Written in 1918 and published a few years later, Jocul Ielelor arrived during a period of profound transformation in Romanian literature. Camil Petrescu was a pioneer of the modernist movement, heavily influenced by the psychoanalytic theories of Freud and the philosophical idealism of Kant. He rejected the stiff, rhetorical drama of the 19th century in favor of what would become known as tragedia inteligentei (the tragedy of intelligence).

No English translation is in the public domain yet, but a 1975 version by Mihail Bogosian exists in academic libraries. If you need an English PDF, search WorldCat for “The Game of the Iele Bogosian” and request a scan via interlibrary loan.

The result, in 1938, was Jocul Ielelor (The Game of the Iele).

For those downloading the PDF to study the plot, the narrative centers on a harrowing event: the suicide attempt of the protagonist, Petrache, following a moment of perceived "shame."

: Gelu’s worldview shatters when he learns that his own father, whom he idolized as a paragon of virtue, was actually a corrupt gambler whose debts were secretly paid by Sinești .

Scribd, Academia.edu (low-quality scans, often missing pages, or require subscriptions).