View source for Le Silence de la mer

{{Short description|1942 French novel}}
{{other uses}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title      = Le Silence de la mer
| name              =
| image             = Le Silence de la Mer, par Vercors (1942).jpg
| image_size        =
| caption           = Cover of the first edition
| author            = [[Jean Bruller|Vercors]]
| country           = France
| language          = French
| genre             = [[War novel]]
| publisher         = [[Les Éditions de Minuit]]
| pub_date          = 1942
| english_pub_date  = 1944
| translator        = [[Cyril Connolly]]
| media_type        = Print
| pages             = 90
}}
'''''Le Silence de la mer''''' ({{IPA|fr|lə silɑ̃s də la mɛʁ|lang}}), English titles '''''Silence of the Sea''''' and '''''Put Out the Light''''', is a French [[novella]] written in 1941 by [[Jean Bruller]] under the pseudonym "Vercors".<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vercors |title=Vercors |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica|Britannica]] |access-date=25 October 2023}}</ref> Published secretly in German-occupied [[Paris]] in 1942,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb45787116c.public |title=Le Silence de la mer |website=[[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] |language=fr |access-date=25 October 2023}}</ref> the book quickly became a symbol of mental resistance against German occupiers.<ref name="Britannica" />
==Plot summary==
In the book, Vercors tells of how an old man and his niece show resistance against the [[Germany|German]] occupiers by not speaking to the [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] who is occupying their house. The German officer is a former composer, dreaming of brotherhood between the French and German nations, deluded by the Nazi propaganda of that period. He is disillusioned when he realizes the real goal of the German army is not to build but to ruin and to exploit. He then chooses to leave France to fight on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], cryptically declaring he is "off to Hell".
==English translation==
The book was translated into English by [[Cyril Connolly]] and published in 1944 under the title ''Put Out the Light''.<ref name="Lexington">{{cite book|last=Corbin |first=Christophe |title=Revisiting the French Resistance in Cinema, Literature, Bande Dessinée, and Television (1942–2012) |publisher=Lexington |year=2019 |isbn=9781498582056 |page=59}}</ref> Connolly's translation was reprinted in a bilingual edition in 1991 titled ''Silence of the Sea''.<ref name="Lexington" />
==Adaptations==
An English-language adaptation called ''The Silence of the Sea'' was transmitted by the BBC TV service on 7 June 1946 as part of their first evening's programming following the resumption of TV broadcasting after the end of World War II.
A French-language film directed by [[Jean-Pierre Melville]], ''[[Le Silence de la mer (1949 film)|Le Silence de la mer]]'', was released in 1949.
A second English-language TV adaptation was broadcast by the BBC in 1981, and a stage version by [[John Crowther]] was performed by [[The Heywood Society]] in the theatre at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge, in 1985, under the title ''[[Talking in the Night]]''.<ref>''Cantab Magazine'', February 1985.</ref>
''[[Le Silence de la Mer (2004 film)|Le Silence de la Mer]]'', a French–Belgian TV adaptation, was directed by [[Pierre Boutron]] and screened in 2004.
In 2013, a new English version by [[Anthony Weigh]] was staged at the [[Trafalgar Studios]] theatre in London as part of the Donmar Trafalgar season, starring [[Leo Bill]], [[Simona Bitmate]], and [[Finbar Lynch]]. Simon Evans directed.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Silence of the Sea – review |date=2013-01-15 |website=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409150740/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/jan/15/silence-of-the-sea |archive-date=2022-04-09 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/jan/15/silence-of-the-sea}}</ref>
==See also==
{{portal|Novels}}
*[[Underground media in German-occupied Europe]]
*''[[Code Name Melville]]''
*[[French Resistance]]
*[[Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century|''Le Monde''{{'s}} 100 Books of the Century]]
*[[Les Éditions de Minuit]]
*''[[Suite française (Irène Némirovsky)|Suite Française]]'', another novel with a German composer/officer character quartered in a French home during World War II.
*[[Vichy France]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{French Resistance}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silence De La Mer}}
[[Category:1942 French novels]]
[[Category:French resistance publications]]
[[Category:Les Éditions de Minuit books]]
[[Category:Novels set in France]]
[[Category:Underground press in World War II]]
[[Category:Works published under a pseudonym]]
[[Category:Novels set during World War II]]