Brave Genius
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CHAPTER 27: A VOICE OF REASON
1 “in order not to add to its unhappiness”: Todd (1996), 339.
2 “Algeria is the cause of my suffering”: Camus (1974), 126.
3 “the no man’s land between two armies”: Ibid., 128.
4 “civilian truce” … “for the duration”: Ibid., 134.
5 “duty, to come”: Ibid., 131–32.
6 “My only qualifications”: Ibid., 132.
7 “two Algerian populations”: Ibid., 135.
8 “condemned to die together”: Ibid., 136.
9 “on a single spot of the globe”: Ibid., 142.
10 “such stupid and brutal initiatives”: Lottman (1979), 582.
11 Camus suggested that if de Maisonseul deserved to be arrested: Todd (1996), 348.
12 “I owe you”: Camus (2008), 217–18.
13 “not only useless”: Camus (1974), 178.
14 “one of the last countries”: Camus (1974), 177.
15 “let us recognize it”: Ibid., 197–98.
16 “This is an emotion”: Ibid., 198.
17 “is in the good it does”: Ibid., 178.
18 “upholders cannot reasonably defend it”: Ibid., 179.
19 “no less repulsive than the crime”: Ibid., 176. Note: This very passage (in a different translation) was explicitly cited in Justice William Brennan’s dissenting opinion in the 1976 landmark United States Supreme Court case Gregg v. Georgia, which upheld the use of the death penalty in certain circumstances.
20 “astronomical proportions”: Ibid., 227.
21 “bloodthirsty laws”: Ibid., 227–28.
22 “Without the death penalty”: Ibid., 228–29.
23 “we must call a spectacular halt”: Ibid., 229.
24 “in the unified Europe”: Ibid., 230, 234. Note: Membership in the EU today does indeed require abolition of the death penalty. See “EU Policy on Death Penalty,” European Union External Action, http://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/adp/index_en.htm.
25 By the end of January: Matthews (2007), 536.
26 “intellectuals, students, and ne’er-do-wells”: Time, April 22, 1957.
27 Tóth shared her political concerns: Agnes Ullmann, e-mail to author, December 15, 2010.
28 Fearing that the clerk would inform: Eörsi (2006), 99–142.
29 They would be charged with publishing: Time, April 22, 1957.
30 “I thought I had to do everything”: Ibid.
31 “I want to be a free man”: Ibid.
32 On June 20: Eörsi (2006), 117; “Biographies of Condemned Writers,” OSA Archivum, http://193.6.218.36/files/holdings/300/8/3/text_da/30-1-4.shtml.
33 The consul immediately agreed: Agnes Ullmann, e-mail to author, December 27, 2010.
34 On July 4: Time, July 8, 1957; “Biographies of Condemned Writers,” OSA Archivum, http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/30-2-257.shtml. Note: Gáli was released in 1960–61, and Obersovszky was released in 1963.
35 Another twenty or so writers: “The Hungarian Writers After the Revolution,” July 26, 1957, from RFE News and Information Service, Evaluation and Research Section: Background Report. Hungarian Research, Open Society Archives, http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/30-2-257.shtml.
36 “Seldom in any country”: New York Times, February 17, 1957.
37 “The balance between creation”: Todd (1996), 687, trans. SBC.
38 He’d had the plan: Camus interview with Dominique Aury, New York Times, February 24, 1957.
39 “waiting for inspiration’s wing”: Todd (1997), 366.
40 “Goethe teaches courage”: Emerson (1996), 166.
41 “I am resigned to failing”: Letter from Camus to Grenier, September 12, 1957, in Camus and Grenier (2003) 178–79.
42 “As a French-Algerian”: Le Sueur (2001), 106; Camus to President Coty, September 26, 1957. Coty was president per Todd (1996), 684.
43 “his important literary production”: New York Times, October 18, 1957.
44 “a genuine moral pathos”: Ibid.
45 “strange feeling of overwhelming”: Camus (2008), 197.
46 The successful nomination: E-mail from M. Holmstrom, archivist at Swedish Academy, to author, October 11, 2011. Sylvère Monod and Jacques Monod were descendants of the same great-great-grandfather Jean Monod (1765–1836).
