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Sette storie di sesso e morte
La signora Macmillan è una donna seducente, colta, dalla vita sottile, sapientemente modellata dai tailleur classici che ama indossare. È anche l'affascinante moglie di un illustre archeologo, una donna, perciò, dalla vita sociale intensa e brillante. Da qualche tempo, però, una segreta ossessione scandisce ogni istante della sua vita.
La signora Macmillan si sente osservata, anzi sorvegliata da un ignoto persecutore. Sente i suoi occhi feroci posarsi su ogni lembo della sua pelle, il suo sguardo che valuta attentamente le linee del suo corpo, la nuca, la schiena, il collo del piede arcuato. E spesso si scopre incredibilmente eccitata dal quella sorveglianza, dalla crudeltà di quell'osservazione.
Tutto è comiciato quando i giornali hanno annunciato l'orribile omicidio di Lindsay de la Tour, la distinta presentatrice lesbica di una nota trasmissione televisiva, la ragazza dei sogni di mezza nazione coi suoi rossetti mozzafiato e i top attillati, trovata nuda e orribilmente mutilata subito dopo aver denunciato che «una persistente presenza maschile» infestava la sua vita e seguiva tutti i suoi spostamenti.
La notizia ha terribilmente sconvolto la signora Macmillan poiché Lindsay de la Tour non era per lei soltanto una seducente star televisiva, era la sua amante prima di diventare, appunto, la signora Macmillan.
Così cominciano queste sette storie di sesso e morte, storie che vanno considerate piéces notturne amorali e vendicative, scritte per disturbare e provocare.
«Voglio costringere i miei lettori a ritornare sui clichés della sessualità e della violenza per riviverli e ripensarli»: così ne ha riassunto lo scopo Patricia Duncker. E non vi sono parole migliori di queste per illuminare il contenuto di questo libro: un viaggio nel lato oscuro della corporeità e della sessualità, con echi alla Edgar Allan Poe ma con una forza di provocazione inusuale nella narrativa contemporanea.
Perversione e potere, piacere e morte sono i temi di questa raccolta, temi antichi ma illuminati da una luce nuova: l'inquietante atmosfera di tranquilla decadenza che costituisce lo spirito del nostro tempo.
Nella sua narrazione della torbida sessualità della nostra epoca, l'autrice di Demoni e muse e dello Spazio mortale che ci divide si conferma come una delle voci piú originali della letteratura contemporanea.
La signora Macmillan si sente osservata, anzi sorvegliata da un ignoto persecutore. Sente i suoi occhi feroci posarsi su ogni lembo della sua pelle, il suo sguardo che valuta attentamente le linee del suo corpo, la nuca, la schiena, il collo del piede arcuato. E spesso si scopre incredibilmente eccitata dal quella sorveglianza, dalla crudeltà di quell'osservazione.
Tutto è comiciato quando i giornali hanno annunciato l'orribile omicidio di Lindsay de la Tour, la distinta presentatrice lesbica di una nota trasmissione televisiva, la ragazza dei sogni di mezza nazione coi suoi rossetti mozzafiato e i top attillati, trovata nuda e orribilmente mutilata subito dopo aver denunciato che «una persistente presenza maschile» infestava la sua vita e seguiva tutti i suoi spostamenti.
La notizia ha terribilmente sconvolto la signora Macmillan poiché Lindsay de la Tour non era per lei soltanto una seducente star televisiva, era la sua amante prima di diventare, appunto, la signora Macmillan.
Così cominciano queste sette storie di sesso e morte, storie che vanno considerate piéces notturne amorali e vendicative, scritte per disturbare e provocare.
«Voglio costringere i miei lettori a ritornare sui clichés della sessualità e della violenza per riviverli e ripensarli»: così ne ha riassunto lo scopo Patricia Duncker. E non vi sono parole migliori di queste per illuminare il contenuto di questo libro: un viaggio nel lato oscuro della corporeità e della sessualità, con echi alla Edgar Allan Poe ma con una forza di provocazione inusuale nella narrativa contemporanea.
Perversione e potere, piacere e morte sono i temi di questa raccolta, temi antichi ma illuminati da una luce nuova: l'inquietante atmosfera di tranquilla decadenza che costituisce lo spirito del nostro tempo.
Nella sua narrazione della torbida sessualità della nostra epoca, l'autrice di Demoni e muse e dello Spazio mortale che ci divide si conferma come una delle voci piú originali della letteratura contemporanea.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
4 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Duncker
25 books89 followersPatricia Duncker attended school in England and, after a period spent working in Germany, she read English at Newnham College, Cambridge.
She studied for a D.Phil. in English and German Romanticism at St Hugh's College, Oxford.
