Хелън и страстта

by Alexander Trocchi

Първото сексуално преживяване на осемнайсетгодишната Хелън е в океана и то отваря вратата към свят на чувствени наслади и задоволяване на плътското желание, които тя разпалено преследва. Избягала от австралийското селце, в което е родена, тя се впуска в живот на авантюри, в които разгръща своята бурна сексуалност. Младата жена открива вселена от вълнения и преживявания, надхвърлящи въображението й. Съдбата я отвежда от Сидни в Сингапур, до Бомбай, Монте Карло и пустинята Сахара. По пътя среща мъже и жени, които й разкриват различни измерения на страстта. Необикновената история на Хелън е разказ за свободата на жената да търси удоволствието от секса и да му се отдава с цялото си същество. Написан с поетичен и богат на метафори език, „Хелън и страстта" е роман, който ангажира всички сетива и достига нивата на шедьовър на еротичната литература.

Александър Tpoku е роден 6 Глазгоу през 1925 г. В различни периоди от живота си е бил отличен студент, работник в свинеферма, семеен мъж, сводник, хероинов наркоман, търговец на стари книги, революционер, редактор и не на последно място писател. Най-добрите му романи са „Хелън и страстта", „Младият Адам" и „Книгата на Каин".

Genres: Erotica, Fiction, Literature, British Literature, Classics

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Alexander Trocchi was a Scottish novelist and editor. He lived in Paris in the early 1950s and edited the literary magazine Merlin, which published Henry Miller, Samuel Beckett, Christopher Logue and Pablo Neruda, among others. Although he was never published in Merlin, American writer Terry Southern (who lived in Paris from 1948-1952) became a close friend of both Trocchi and his colleague Richard Seaver, and the three later co-edited the anthology Writers In Revolt (1962).

His early novel Young Adam (1954) was adapted into a film starring Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton in 2003.

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre mix of overwritten sex and erudite characterisation. Not particularly sexy, but engaging on the prose and pace level for the most part. The first novel from Trocchi written for Olympia Press as “upmarket” porn. Helen returned in a now out of print sequel.

[ΠανωςΚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Είναι κάτι βιβλία που δέκα χρόνια μαζεύουν σκόνη στη βιβλιοθήκη, όπως αυτό. Θυμάμαι ότι το 'χα αγοράσει εντυπωσιασμένος απ' τον βίο και την παρουσίαση του έργου του Αλεξάντερ Τρόκκι σε κάποιο περιοδικό - νομίζω από τον Γ.Ι. Μπαμπασάκη. Το βιβλίο, τώρα που το διάβασα, δεν με πολυάρεσε. Ωστόσο ο βίος του Αλεξάντερ Τρόκκι όπως και οι ιδέες του με συναρπάζουν. Ομοίως συναρπαστικές κι οι τρεις - τέσσερις τελευταίες σελίδες της ελληνικής έκδοσης της «Έλεν» απ' τις εκδόσεις Οξύ, που περιλαμβάνουν ένα εξαιρετικό ποίημα(;) του Τρόκκι καθώς κι ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον σημείωμα για τον συγγραφέα από τον μεταφραστή Δ. Αναστόπουλο.
Κατά τ' άλλα, το συγκεκριμένο μυθιστόρημα, αν θέλουμε να είμαστε ολίγον τι κάφροι, μπορεί και να χαρακτηριστεί και ως «τσόντα με υπόθεση».

[Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

While living in Paris in the 1950s Alexander Trocchi was commissioned by Maurice Girodias, publisher of Olympia Press, to write "dirty books." Trocchi wrote Helen and Desire in one week in December 1953 and it was published under the pen name Frances Lengel. The book is the diary of Helen, daughter of a fishing boat captain in a rural village in Northwest Australia, who plans to use her natural enjoyment of sex to have adventures and travel the world. Determined to flout convention and chronicle her life, Helen writes of her loss of innocence on the eve of her 18th birthday, her use of men and their use of her, and her travels to Sydney, Singapore, India, France, and finally the deserts of North Africa. It is here that two officers of the French Foreign Legion who find Helen's journal make it public.

[AC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed artificial

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several years ago I saw a film called Young Adam. It starred Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton and I don't think many people paid any attention to it. I liked it predominantly because I saw an interesting religious element in this film that contained a lot of graphic and sad sex scenes.

