From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Meaning
Lemma.
In Brotteaux’s political description, réacteur is someone who resists or reverses revolutionary change. He says Gamelin is revolutionary on earth but conservative and even reactionary in heaven. The noun is not a machine or modern scientific reactor; its point is the inconsistency Brotteaux sees between overthrowing mortal monarchy and retaining divine monarchy.
Places to read
- Chapter VI, paragraph 48Frenchconservateur et même réacteur: Conservative and even reactionary. The qualification concerns Gamelin’s religious, not earthly political, allegiance.