[PDF] RIVERIVER Vol.01[Ordinary Version] (Japanese Edition) by RIVERIVER編集部 at Arts-Photography

Review

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. UnevenBy A CustomerWhile one or two stories are on target; I wasnt thrilled with the overall collection. To be sure; DAurevilly is quite successful in creating suspense and engendering interest. The bulk of the stories; however; dont so much end as stop. They are disconcertingly anti-climactic; indeed; impotent.While theres a lot worse to read out there; I cant wholeheartedly recommend "Les Diaboliques." If youre interested in decadent literature of the first water; I strongly suggest Huysmans "La-Bas."0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. keeps several mistresses at the same time like seven strings of his lyreBy Glenn RussellJules Barbey drsquo;Aurevilly (1808 ndash; 1889); romantic with the sensibility of a decadent ; self-styled dandy; teller of risqueacute; novels and short stories; shocked readers and infuriated the authorizes with the publication of Les Diaboliques. But there is much more to this captivating novel with its sumptuous; elegant language; well-crafted metaphors and highly visual and sensual imagery than simply stock value. Below are a number of themes common to these stories:Story within a storyThe first-person narrator tells us as readers how one evening years ago while returning from a hunting trip he shared a carriage with a rotund dandy he calls Vicomte de Brassard. The carriage made a stop in a small provincial town for repair. Gazing up at an upper-story window of one of the townrsquo;s large buildings; a crimson certain caught the narratorrsquo;s attention; he points out the captivating tint of the curtain to his riding companion. Ah; such are the twists of fate; since; as it turns out; that exact room with the crimson curtain was a dramatic marker for de Brassardrsquo;s life -- it all happened back in the day when he was but a 17 year old lieutenant. And dandy de Brassard tells the tale.Storytelling with a hookTherersquo;s a point; usually about half way through; when something unexpected happens to propel the story into overdrive. And what variety of event are we alluding to here? Why; of course; as if lighting a fuse to a stick of dynamite; a woman ignites a manrsquo;s passion: BOOM! Now wersquo;re reading a Barbey-drsquo;Aurevilly-style spellbinding page-turner.DandyismFor Barbey drsquo;Aurevilly; a dandy is not only a man scrupulously devoted to style; neatness and fashion but; as he describes Vicomte de Brassard; a dandy has a seductive beauty which seduce not only woman but circumstances themselves: has a careless disdain and repugnance of discipline: keeps several mistresses at the same time like seven strings of his lyre; drinks like a Pole; jests about his own immorality; belongs to his own times and transcends his times; and; lastly; above all else; scorns all emotion as being beneath him.Conversation as a cultural highpointIn all six of these Barbey drsquo;Aurevilly tales; the character raise conversation to an art form ndash; probing inquiry; genteel exchange; elaborate; detailed storytelling with all the necessary color and nuance to convey a vivid; sensual picture; and; above all; a deep respect for the speaker; permitting onersquo;s interlocutor time and space ndash; none of those spurious interruptions commonplace in our current world: cutting a speaker off mid-sentence; answering cell-phones; texting; checking emails; looking at onersquo;s watch (the ultimate insult). Indeed; engaging in conversation as a cultivated skill; a consummate refinement; similar to playing baroque music or painting in oils.Woman as the real power player19th century France: Victorian; bourgeois; patriarchal; or; in other words; a male-centered; conservative; reason-dominated society. But the dirty little secret for the upholders of Victorian patriarchy is our all-too-human life is fueled by passion and emotion; most particularly sexual emotion ndash; sexual attraction; sexual arousal and; of course; erotic love. The power of each of these Barbey drsquo;Aurevilly tales lies in the fact a female instigates or initiates the key action. Talk about turning those Victorian values upside down and shaking! No wonder the authorities hated Barbey drsquo;Aurevilly and banned his 1874 novel ndash; Les Diaboliques also gave the French reading public one of its first tastes of what came to be known as the Decadent Movement; with its smashing to bits the connection and linking of virtue/reward; vice/punishment; good morals/happiness and bad morals/unhappiness; as in Happiness in Crime; a tale of two adulterers and murderers who live happily ever after.For a more specific rasa; letrsquo;s look at one of the tales. In The Greatest Love of Don Juan; we read of a Don Juan-like lover; Comte de Ravila; dining with twelve of his previous romantic conquests. Barbey drsquo;Aurevilly describes the physical strength and mature sensuality of these sumptuous lovers: ldquo;Full curves and ample proportions; dazzling bosoms; beating in majestic swells above liberally cut bodices . . . ldquo; And then he writes of the sheer psychic power of these ladies as the evening progresses: ldquo;They felt a new and mysterious power in their innermost being of which; until then; they had never suspected the existence. The joy of this discovery; the sensation of a tripled life force; the physical incitements; so stimulating to highly strung temperaments; the sparkling lights; the penetrating odor of so many flowers swooning in an atmosphere overheated with the emanations of all these lovely bodies; the sting of heady wines; all acted together.rdquo;Then; one woman demands our Don Juan tell the story of the greatest love of his life. If effect; he is being asked to choose one of his lovers amongst the present company. Comte de Ravila tells his story but; turns out; the story is not at all what these ladies expected.My take is Ravila did the exactly the right thing. True; his story was not a tale of wild; heart-stopping; hot-blooded passion ndash; he probably had twelve equally erotic and fantastically romantic stories to tell on that subject; one for each lady present; however his story was of a completely different cast but a story that had; from his perspective; a happy ending ndash; he escaped from the banquet with the real prize: his life.What an impossible question to ask a man: to choose one woman amongst twelve surrounding him. If he did; he most likely would have been torn to shreds by eleven Dionysian-frenzied former lovers. Thatrsquo;s the way to think on your feet and save your skin; Ravila!11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. "Happiness has no story." - Jules Barbey.By John McCormackAny fan of Baudelaire; Huysmans; or decadent fiction in general needs to read this book. When published; Les Diaboliques was considered so vile and disturbing that police actually seized it for offense to public morality. Even today; with its obsessive excursions into crime; sexual devience; and its dark; satanic undertones (Barbey was an eccentric catholic); it still retains a shocking; raw depravity. The devils in the novel are all female ; useing their dominating; almost ravenous sexuality they manipulate and overpower men; even abuse them. They take life and love on their own terms; sometimes with savage; brutal violence. The dark under-world of eroticism and sex are explored and revealed in a slightly deranged light. Often times the stories seem to have some kind of mysterious; perverse moral; but it is so twisted the reader is never sure. In fact; even the characters motivations are never fully revealed ; their is horror; but not always directly; it pervades all around like some putrid; foul-smelling perfume. Terror is everywhere; hidden in the shadows of life. The narative itself adds to the overall creepy atmosphere; full of twists; detours; digressions. A classic of evil literature; this book demands to be ghoulishly savoured.