47 “I thought that the Nobel Prize”: Camus (2008), 197; Lottman (1979), 602.
48 “Your reply honors both of us”: Lottman (1979), 603.
49 Rebatet was spared: Camus (2006), xv–xvi.
50 “This prize which falls most often”: Todd (1997), 373.
51 “My dear Camus”: Letter, J. Monod to A. Camus, Nobel 1957, October 18, 1957, copyright Catherine and Jean Camus, Fond Albert Camus, Bibliothèque Méjanes, Aix-en-Provence, rights reserved.
52 “Remember that shit thou art”: Todd (1997), 373.
53 Camus was deeply touched: See Camus reply to Monod, prologue, page 2.
54 “This young man”: Le Monde, October 19, 1957.
55 “Frightened by what happens to me”: Camus (2008), 197.
56 A week later, he exercised some of the prestige: The Times, London, October 31, 1957.
57 “a man almost young” … “with what feelings” … “two tasks that constitute the greatness”: Camus Nobel Banquet speech, December 10, 1957, available at Nobelprize.org, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1957/camus-speech-e.html.
58 “For more than twenty years”: Ibid.
59 “resound by means of his art”: Ibid.
60 “The nobility of our craft”: Ibid.
61 “as an homage”: Ibid.
62 “of the revered master”: Camus (1974), 251.
63 “among the police forces”: Ibid., 251b.
64 “Let us rejoice”: Ibid., 270–71.
CHAPTER 28: THE LOGIC OF LIFE
1 This notion led Jacob and Wollman: Jacob (1988), 276.
2 One gene was detectable: Ibid., 279.
3 Monod referred to the method: Ibid., 280.
4 That achievement: F. Sanger, “The Chemistry of Insulin,” Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1958, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1958/sanger-lecture.pdf.
5 In mid-September, Jacob and other biologists: “The Replication of Macromolecules,” Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology 12, Company of Biologists, Society for Experimental Biology (New York: Academic Press, 1958).
6 “On Protein Synthesis”: Crick (1958), 138–63.
7 “in biology proteins are”: Ibid., 138.
8 “the main function”: Ibid., 138–39.
9 “The direct evidence”: Ibid., 152.
10 “assumes that the specificity”: Ibid.
11 “passed into protein”: Ibid., 153.
12 “it is remarkable”: Ibid., 160–61.
13 “In comparison to the confusion”: F. Jacob, “47–Francis Crick,” Web of Stories, http://www.webofstories.com/play/14627.
14 “My God, they are”: Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010.
15 “The British were awful” … “They said that maybe”: Ibid.
16 He presented Ullmann’s work: Straub (1958), 176–84.
17 The shortcomings of Ullmann’s: Crick (1958), 146.
18 “There was nothing new”: Ullmann, e-mail to author, December 8, 2010.
19 Monod had constructed: Judson (1979), 406.
20 Pardee had to devise: Pardee (2002), 585–86.
21 Pardee did not speak French: Ibid., 586.
22 Pardee tried the experiment: Ullmann (2003), 136.
23 Prior to arriving in Paris: Kay (2000), 213.
24 “Sign there”: Jacob (1988), 293.
25 Szilárd was given an office: Kay (2000), 213.
26 “repulsive” at first: Monod (1972), 281.
27 Monod painted a new picture: Letter, Monod to Pardee, February 28, 1957, MON. Cor. 03, Fonds Monod, SAIP; translation Judson (1979), 410–11.
28 Pardee, Jacob, and Monod wrote a paper: A. Pardee, F. Jacob, and J. Monod (1958).
29 Getting from Budapest to Paris: Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010.
30 “They won’t let you leave”: Ibid.
31 When the Hungarian military attaché: Agnes Ullmann, e-mail to author, January 11, 2011.
32 Ullmann had not tried to write: Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010.
33 She then heard a man: Perrin, as quoted in Ullmann (2003), 165.
34 Ullmann introduced herself: Ullmann (2003), 200.
35 “What are you doing in Paris”: Ibid.; Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010.
36 “If you would allow me”: Ullmann (2003), 200.
37 “What would you like to do?”: Ibid.
38 “If Monsieur Gros”: Ibid.
39 “I want to leave Hungary”: Ibid.