From 1993-2002, she taught Literature at the University of Aberystwyth, and from 2002-2006, has been Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, teaching the MA in Prose Fiction.
In January 2007, she moved to the University of Manchester where she is Professor of Modern Literature.
She studied for a D.Phil. in English and German Romanticism at St Hugh's College, Oxford.
From 1993-2002, she taught Literature at the University of Aberystwyth, and from 2002-2006, has been Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, teaching the MA in Prose Fiction.
In January 2007, she moved to the University of Manchester where she is Professor of Modern Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 24, 2017
Patricia Duncker is always worth reading but I found this collection a little uneven. In her afterword she says that the collection was conceived as a literary response to B-Movies, and the first two stories do have an element of lurid sensationalism.
For me the best of them were "The Strike" in which she imagines a writer trapped in rural France when a strike gets out of hand and leads to a more general breakdown in society, and the final story "My Emphasis", a dark farce which also centres on a writer in France, who concocts a plan to deal with noisy neighbours which rebounds on her when her lies and half-truths are exposed.
For me the best of them were "The Strike" in which she imagines a writer trapped in rural France when a strike gets out of hand and leads to a more general breakdown in society, and the final story "My Emphasis", a dark farce which also centres on a writer in France, who concocts a plan to deal with noisy neighbours which rebounds on her when her lies and half-truths are exposed.
July 26, 2016
Having adored Patricia's 'Hallucinating Foucault (1996) and enjoyed The Deadly Space Between: A Novel (2002), I felt compelled to try this collection of her short stories.
The author writes that her intention was to 'disturb and provoke'. To this end, I believe she is partially successful, since these two tales have stayed with me for some days after closing the pages.
Moreover, I'm left asking myself why these particular stories are haunting me, which I'm sure is what Ms. Duncker would be pleased to hear.
Perhaps, they highlight to me my own fascination with the erotic relationship between violence and sex. Neither story is arousing in the traditional sense, more inspiring horror and revulsion, and yet… there is something.
As is usual, some stories resonated with me more powerfully than others. Without wishing to give away any plot details, 'Stalker' was among these, building a chilling atmosphere of anticipation. It is the most violent of the seven tales, with some gruesome details. Reader beware.
'Sophia Walters Shaw' left me similarly disquieted, painting an alternative yet highly recognisable dystopian future, focusing on the dark underbelly of the sex industry and the work of hired assassins.
The last story, 'My Emphasis', seems an ill-fit for the theme, but that it centres on the 'heroine' being obliged to maintain the pretence of being a victim of domestic violence. The tale is perhaps the most well-crafted of all, engaging us in the behaviour of a great many characters and drawing out the humour of misunderstandings with a light touch - but it does not move the darker side of me.
Patricia's tales left me wanting more: more sex, more violence, more death. These are such rich seams, enticing us to explore further: to pick apart their interwoven threads and unknot their secrets: shadowy avenues which she plumbed with such heartfelt insight in 'Hallucinating Foucault'.
The author writes that her intention was to 'disturb and provoke'. To this end, I believe she is partially successful, since these two tales have stayed with me for some days after closing the pages.
Moreover, I'm left asking myself why these particular stories are haunting me, which I'm sure is what Ms. Duncker would be pleased to hear.
Perhaps, they highlight to me my own fascination with the erotic relationship between violence and sex. Neither story is arousing in the traditional sense, more inspiring horror and revulsion, and yet… there is something.
As is usual, some stories resonated with me more powerfully than others. Without wishing to give away any plot details, 'Stalker' was among these, building a chilling atmosphere of anticipation. It is the most violent of the seven tales, with some gruesome details. Reader beware.
'Sophia Walters Shaw' left me similarly disquieted, painting an alternative yet highly recognisable dystopian future, focusing on the dark underbelly of the sex industry and the work of hired assassins.
The last story, 'My Emphasis', seems an ill-fit for the theme, but that it centres on the 'heroine' being obliged to maintain the pretence of being a victim of domestic violence. The tale is perhaps the most well-crafted of all, engaging us in the behaviour of a great many characters and drawing out the humour of misunderstandings with a light touch - but it does not move the darker side of me.
Patricia's tales left me wanting more: more sex, more violence, more death. These are such rich seams, enticing us to explore further: to pick apart their interwoven threads and unknot their secrets: shadowy avenues which she plumbed with such heartfelt insight in 'Hallucinating Foucault'.
October 12, 2020
О сексе, смерти, жизни и любви.