I bring up that film because the novel it was based on was written by Alexander Trocchi. This piqued my interest in reading a book by him and Helen and Desire was suggested in the Rough Guide to Cult Literature. Unfortunately I failed to realize that this book is essentially an erotica novel written to appeal to men.

The book is less than 200 pages, and I think there cannot possibly be more than 10 pages that go by without a sex scene. It really becomes laughable after awhile, especially in the way that Helen describes her own body. Trocchi even goes as far to have her raped three times--and enjoy it. She's apparently a sexually liberated woman, but as narrator she seems to dwell on herself as an object. Besides that there isn't much of a story. The sex scenes function as a way to move Helen from location to location. She hits at least five travel destinations in the span of this short book, but we never get a feel for any of them.

I guess I expected a fair amount of sex given the title, but I wanted there to be some meaning attached to those acts, or at least some context for them to happen in..

[James Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up Helen and Desire after being impressed with Trocchi's "Cain's Book" and "Young Adam". Trocchi is a writer with an unique skill recognisable within his every sentance.
It is a tragic shame how overlooked Trocchi's work has become over the years, although he seems to be getting some attention again now. It was, I think, due to this lack of commercial succcess that led the author to write this erotic novel, for the now infamous Parisian Olympia Press, that turns out mostly adult books. Trocchi would not have choosen to write an erotic novel had his serious litreture been rewarded with the reception it deserved. He wrote this book for money, and he wrote this book within a matter of weeks.
The author did, however, approach the task of writing this erotic novel with the same proffesional approach that he endorsed with all his work.
I am not a fan of erotic books. I have not read any erotic books apart form this one. Honest.
The author writes in the first person. The first person is an Australian girl who travels across the globe in pursuit of sexual encounters with men that she encounters across her travels. The book is set out as a diary. It is interesting how Trocchi can picture Australia, the Far East and India without (to my knowledge) having ever been there.
This is an acomplished novel by an overlooked master of the word. It is worth reading this novel as an example of a true writer turning his hand to a new genre.

[Elena Yankova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Какво четох току що?
До такава боза не се бях докосвала, от както се излъгах да прочета писанията на Калина Паскалева. И всичко приключи толкова бързо. Хари се самоуби за секунди, Хелън веднага отиде на почивка с Шейха. Дори няма да отбелязвам за спойлери, защото книгата не струва. Единственото, което ми хареса в книгата е как Шейхът я прецака на края. Много се забавлявах в този момент! О, и още една забавна част: книгата приключва с незавършено изречение. Хаха! Перфектният край. Дори Хелън не е имала желание да продължава със смотаният си ръкопис.
Много добре знам, че няма как да харесваме еднакви неща. Това, че на мен не ми харесва, не означава че няма да се хареса на друг. Не обичам да пиша ревюта, но се чувствам длъжна да ви предупредя.

[Julianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, this was bad

[Eva Lavrikova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neviem, čo toto chcelo byť, snáď akýsi pornoromán, ale neobstálo by to ani ako porno, ani ako román. Zmätené, podivné, nelogické, utárané, nezmyselné. Nevinná, ale žiadostivá Helen pri jednom zo svojich obvyklých nahých kúpaní na austrálskom pobreží objaví čaro naplnenia sexuálnej túžby masturbáciou o vyplavený kmeň (au) a tým sa začne jej nekonečné erotické dobrodružstvo. Z Austrálie sa dostane do Indie, Európy, Afriky, súloží na všetkých mysliteľných miestach a obzvlášť rada v dopravných prostriedkoch - lodi, vlaku, (padajúcom!) lietadle, aute, v karaváne pri prechode púšťou... s kýmkoľvek, akokoľvek, a, samozrejme, s veľkou chuťou a radosťou. Je zároveň nevinná aj rafinovaná, naivná aj inteligentná, krásna, ako inak... emancipovaná aj odovzdaná osudu a mužom. Je všetko a nič poriadne.
No, já ti nevím...
Ani ako erotický román to nedosahuje primerane vzrušivých kvalít, aj keď, možno v dobe vzniku dosahovalo, veď čo už ja viem o honimíroch 50. rokov minulého storočia.

