Charles Duits (1925–1991) was a French writer of the fantastique.
Overview
Duits was a friend of André Breton and the surrealists. He wrote poetry and experimented with peyote. Thousand and One Nights and the Indian Ramayana both influenced his work.
As a novelist, Duits, bears comparison with Gustave Flaubert and with fellow French fantasist Christia Sylf. Ptah Hotep (1971) and Nefer (1978) together comprise a heroic fantasy take place in an Earth with two moons, one called Athenade and the other Thana. The novels take place during the time of Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. Ptah Hotep is the story of the ascension of a young prince to the throne of Caesar. Nefer, which takes place several centuries later, tells of the adventures of a young Egyptian priest who falls in love with a sacred prostitute.
The supernatural, as featured discretely in the novels, reflects Duits spiritual "otherworld". The erotic passages contained within are integrally linked to his mysticism.
Bibliography
- Le Pays de l’Éclairement (The Land of Illumination) (1967)
English translation : "Peyote Dreams (Journeys in the Land of Illumination)" InnerTradition, 2013 https://www.amazon.fr/Peyote-Dreams-CHARLES-DUITS/dp/1594774498
- Ptah Hotep (1971)
- Les Miférables (The Miferables) (1971)
- La Conscience Démonique (Demonic Consciousness) (1974)
- Nefer (1978)
- Fruit sortant de l’Abîme (Fruit From The Abyss) (1993)
External links
- Charles Duits at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Visionary Art of Charles Duits : https://picpanzee.com/charlesduits_paintings