Firstly, my apologies to the author for classing his work as a piece of erotic literature. This it most
certainly is but
I guess he/you could also claim that it is a work of philosophy or tragedy or humour, depending on what you look for in your books (hence the bits of the book that register the most).
With me it's obviously the filth.
Righty ho. This book is a reasonably short story that again places the reader in the first-person narrative of what is described pretty early on as an unattractive, middle-aged,
boring Frenchman (not sure which of those I'd rather least be). Please see my abstract of "Vernon God Little" for a similar rant on such a style of writing, however this book got much more of a successful seeing to.
Now I'm not one for taking pleasure in imagining that I'm any of the above things but the fact that this old chap has all manner of bizarre sexual encounters keeps you turning the parchment. Prostitutes, S&M clubs, bisexuality and group sex figure gloriously and heavily. The descriptions of the acts performed are very vivid and get the mind racing, the hormones coursing and the blood pressure bursting at the various points where it tends to burst most.
However the best part is the matter-of-fact way that all of these damning acts of human pleasure/pain/depravity (delete as applicable to your persuasion) are described that makes the book so downright readable and even humorous at times.
The gravest, and it's pretty grave, pity is that long long sections of the story are concerned with a quite boring plot that revolves around the intricacies of the tourist industry at an executive level.
Looking back on it I was absolutely bored stiff, no pun intended, for several chapters as the plot "unfolded" by using extensive passages on the ins and outs of the corporate lives of a couple of characters. Just get back to the randy stuff will you!
Also, occasionally a page or two on some kind of philosophical interpretation about the situation the main character is in (oft with quoted remarks from "famous people" from some school of thought or another). Again horribly boring.
However these dreary coma-inducing moments only serve to make the next racy instalment even more eagerly awaited.
OK OK, so a lot of the French references are lost on anyone non-French and the ending is positively depressing but there's parts of this book that are a rip-roaring read.
Might get this guy's other book - Atomised - the front cover
certainly looks good...