This classic Romanian novel lends valuable psychological insight into the tragic situation confronting minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I. It is the story of Apostol Bologa, a middle-class Romanian officer serving in the Austro-Hungarian army who undergoes a transformation as his sense of national consciousness awakens, leading him to make a critical choice that many faced during this era.The story is based on the life of the author's brother, Emil Rebreanu, a Romanian officer in the Austro-Hungarian army, to whom he dedicated The Forest of the Hanged. The novel's protagonist, Bologa undergoes an evolution whereby begins to see beyond class distinction and the veneer of the civilized world. As the hero states, "The soul is the same in the peasant girl as in the countess, at all events in its bare essentials. Only the shape has been changed by civilization." The inner struggles confronted by Bologa as he confronts the savagery and injustice of war is emotionally portrayed by the author.The Forest of the Hanged is rightfully considered one of the greatest novels in Romanian literature. Liviu Rebeanu (1885-1944) was one of Romania's most distinguished literary figures. His novel Ion is considered the first modern Romanian novel. This illustrated edition of Rebreanu's famous novel includes an introduction by A.K. Brackob.

The Forest of the Hanged

Literature & Fiction

Rebreanu, Liviu

Genre Fiction

Center for Romanian Studies

This classic Romanian novel lends valuable psychological insight into the tragic situation confronting minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I. It is the story of Apostol Bologa, a middle-class Romanian officer serving in the Austro-Hungarian army who undergoes a transformation as his sense of national consciousness awakens, leading him to make a critical choice that many faced during this era. The novel is based on the life of the author's brother, Emil Rebreanu, a Romanian officer in the Austro-Hungarian army, to whom he dedicated The Forest of the Hanged. The novel's protagonist, Bologa undergoes an evolution whereby begins to see beyond class distinction and the veneer of the civilized world. As the hero states, "The soul is the same in the peasant girl as in the countess, at all events in its bare essentials. Only the shape has been changed by civilization." The inner struggles confronted by Bologa as he confronts the savagery and injustice of war are emotionally portrayed by the author.

The Forest of the Hanged (Classics of Romanian Literature)

The Casemate Classic War Fiction Series publishers new editions of forgotten classics that perfectly capture their era. During the First World War, just behind the eastern front, there was a forest, where Austrians and Hungarians used to hang deserters. To this place came Apostol Bologa, a young Romanian officer eager to serve his country. Born in a Romanian region of Transylvania which was then under Hungarian rule, he had naturally enough joined the Austro-Hungarian army. But soon Romania itself entered the war, and Bologa found himself fighting his own people. Forest of the Hanged asks a fundamental question about war: namely, why does a man fight? Apostol condemns an officer to death for desertion and attempting to give information to the enemy. He watches the execution of the officer with satisfaction until he witnesses a fellow soldier’s grief and pity for the dead man. At this point his world shifts. His growing self-doubt and uncertainty lead him to question beliefs he once held without question. Unprepared for his own reaction when he is once again called to sit on a court martial, he finds that he too must go to the forest. This very rare, richly descriptive novel lays bare the inner conflict engendered by a total war, yet seldom expressed.

Forest of the Hanged (Casemate Classic War Fiction)

Casemate

During World War I, a Romanian from Transylvania enrolls in the Austrian-Hungarian army to impress the woman he loves. As Romania enters the war on the opposing side, his conscience is tormented by the prospect of fighting against his ethnic kin.\nForest of the Hanged (original title in Romanian, Pădurea Spânzuraților) is one of the best Romanian novels ever published, a world-class psychological novel of a caliber equal to the works of Remarque and Hemingway. It has 4 stars on goodreads.com, and was made into a critically acclaimed movie (award for Best Director at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival).

Forest of the Hanged

Press, Tiberian

Tiberian Press

Written in the interwar period and published in 1927, this psychological thriller has captured the imagination of Romanian readers ever since. The book begins with a murder, as Puiu, a young aristocrat, strangles his wife on the night of the royal ball. To avoid a public trial and prison sentence, his father arranges to have him committed to a mental asylum. 
Puiu’s discussions with his psychiatrist force him to confront his conscience and lead him to trace the root of his murderous passion to a wild, Dyonisian peasant dance called the Ciuleandra, where he first glimpsed his future wife. Unfortunately for Puiu, though, his psychiatrist may have more than a professional interest in the case… 
This story of obsessive love paints a fascinating picture of the changes in Romanian society at the beginning of the 20th century. The work echoes the cultural landscapes evoked by Russian writers such as Dostoevsky and Gogol, as moments of high drama and emotional intensity bring to life the complex relationship between a decaying aristocracy and the rural world. 
The first chapter of this new translation of Ciuleandra was longlisted for the John Dryden Translation Prize, awarded by the British Comparative Literature Association.

Ciuleandra

Cadmus Press

Crăișorul Horia (Biblioteca românească) (Romanian Edition)

Editura Cartimpex

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rebreanu, Liviu. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.