With tragic irony, Mr Kerr's death might help: it provoked not just powerful symbolism among politicians, but palpable anger on both sides of the community, sections of which have in the past been inclined to regard the dissidents as little more than a disruptive nuisance.
The book, translated into a number of languages, including French, was instrumental in reviving interest in Celine an irony not lost upon a professor at a Jewish university but nevertheless provoked a response from an angry Celine in the form of his short book, Entretiens avec le Professeur Y (Conversations with Professor Y) ridiculing Hindus.