40 He encouraged Ullmann to discuss her situation: Ibid.; Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010.
41 “What will happen to you” … “My poor child”: Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010; Agnes Ullmann, e-mail to author, January 11, 2011.
42 “I didn’t sleep”: Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010.
CHAPTER 29: MAKING CONNECTIONS
1 The note appeared: A. Pardee, F. Jacob, and J. Monod (1958).
2 Other members of the group: Wall (2001).
3 Jacob, however, did not get caught up: Jacob (1988), 295, 309.
4 By late July, Monod was sailing: Debré (1996), 217.
5 “with no taste for work”: Jacob (1988), 297.
6 “invaded by a sudden excitement”: Ibid., 297–98.
7 “In both cases”: Ibid., 298.
8 “With the phage”: Ibid., 297–98.
9 “had climbed a mountain”: Ibid.
10 “You’ve had enough?”: Ibid., 298.
11 “I think I’ve just thought up”: Ibid., 298.
12 silly, even “childish”: Ibid., 300.
13 To Jacob, the analogy seemed so strong: Jacob, in Ullmann (2003), 121.
14 “as if it closed a single lock”: Jacob (1988), 301.
15 “like a switch”: Ibid.
16 “Actually, there is no direct evidence”: Jacob, as quoted in Ullmann (2003), 122.
17 “How stupid I had been”: Ibid., 125.
18 The repartee was more than scientific: Jacob (1988), 307–8.
19 “may lead to a generalizable picture”: A. Pardee, F. Jacob, and J. Monod (1959), 177.
20 As a child during the Nazi occupation: The Gábor Sztehlo Foundation for the Help of Children and Adolescents, http://www.sztehlo-gabor-alapitvany.hu/bemutatke.htm.
21 “Last year prices are”: Kövesi to Monod, April 18, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
22 “We have been busy here”: Monod to Kövesi, April 21, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
23 Kövesi would have $4,700: Monod to Kövesi, April 28, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
24 “I have entire confidence”: Ibid.
25 “My interview with the captain”: Kövesi to Monod, May 20, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
26 “TOM TO COME TO ESZTERGOM”: Kövesi to Monod and Ullmann, June 3, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
27 They underscored how mutations: Jacob and Monod (1959), 1282–84.
28 “Ah, Jacob. Pleased to see you again”: Jacob (1988), 308–9.
CHAPTER 30: THE POSSIBLE AND THE ACTUAL
1 The former resistant loved the idea: Agnes Ullmann, interview, Paris, August 20, 2010.
2 In Monod’s “Code Agnes”: Note in J. Monod’s handwriting, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
3 “This is like a game of cards”: Letter, Ullmann and Kövesi to Monod, September 3, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP, trans. SBC.
4 She made one request of Monod: Ibid.
5 There was no reaction from the audience: Account of meeting based on Jacob (1988), 310–11.
6 “at the same time I sent you a chromatogram”: Letter, Ullmann to Monod, September 17, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
7 Kövesi had sent Monod a summary: Letter, Kövesi to Monod, September 14, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
8 “I am not able to do any more waiting”: Letter, Kövesi to Monod, October 3, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
9 “Thank you so kindly”: Letter, Monod to Ullmann, September 28, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP, trans. SBC.
10 “I am very confident”: Letter, Monod to Kövesi, October 6, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
11 “Thank you for your good faith”: Letter, Kövesi to Monod, October 9, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
12 “If you believe that this trip”: Message in letter from Monod to Kövesi, October 16, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
13 “I adore Mozart”: Letter, Brunerie to Ullmann, October 19, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP, trans. SBC.
14 “They are still working in the same field”: Letter, Monod to Kövesi, October 16, 1959, and October 23, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
15 “I’ve met somebody”: Letter, Kövesi to Monod, October 22, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
16 “This new plan”: Letter, Monod to Kövesi, October 26, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
17 “IT IS ABOUT A CAR”: Letter, Kövesi to Monod, October 29, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
18 Kövesi explained to Monod: Ibid.
19 One of the financial supporters: Letter, Csapo to Monod, November 6, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
20 “the main difficulty”: Letter, Monod to Csapo, October 26, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
21 “I refuse to believe”: Ibid.
