The Abyss by Marguerite Yourcenar

The Abyss (French: L'Œuvre au noir) is a novel by the Belgian-French writer Marguerite Yourcenar. Its narrative centers on the life and death of Zeno, a physician, philosopher, scientist and alchemist born in Bruges during the Renaissance era. The book was published in France in 1968 and was met with immediate popular interest as well as critical acclaim, obtaining the Prix Femina with unanimous votes the year of its publication. The English translation by Grace Frick has been published under the title The Abyss or alternatively Zeno of Bruges. Belgian filmmaker André Delvaux adapted it into a film in 1988.

The 2384th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 26th on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century (Le Monde)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
The Abyss (Black Swan) Paperback 5901370 $137.00
The Abyss: A Novel Hardcover 2363105 $59.99 $14.94 1976
The Abyss Hardcover 3056684 $87.23 $27.00
The Abyss Paperback 373801 $22.00 $7.49 1981