Blue of NoonOne of the twentieth century's great nihilist novels, Blue of Noon is a blackly compelling account of depravity and terror that retains all its shocking power today. Set in pre-war Europe, its narrator lurches despairingly from city to city in a surreal sexual and mental nightmare of squalor, sadism and drunken encounters - his journey into madness mirroring the fighting and marching on the streets outside. Confronting Fascism, the novel is torn between identifying with history's victims and being seduced by the violent glamour of its terrible victors. One of the most brilliant intellects and influential French writers of his time, Bataille's unflinching exploration of the dark forces beneath the surface of civilization defies all our expectations. |
From inside the book
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Page x
... drunk , sick , dreaming - or all three . Bataille's narrator Troppmann ( and is this , perhaps , a Germanization of ' too much man ' ? ) is throughout the action of the novel either drunk , ill or dreaming . When he is not he is subject ...
... drunk , sick , dreaming - or all three . Bataille's narrator Troppmann ( and is this , perhaps , a Germanization of ' too much man ' ? ) is throughout the action of the novel either drunk , ill or dreaming . When he is not he is subject ...
Page 16
... am intoxicated with happiness . Drunk with it . I'll sing and shout it forth at the top of my lungs . In my idiotic heart , idiocy is singing its head off . I HAVE PREVAILED ! PART TWO 1 Chapter 1 The Evil Omen I ― 16 PART ONE.
... am intoxicated with happiness . Drunk with it . I'll sing and shout it forth at the top of my lungs . In my idiotic heart , idiocy is singing its head off . I HAVE PREVAILED ! PART TWO 1 Chapter 1 The Evil Omen I ― 16 PART ONE.
Page 69
... drunk . I'd known for a long time about the Criolla's main attraction ; it held little charm for me . A boy in girl's clothing was per- forming a number on the dance floor . The dress he was wearing left his back bare to the buttocks ...
... drunk . I'd known for a long time about the Criolla's main attraction ; it held little charm for me . A boy in girl's clothing was per- forming a number on the dance floor . The dress he was wearing left his back bare to the buttocks ...
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Common terms and phrases
ancien régime André Breton Antonio anxiety arms asked Badalona Barcelona Bataille Bataille's began blood Blue of Noon burst café Café de Flore Calella cante jondo Catalan corpse Criolla crying dance dead death Dirty Dirty's door Dorothea dream dress drinking drunk empty everything eyes face feeling fell felt floor forehead frightened front Georges Bataille girl glass hair hand happen head Hitler Youth imagined insane inside kill kissed laughing Lazare Lazare's leave longer looked Lotte Lenya ludicrous maid Michel Monsieur Melou mother-in-law mouth naked never night once pain pale Prüm Ramblas saying seemed shouted sick singing sleep smile someone Spanish Civil War speaking spoke staring started stay stood stopped story street talking tears tell There's things thought told took train Troppmann turned ugly Vienna voice vomit waiting walked wanted window woman Xenie Xenie's