Surrealism: The Road to the Absolute

209 pp. An informative study of surrealism: its philosophy, creations, and significance in literature, with extensive reference to art. Miss Balakian takes the position that the mystique of surrealism is an attempt to probe the name of reality. She also sees many parallels between the surrealist vision and the most recent hypotheses of nuclear physics. Illustrating the development of surrealism are detailed analyses of the works of Lautreamont. Appollinaire, Reverdy, Breton, and the surrealist painters.