“‘For one thing, Ferdinand, from the standpoint of a truly modern intelligence, haven’t all differences and distinctions been defaced? No more white! No more black! Everything dissolves. That’s the new approach! The fashion! . . . I saw the human mind, Ferdinand, losing its balance little by little and dissolving in the vast maelstrom of apocalyptic ambitions! It began about 1900 . . . mark that date!’”

—Louis-Ferdinand C’line, Journey To The End Of The Night, 1934, translated by Ralph Manheim, 1983.