Atlantida (novel)
| Author | Pierre Benoit |
|---|---|
| Original title | L'Atlantide |
| Translator | Mary C. Tongue and Mary Ross |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Duffield |
|
Publication date
|
1920 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | iii, 303 pp |
| ISBN |
Atlantida (French: L'Atlantide) is a French novel by Pierre Benoit published in February 1919. It was translated into English in 1920 as Atlantida. L'Atlantide was Benoit's second novel, following Koenigsmark, and it won the Grand Prize of the French Academy. The English translation of Atlantida was first published in the United States as a serial in Adventure magazine.
The story inspired many films.
It is 1896 in the French Algerian Sahara. Two officers, André de Saint-Avit and Jean Morhange investigate the disappearance of their fellow officers. While doing so, they are drugged and kidnapped by a Tarqui warrior, the procurer for the monstrous Queen Antinea. Antinea, descendant of the rulers of Atlantis, has a cave wall with 120 niches carved into it, one for each of her lovers. Only 53 have been filled; when all 120 have been filled, Antinea will sit atop a throne in the center of the cave and rest forever. Saint-Avit is unable to resist Antinea's charms. By her will, he murders the asexual Morhange. Ultimately, he is able to escape and get out of the desert alive.
According to some, Pierre Benoit was inspired, for the character of Antinea, by the Berber queen Tin Hinan.
In the book Pierre Benoit also draws upon the memories of his youth. As the son of a colonel, he spent his early years in Tunisia, where his father was posted, and then attended school in Algeria. In Algeria, Pierre Benoit also fulfilled his military service. In an article in L'Écho de Paris dated 2 February 1920, Pierre Benoit explained:
This statement follows an allegation by reviewer Henry Magden in October 1919 that Benoit had plagiarised Sir Henry Rider Haggard's novel She (1887); in the ensuing lawsuit for libel, Benoit stated this to be untrue as he could neither speak nor read English. Indeed no French translation of Haggard's book had been available at the time.[1]
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