Very good doesn't do this novel justice. It has been called a modern masterpiece by another reviewer, and that is exactly what it is. I read Brodeck in one day--I couldn't put it down. At once chilling and disturbing, it leaves the reader with a great deal to ponder about the human condition. It is my first encounter with Claudel's fiction, and it has me running to my local bookstore to seek out his other works. Brodeck is beautifully translated from the French by John Cullen. One would never suspect it wasn't originally written in English.