May 18, 2009
Seven tales, out of which I can say that I enjoyed reading 2 and indifferent to the rest. The title and back cover of the book are also rather misleading as they suggest something (at least to me) quite different than the stories in this book. I was expecting more thrill, more oomph, more scary.... apart from the violence told in a rather mild manner in 2 of the stories, there are no more violence. My favorite story, I'd have to say, is the last story, the one least violent and in fact rather funny. The other story that I like was also not very violent but quite scarry. None of these two favorite ones are related to sex- the act, but some reference to sex like in the sexual orientation of the characters in it. So I guess I took out one star due to the mis-titling of the book but actually my favorite stories are those that are least inconsistent to the title itself?! ^_^
It was alright, but I guess I won't be holding out for any other Patricia Duncker books, or at least not to trust the title nor the backflap description of her next books... though maybe if she appears in a compilation of several writers' short stories compilations then she might tweak my interest a bit.
It was alright, but I guess I won't be holding out for any other Patricia Duncker books, or at least not to trust the title nor the backflap description of her next books... though maybe if she appears in a compilation of several writers' short stories compilations then she might tweak my interest a bit.
November 11, 2014
Some women are aroused by the thought of being brutally raped. 'Stalker' takes that unacceptable premise a truly horrific step further.
In the future, Sophia is engaged in an underground sexual entertainment business. At some point in 'Sophia Walters Shaw' you might be sick.
In following tales, the author's characters encounter post traumatic stress and ghoulish superstition. The rural idyll succumbs to gathering forboding and authoritarian action.
All these stories are thoroughly convincing. Though the writing style is plain enough, the narratives are not straightforward, and remain intriguing to the end.
The final story 'My Emphasis' is a contrast for being an unusual and entertaining comedy - thank goodness!
I'll read more of her!
In the future, Sophia is engaged in an underground sexual entertainment business. At some point in 'Sophia Walters Shaw' you might be sick.
In following tales, the author's characters encounter post traumatic stress and ghoulish superstition. The rural idyll succumbs to gathering forboding and authoritarian action.
All these stories are thoroughly convincing. Though the writing style is plain enough, the narratives are not straightforward, and remain intriguing to the end.
The final story 'My Emphasis' is a contrast for being an unusual and entertaining comedy - thank goodness!
I'll read more of her!
April 26, 2011
not nearly enough sex nor death.
December 4, 2017
I have a major soft spot for Patricia, who taught me at uni, but this book commits two cardinal sins:
1. It has large portions of French / German with no explanation as to what these parts mean for non-speakers
2. The sex is shit and boring.
1. It has large portions of French / German with no explanation as to what these parts mean for non-speakers
2. The sex is shit and boring.
January 1, 2019
О, я люблю читать безумные рассказы на грани.
Начинается сурово, заканчивается "за здравие", и круто, что именно в такой последовательности
Начинается сурово, заканчивается "за здравие", и круто, что именно в такой последовательности
January 13, 2020
Не самый ровный сборник
October 18, 2023
Awful. Only read it because it was the only English book in my Airbnb.
May 17, 2016
General opinion: the writing was mature and thematic, and the content was subtle, thought-provoking and ever-so-slightly dark. I can't say, however, that I enjoyed this book. I felt that it promised 'suspense and subversive topics' when it did not deliver either, at least to my satisfaction. 'Moving' and 'Paris' failed to conjure any feelings in me except boredom, while 'The Strike' and 'Small Arms' offered a little more excitement but unsatisfactory endings. 'Sophia Walters Shaw' was interesting - what there was of it. The idea was rich and unique, and could have been made into so much more. 'Stalker' and 'My Emphasis' were the two stories I most enjoyed, but even then I felt disappointed with them. Duncker builds suspense in the former only to waste it when she ends the story with a motorbike appearing on the scene, completely depriving the reader of the encounter the whole story has been gearing towards, and the latter, while relateable, seemed to turn domestic abuse into a comic situation, and that just did not sit well with me. My personal inclination towards activity over passivity led to a bias against this novel, so please don't let my review scare you off if you're hoping to read this anthology. It's certainly worth a perusal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2023
I really wanted to like this collection.
But unfortunately the stories all fell quite short for me. I particularly only enjoyed "Sophia Walters Shaw" and "Small Arms".
Alot of texts were written in French/German and not translated, making it harder to read. The entire collection fundamentally lacked enough sex or death. I think I was missing alot of cultural context to understand these tales to the fullest. However, they were easy to read. Second book of the year completed.
But unfortunately the stories all fell quite short for me. I particularly only enjoyed "Sophia Walters Shaw" and "Small Arms".
Alot of texts were written in French/German and not translated, making it harder to read. The entire collection fundamentally lacked enough sex or death. I think I was missing alot of cultural context to understand these tales to the fullest. However, they were easy to read. Second book of the year completed.
February 27, 2009
one or two excellent stories here, one or two not so..
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews