Adrien Bertrand Adrien Bertrand ( 4 August 1888 – 18 November 1917 ) was a French novelist whose short career was punctuated by a series of striking surrealist anti - war novels , written as Bertrand lay dying from complications involved in a wound he suffered whilst serving with the French Army in the First World War . Biography . Bertrand was born in 1888 , and after attending his local school , he departed for Paris , where he worked as a journalist on a number of papers , including " Paris - Midi " and " L ' Homme libre " . During this period , he also began a literary magazine named " Les Chiméres " , which he used as a vehicle to publicise his socialist ideas and surrealist poetry , as well as give a voice to people of a like mind . Bertrand was a confirmed pacifist and just short of his 26th birthday when the First World War began , but nonetheless joined the French Army immediately , being given a position in the cavalry . For the next three months he was continuously engaged in the Battle of the Frontiers against the German Army and made a name for himself in his unit with some daring exploits . Late in October 1914 a German shell burst amongst his unit , and a slice of shrapnel tore into Bertrand ' s chest , causing irreparable damage to his lungs . Bertrand survived the immediate aftermath of the wound , and was eventually transferred to the lowest grade of military hospital , into what was effectively a hospice . Doctors had informed him that his lungs would never work properly again , he was permanently bedridden and that death was inevitable in his condition . Faced with long periods of enforced bed rest , Bertrand returned to his writing and completed two works before he finally succumbed to his wounds over three years after he received them . Career . In 1916 , Bertrand was awarded the Prix Goncourt for his novel " L ' Appel du sol " about a group of soldiers thrust into the war Bertrand himself had fought , during which they experience horrors none ever expected to just a few weeks before . These soldiers study the motives behind their march to war , representing all France in their make - up and ideals , but also unpicking the reasons behind the French will to fight and the destructive nature of blind patriotism . His second work was named " L ' Orage sur le jardin de Candide " , and was a collection of four short stories , collected and finished in the weeks before his death , and reflecting that ominous state of affairs very strongly . They are frequently surreal and often heavily introspective , perhaps reflecting the world that Bertrand found himself in . The first story is entitled " " , and purports to be the memoirs of one Auguste Rousset , a soldier in the French Army during the French Revolutionary War . His character is largely based on Bertrand himself , and the tale is semi - autobiographical in many of the experiences Rousset endures . This highlighted one of Bertrand ' s favourite topics , the cyclical nature of history , or as he put it , " History repeats itself " . The second story is set in Roman times , named " " , and is based on a story by Tacitus . In the tale , the main character Mucius , a Roman Christian , attempts to preach the Gospel amongst the Germani tribes , resulting in a battle very similar in tone to that of the Battle of the Marne , where Bertrand was wounded . The third story is the most bizarre , named " " , it tells of a meeting in the garden of Candide between Achilles , Don Quixote , Faust , Mr Pickwick and the lead character of Bertrand ' s first novel " L ' Appel du sol " . These fictional characters then discuss the previous work by Bertrand , and attempt to shape an ideal future for the war - ravaged world . The fourth story , " " , is a more mainstream piece , in which several fables of La Fontaine are reworked to question the pomposity and arrogance of those in the French literary elite , especially Romain Rolland , who believed that art and literature should rise above the war rather than compromise themselves for it . In addition to these more famous pieces , he also wrote a large body of poems and short stories as well as a short playscript . Most of these works were posthumously published .