Ultima noapte de dragoste, întâia noapte de război. Set 2 volume

Camil Petrescu’s novel follows Stefan Gheorghidiu through love, doubt and war. Stefan studies philosophy and seeks perfect love. Yet he struggles with doubts about his wife’s faithfulness. His bond with Ela breaks down as war draws near.

This novel about the mind joins a love story to a war diary. The same voice tells both parts in the first person. Readers of Romanian classics can explore a man’s inner strife. We see war through his thoughts, not just through combat.

The first part is fiction. It opens in spring 1916. Stefan is then a new lieutenant. A news report sparks debate at the officers’ mess. A man has killed his wife, who was unfaithful. The court has cleared him. The men talk of love and staying true. Their talk brings back Stefan’s memories of Ela.

The second part follows him at the front after their split. He takes a mountain route between Campulung-Muscel and Bran. Petrescu shows war through the small events of each day. Men chat to pass time, feel stomach pain and face cold. Shellfire can cut their lives short. Such daily events hold the horror, not grand battle scenes. Both parts probe the darkness within. The title echoes this theme by using the word for night twice.

Petrescu served in the war of 1916–1918. He lost his hearing to blasts from big guns. His time at war shapes the book’s view of it. The novel first came out in 1930. Critics then questioned its form in two parts. Critic Nicolae Manolescu later saw a break with older novels. He found it in the book’s view of jealousy and war. This set has two volumes in the Clasici romani series.