The Big Malin

The only completed novel and the largest work of the French writer Alain-Fournier, who died at the age of 27 on the fields of World War I. A cult text about youth that inspired John Fowles himself. The modest and... dreamy boy François meets the imaginative newcomer Augustin, nicknamed "The Big Malin," at school. One day, the newcomer goes missing for 2 days, and upon his return, he tells an incredible story. It turns out that during his absence, he visited a mysterious village where he met a girl named Yvonne and fell in love with her. François promises to help Augustin reunite with the beauty. At François's request, the teenagers form a pact: each will come to the aid of the friend at the first call... John Fowles called "The Big Malin" the greatest novel in European literature dedicated to youth. When he read the novel back in his school years, Fowles noted that it had a strong impact on him, and when he wrote his first novel "The Magus," he did not forget the writing experience of Alain-Fournier, who masterfully weaves reality and dreams together. "The Big Malin" ranks ninth on the list of "100 books of the century according to Le Monde."