The appearance of a stranded white whale on a nearby beach shakes up the quiet life of a small coastal town. Attracted by the spectacle, Pierre and Odile resolve to walk up to the beach to see the fantastical animal for themselves, and attempt to solve the enigma of its presence in their desolate corner of the world. With the air of a classic fable yet set against the background of the War, this brief but compelling novel condenses an ambitious theory of knowledge at the heart of which lies a powerful message: that the process of uncovering any truth is necessarily an exercise in 'unhiding, ' a state of exception through which our daily life is put on hold. Originally published by Albert Camus in the prestigious literary journal Empédocle, this novel is the magnum opus of Paul Gadenne, an original yet profoundly universal writer whose oeuvre has lately been recovered and rightly revalued.