I confess!! Like Orhan Pamuk, a sense of morbidity helps me enjoy reports in the morning newspaper about murders and violence. Of course, the feeling isn't as strong now when I read about the murders in my own city, Bombay, as it was when I lived in Bangalore. In those "golden days." I would start my day reading the Deccan Herald, which would put all the violent news in the "cutest" way on Page 3. The reader would know the name of the felon, the motive and most importantly, where he hailed from.
Living in a place like Bombay, and Andheri in particular, one develops a thick-skin and an ability to see disgusting sites and tolerate them for long enough until they fade away from memory. Georges Bataille's 'Blue of Noon,' is a test of how much a serious reader can digest. No doubt, Bataille was a great writer and he really brought pre-World War 2 Europe to life with this book. We get excellent glimpses of Spain at the outbreak of the civil war and cities like Leningrad, London and Paris before the war. However, the protagonist, Troppman and his lovers do some of the most unimaginably disgusting things!
Besides wild orgies, bouts of morose and sadistic drunken behaviour, you have 2 necrophiles having sex in a graveyard. The disgusting thoughts of Troppman and his lovers can shock even those with the thickest of skin. This is a great work of nihilism and worth a read, if you have the stomach for it.
I won't quote from this book. Some things are better left for the reader to discover for himself/herself. Although thoroughly disturbed by this book, I am glad that I read it, if not for anything else, for its wonderful citing of history.
Living in a place like Bombay, and Andheri in particular, one develops a thick-skin and an ability to see disgusting sites and tolerate them for long enough until they fade away from memory. Georges Bataille's 'Blue of Noon,' is a test of how much a serious reader can digest. No doubt, Bataille was a great writer and he really brought pre-World War 2 Europe to life with this book. We get excellent glimpses of Spain at the outbreak of the civil war and cities like Leningrad, London and Paris before the war. However, the protagonist, Troppman and his lovers do some of the most unimaginably disgusting things!
Besides wild orgies, bouts of morose and sadistic drunken behaviour, you have 2 necrophiles having sex in a graveyard. The disgusting thoughts of Troppman and his lovers can shock even those with the thickest of skin. This is a great work of nihilism and worth a read, if you have the stomach for it.
I won't quote from this book. Some things are better left for the reader to discover for himself/herself. Although thoroughly disturbed by this book, I am glad that I read it, if not for anything else, for its wonderful citing of history.
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