. Under the pseudonym of San-Antonio (with the dash, which was originally a mistake), which he chose randomly with his finger on a map of America while he was looking for a English-sounding name for the famous police superintendent who is the main hero of his novels. San-Antonio is both in the case the main hero and the pseudonym of the writer, and books are written in the first person.
Frédéric Dard wrote 173 adventures of San-Antonio, of which millions of copies were sold. A San-Antonio is likely to be found in any French household. Detective Superintendent Antoine San-Antonio is a kind of french James Bond without gadget, flanked by two colleagues, the old, sickly but wise inspector César Pinaud and the gargantuesque inspector Alexandre-Benoît Bérurier. He is a member of the French secret service and has to fulfill impossible missions given by "Le Vieux" ("the Old Man"), later known as "Achilles", the head of the French police. With the help of his colleagues he always succeeds through various adventures.
Written in a classical crime novel style at the beginning in the 50's (classic spy stories), San Antonio adventures become more satirical from the beginning of the sixties and leave the strict format of the crime novel literature. The style is very influenced by the French writer Céline but is also full of French slang and new words coined by the author himself, which makes it quite difficult for non-native speakers. Frequent are the digressions where the author goes on ranting or raving about anything at hand, addressing the reader directly, often with sarcasm and mockery.
Bibliography
San-Antonio adventures are translated in different languages, such as Italian, Romanian and Russian. Due to Frédéric Dard's very peculiar style the translated versions lose of their flavour. A few have been translated into English:
#"Tough Justice (Messieurs les hommes)", by [http://www.babelguides.com/view/person/758 Cyril Buhler] ,Sphere Books , London, 1967; Duckworth, London, 1969; Norton, New York, 1969;Paperback Library 63-287, New York
#"Stone Dead (C'est mort et ça ne sait pas)", by Cyril Buhler, 1969, Paperback Library 63-283, New York, 1970
#"Thugs And Bottles (Du brut pour les brutes)", by Cyril Buhler, Sphere Books, London, 1969; Paperback Library 63-306, New York, 1970
#"The Strangler (La fin des haricots)", by Cyril Buhler, 1968, Sphere Books, London, 1969; Paperback Library 63-326, New York, 1970
#"Kights Of Arabia (Bérurier au sérail)", by Cyril Buhler, Duckworth, London, 1969; Paperback Library 63-341, New York, 1970
#"From A To Z" (De "A" jusqu'à "Z"), by Hugh Campbell, Duckworth, 1970, ISBN 0715604104 (9780715604106); Paperback Library 63-352, 1970
#"Crook's Hill", Paperback Library 63-342, New York
#"The Sub Killers (La rate au court bouillon)", by Cyril Buhler, Michael Joseph, 1971, ISBN 071810868X (9780718108687)
#"Alien Archipelago (L'archipel des malotrus)", By hugh Campbell, Michael Joseph, London, 1971, ISBN 0718108698 (9780718108694)Apart from San-Antonio Frédéric Dard wrote a great deal of novels under various other pseudonyms, such as Frederic Antony, Verne Goody, William Blessings, Cornel Milk, Frederic Charles or L'Ange Noir, to give only a short list.
Quotations
* « Et puisque notre destin est de finir dans un trou, fasse le ciel qu'il ait du poil autour ! » ("La Sexualité", p. 14, coll. Presses Pocket, No 1115, Éd.
Fleuve Noir , 1971)
* « Je me croyais chêne, je n’étais qu’un gland. »
* « Trente centimètres, c'est petit pour un nain, mais c'est grand pour une bite. »
* « Ses grandes dents excluent mes rêves de fellation les plus impétueux. »
* « En le questionnant, tu risques de lui mettre le prépuce à l'oreille. »
* « Tout ce que pense, dit et fait un con est con. »
* « L'amour, d'abord, ça ne se dit pas, ça se fait. »
* « Regardez bien les hommes. Et maintenant, regardez-moi ! Vous ne trouvez pas que je leur ressemble ? »
* « Un piéton est un monsieur qui va chercher sa voiture. » ("Les Pensées de San-Antonio", p.141, Éd. Pocket no10342, 1996)
* « Mon Dieu, je vous en supplie, qui que vous soyez, soyez ! » ("Les Pensées de San-Antonio", p.192, Éd. Pocket no10342, 1996)
* « Un con est exquis, pourvu qu'il se taise. »
* « Il y a des gens qui disent la vérité comme une montre arrêtée donne l'heure : deux fois par jour et pas longtemps. »
* « Comment trouves-tu mes fesses ? - Très facilement ! »
* « Ah ! si les hommes voulaient s'aider ! Ah ! si les femmes voulaient céder ! »
* « Quand l'amour croît en toi, crois en lui. »
* « Je me demande si la mort vaut vraiment le coup d'être vécue. »
* « Les dix plus belles années d'une femme sont entre l'âge de 27 et 30 ans. »
* « La seule émission qui mérite que l'on paye sa redevance télé est "Questions pour un champion " »
* « Si tous les cons volaient, il ferait nuit » (Les Con)External links
*imdb name|id=0201063|name=Frédéric Dard
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9344588?query=inventive&ct= Frédéric Dard] inEncyclopædia Britannica Online
* [http://www.trussel.com/maig/dorff.htm Analysis of the "San-Antonio" crime novels]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
