Separated by 15 years, Loti’s two novels set in Nagasaki strike a quite different chord.

Lauded in his lifetime, member of the Académie française, Pierre Loti sank into obscurity. With the centenary of his death, there has been a rekindling of interest.

Balzac claimed “A generation is a drama of four or five thousand prominent characters. That drama is my book.” 

“I worked 16 hours yesterday, all day today and by this evening I’ve finally finished the first page.”

“Breathing, sleeping, drinking, eating, working, dreaming, everything we do is dying. To live, in fact, is to die.”