Putevi nesreće IV: Čovek od gipsa
The final part of the Paths of Misfortune tetralogy. Richard Dalleau, broken by losses, drugs and internal conflicts, faces the consequences of his turbulent life and seeks salvation in despair and remorse.
The Plaster Man is the final, fourth part of Joseph Kessel's great tetralogy *The Tour of Misfortune (Le Tour du malheur). Published in 1950, this novel represents a poignant conclusion to the epic story of Richard Dalleau and his generation.
After the turbulent years of war, the rise of his legal career, passionate loves, political intrigues and moral decline, Richard finds himself on the brink of the abyss. Broken by the suicide of loved ones, drug addiction, disappointments and internal conflicts, he becomes a “plaster man” – fragile, vulnerable and seemingly immobile in his mental paralysis. The novel follows his desperate struggle to return to himself, to find meaning and to atone for the sins of his youth.
With great emotional power and autobiographical overtones, Kessel describes the dark side of ambition, hedonism and post-war Paris. Drugs, jealousy, the collapse of marriages and the search for meaning in a world that has lost its values form the core of this powerful finale. The style is intense, masculine and melancholic – typical of Kessel at his best.
The Plaster Man is not just the story of one man, but of an entire generation that went through the Great War only to be lost in peace. The tetralogy ends on a deep, almost requiem note, where the idealism of youth collides with the bitter reality of life.
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