The Magic Touch
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Few writers of the twentieth century chronicled the human condition with the raw intensity and moral urgency of Joseph Kessel, and The Magic Touch stands as a compelling testament to his singular gifts. Originally written in French, this translated work presents a portrait of individuals touched by extraordinary circumstance — a world where the fragile boundary between fate and free will is drawn in vivid, unforgettable strokes. Kessel, a journalist, novelist, and member of the Académie française, brings his trademark blend of reportage and literary imagination to bear, crafting narratives that pulse with lived truth and dramatic tension. Translated with sensitivity and precision by Denise Folliot, and introduced by the distinguished historian H. R. Trevor-Roper, this edition bridges the cultural and linguistic distance between Kessel's original vision and an English-speaking readership. Kessel's prose is at once spare and luminous, drawing on his vast experience as a war correspondent and adventurer to invest even quiet moments with the weight of consequence. Whether read as a meditation on human resilience or as a showcase of mid-century European literary craft, The Magic Touch leaves the reader asking a single, haunting question: what invisible force determines which lives are transformed, and which are merely lived?
Author: Joseph Kessel
Format: Hardback
Published: 1961, Rupert Hart-Davis
Genre: Modern fiction
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Few writers of the twentieth century chronicled the human condition with the raw intensity and moral urgency of Joseph Kessel, and The Magic Touch stands as a compelling testament to his singular gifts. Originally written in French, this translated work presents a portrait of individuals touched by extraordinary circumstance — a world where the fragile boundary between fate and free will is drawn in vivid, unforgettable strokes. Kessel, a journalist, novelist, and member of the Académie française, brings his trademark blend of reportage and literary imagination to bear, crafting narratives that pulse with lived truth and dramatic tension. Translated with sensitivity and precision by Denise Folliot, and introduced by the distinguished historian H. R. Trevor-Roper, this edition bridges the cultural and linguistic distance between Kessel's original vision and an English-speaking readership. Kessel's prose is at once spare and luminous, drawing on his vast experience as a war correspondent and adventurer to invest even quiet moments with the weight of consequence. Whether read as a meditation on human resilience or as a showcase of mid-century European literary craft, The Magic Touch leaves the reader asking a single, haunting question: what invisible force determines which lives are transformed, and which are merely lived?