22 “I must therefore ask you”: Letter, Csapo to Monod, October 28, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
23 “Dear Dr. Csapo”: Letter, Monod to Csapo, November 2, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
24 Kövesi wrote to Monod: Letter, Kövesi to Monod, November 6, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
25 “I am fantastically busy”: Letter, Monod to Kövesi, November 10, 1959, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
26 the writing of the paper that would introduce the new concept: F. Jacob, D. Perrin, C. Sanchez, and J. Monod (1960).
27 “the process of science”: Jacob (1988), 288.
CHAPTER 31: UNFINISHED
1 “fundamental misunderstanding”: Letter, Csapo to Monod, November 6, 1959, item 53, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
2 “If the previous attempt has failed”: Letter, Monod to Csapo, November 19, 1959, item 56–58, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
3 Monod suggested that Csapo request an extension: Letter, Csapo to Monod, November 24, 1959, item 59, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP; Letter, Monod to Csapo, December 8, 1959, item 60, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP; Letter, Monod to Csapo, December 8, 1959, item 61, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
4 “Must I point out”: Letter, Monod to Csapo, December 29, 1959, item 64, MON. Ser. 04, Fonds Monod, SAIP.
5 He wrote appeals: Lottman (1979), 625.
6 Camus wrote to ask: Ibid., 637–38.
7 “To keep quiet”: New York Times, April 22, 1958.
8 He also wrote the preface: Seeker and Warburg, The Truth About the Nagy Affair: Facts, Documents, Comments (New York: F. A. Praeger, 1959).
9 “qui nous persecutent encore”: J. Monod, personal copy of A. Camus, Les Possédés, inscription courtesy of Olivier Monod.
10 “Enough of you must”: Camus (2008), 203–4.
11 “My job is to make”: Ibid., 205.
12 It was purchased: E-mail from Olivier Monod (Jacques Monod’s son) to author
, August 30, 2012. Olivier Monod of Lourmarin and Jacques Monod were descendants of the same great-great-grandfather, Jean Monod (1765–1836).
13 He had conceived of the title: Ibid., 86.
14 “a ‘direct’ novel”: Letter from Camus to Grenier, August 24, 1955, Camus and Grenier (2003), 168.
15 “fresco of the contemporary world”: Todd (1997), 405.
16 “He wrote War and Peace”: Camus (1965), 230.
17 As early as February 1957: Camus interview with Dominique Aury, New York Times, February 24, 1957.
18 “It’s also the novel of my maturity”: Lottman (1979), 615.
19 Camus’s plan was: Camus (2008), 172.
20 “I am finding a little peace”: Letter from Camus to Grenier, May 8, 1959, in Camus and Grenier (2003), 191.
21 “Frère Albert, O.D.”: Lottman (1979), 644.
22 “Nietzsche is here”: Letter from Camus to Grenier, May 8, 1959, in Camus and Grenier (2003), 191.
23 “The Wisdom of Lourmarin”: Grenier (1936).
24 “I put my footsteps in yours”: Lottman (1979), 636.
25 “The greatest works”: Camus (2008), 244.
26 “I think it’s all over”: Ibid., 646.
27 “ailing, tense, stubborn”: Camus (1995), 27.
28 “four women at the same time”: Ibid., 296.
29 “I have never worked with such dense material”: Letter from Camus to Mi, November 22, 1959, in Todd (1997), 407.
30 “the best in the world”: Letter from Camus to his mother, December 21, 1959, in Todd (1997), 411.
31 “To you who will never”: Camus (1995), 3.
32 “I must finish the first draft”: Todd (1997), 407.
33 “By the time you read this”: Ibid., 411.
34 “Alright, this is a last letter”: Ibid., 411–12.
35 “This is my last letter, my tender one”: Letter from Camus to Catherine Sellers, in Todd (1997), 412.
36 The next day they all lunched: The account of the car trip back to Paris is from Lottman (1979), 660–64.
37 “You shouldn’t have bought it”: Lottman (1979), 660.
38 inside his black leather briefcase: Brée (1961), vii; Lottman (1979), 664–65.
39 “For over twenty years”: Lottman (1979), 669.
40 The director of the Théâtre de France: O’Brien, New York Times, January 10, 1960.