Blue of Noon [Paperback]

Georges Bataille (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1988

The writing is superlative ... daringly imaginative, intended only for those awake and aware of the possibilities of excess - in literature and in life. Along with Cline and Breton, Bataille writes as if he were dropping a bomb; in a fore-flash he creates a world of demented funereal sexuality.?Detroit Free Press

Set against the backdrop of Europe's slide into Fascism, Blue of Noon is one of Bataille's most overtly political works, exploring the ambiguity of sex as a subversive force and synthesizing the fetishes of violence, power and death that mesmerized an age.

In this classic of twentieth century eroticism, the reader is taken on a dark journey through the psyche of the pre-war French intelligensia, torn between identification with the victims of history and the glamour of its victors.

Georges Bataille was born in 1897 and died in 1962. His combination of scholarship and creative genius assured his pre-eminence among his generation of French intellectuals.

Other books by Georges Bataille also published by Marion Boyars are Eroticism, Story of the Eye, Literature and Evil, L'Abbe C, and My Mother, Madame Edwarda and the Dead Man.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Georges Bataille was born in France in 1897 and died in 1962. He was a philospher, novelist and critic who wrote on a wide range of topics and continues to exert a vital influence on today's literature and thought. Other works published by Marion Boyars include My Mother Madame Edwarda and the Dead Man, Literature and Evil and L'Abbé C. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd (September 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714528501
• ISBN-13: 978-0714528502
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,118,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Georges Bataille was born in Billom, France, in 1897. He was a librarian by profession. Also a philosopher, novelist, and critic he was founder of the College of Sociology. Bataille died in 1962.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a severely underrated masterpiece, June 11, 2004

By 

mary (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue of Noon (Paperback)

I don't understand why this book is considered to be one of Bataille's [illegitimate] children. It's beautifully written. The man was capable of working miracles with words through his style and arrangement of them. Blue of Noon is definitely not an exception.

Bataille's style is always one of brutal elegance. He's like a lover who slaps you in the face, only to pull you into a gentle embrace a moment later.

The main character, Troppman, is the star here - he is a deviant trying is best not to be. Ahhhh, the internal struggles - do you stay married and live your life as a respectable, productive member of society. Or do you run off with [prostitutes] and derelicts to indulge the savage needs you've so long supressed.

Not to be outdone, his brightest co-star, is a woman named Dirty. She is a beautiful creation. She is a train wreck of a woman. She and Troppman braid themselves together in clearly conspicuous codependence of the worst sort, bawdy drunkeness paving the pathways to irrevocable damnation.

I also enjoyed Lazare; a woman Troppman finds himself thoroughly disgusted with, she has no redeeming features. Yet, he cannot stay away.

If you are a fan of the madman Bataille, don't miss out on this one. I think this is truly some of his best work.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I was a male french erotica writer in the 30s..., May 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blue of Noon (Paperback)

This was the first of Bataille's books that I have read/am reading. I stopped at the store today and got another, L'Abbe C. I read Story of the Eye last week (that one was my favorite). As I read (devoured?) Blue of Noon it was like a dawning, an uncovering of a type of writing that I've been trying to find an example of, since it is the style of most of the things I write. Bataille combines his emotions and feelings and anguish and disgust and frustration with the story of this guy and his relationships with various women. It's hard for me to describe what this book did for me because I understand the comparisons and allusions, but taken exactly as it is without trying to find any hidden meaning will still provide for excellent reading. I'd say dismiss any and all negative reviews and get this book, then get Story of the Eye, then The Accursed Share, then everything else this brilliant man has written..

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DEATH, SEX, AND REDEMPTION, July 16, 2001

By 

Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue of Noon (Paperback)

I don't really know how to begin this review. There's not really a good angle to approach this remarkable and beautiful book. What do you do when the very things that attract you to a woman disgust you and yet they turn you on at the same time. In this novel Henri and his wife, whom he sometimes refers to by giving her the name "Dirty" are driving each other insane. They love each other but the very intensity of their personalities makes them fated to never be at peace. This is the root of their despair, that they both realize the futility of being with each other. Henri sinks into dissipation and having relationships with women he thoroughly despises. The first, a woman named Lazare, he refers to as a "raven of ill omen". She is so ugly and despicable but he loves her in a way simply because she reeks of death. He wants to surround himself with an environment that reflects his state of mind. Dirty is dying and you sense that in reality her spirit has already passed on and its simply her image dragging Henri into her own horrible hell. Most of the book takes place in Spain just as the Spanish Civil War is beginning and there are all kinds of portents of the coming World War which adds to the darkness of the characters. This book was brillantly done. The characters seemed so real because they did hurt each other, because they did have unhealthy obsessions which they revel in instead of hiding them within. They give full vent to their joys just as much as their miseries. This is the first book I have read by Bataille and I am curious to see what his other work is like.