[Jordan Forster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trocchi's titular heroine liberates herself from cloistered and conservative village life in Australia through her sexuality. So begins an odyssey across the globe as Helen leaps from bed to bed, orgy to orgy. The pornography of the novel is daft and not particularly titillating. Her in-flight sexual escapade with a pilot over the Bay of Bengal is the height of Trocchi's probably sardonic take on sex writing.

Helen's adventure is displayed through an existentialist lens. Her rejection of any kind of essentialism is expressed through her pursuit of desire. Life is lived through deed and in the moment of experience, not by recourse to some higher meaning or attempts to rationalise action ("Saying is stupid. A ridiculous waste of time that might otherwise be lived"). Helen embraces her narcissistic nymphomania; she is both user and used. Ironically, it is when Helen turns away from this mode of living towards something more utilitarian that her scheme fails and her fate unravels.

Helen's sexual liberation may be viewed as a positively feminist but there are certainly tensions. Helen is, in her point of view, is a controlling agent in her affairs and repels her partners when they try to ascribe some value to the sexual liasons beyond the acts themselves but she moves in a patriarchal world. Men are both her salvation and her damnation.

In the end though, Helen's existentialist defiance in the face of her final degradation is that where there is experience to embrace life is a triumph.

[Nina Draganova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Мистър Троки, мир на праха му , е надминал дори своите фантазии в тази книга. Спокойно може да измести Кама Сутра с нея. На моменти имах чувството , че я е писал в състояние на делириум.
Не мога да не се възхитя обаче , на богатия език , на изразителните средства , които е използвал.
Има няколко много точни попадения.
".....Защо си мислят, че само защото имаме нужда от тялото им, сме готови да се подчиним на жалкото им ежедневие? Ако един мъж е беден и трябва да работи, що за невероятна наглост е да очаква красива жена да се впрегне в хомота на продажното му,ограничено съществуване!"
"...Настроени за индустрия,тези глупави западняци дори не спират да помислят над думата "пилея".....Ако в края на този час си създал богатство,значи не си го "пропилял". Но ако просто си извлякъл удоволствие от живота? Ако смяташ живеенето само по себе си за важно?"
"Западният Бог,еврейския Бог е измислен,за да направи омразата към живота логична."

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would've given this novel 4 stars if it hadn't been for the first half that is rife with numerous sexual encounters without any real context or story. Be that as it may, is is only later that one realizes this is exactly how early sexual (in)experiences for a young girl of 18 could play out. After this jarring introduction, the plot quickly unfolds into a web of complex situations, as the main character, the progressive and intelligent Helen, starts to have a crisis of conscience, and begins to become less of an object (her real, true desire for herself) and more concerned about the clash of her ever-present intellect in morally questionable situations.

Also contains an interesting prologue written by Richard Seaver, who discusses the Parisian literary movement at the time, and this, Trocchi's "accidentally literary" novel.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had it not been for the ending I would have rated this book four stars.

If Fifty Shades of Grey made you blush then this book is your cup of tea. Reading this it is hard to believe that it was written in the mid-50s with it's erotic content and strong female lead.

Helen is a runaway and sex is her currency. I don't want to give too much away. The lustful sex scenes are well done and not all the same. The exotic settings and voice of Helen are lovely.

Some may be offended by this book; she speaks of feeling like a vessel and places herself in situations of proposed dangers. Deemed an erotic classic, I would classify it as a fantasy as well. I have not read anything so scandalous from this time in literature. A quick escapist read.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trocchi's first novel sets the tone for his following novels: dark sexual stories. Helen and Desire is about a diary discovered by a soldier who reads the innermost feelings of Helen and envisions her as this sexual predator. What the soldier discovers is something he does not have in mind.

It's pornography but Trocchi's writing style makes it different. it's a case of read it then figure everything out.

[Lisa Lingrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have no idea how to review this. Astounding that a female would be written this way, oh, I know, a male wrote the story. Fascinating, but wonder how far from the truth this "reality" would ever be? Are there woman out there, like this? I would never know, as it seems beyond my own comprehension.....

[Catnaitab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sensual and interesting especially for a book written and published in the 1950s. The actual descriptions are really inventive and one can imagine how the protagonist feels most of the time.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very obviously a man writing as a woman, which while obvious from the name of the author, makes no effort at the realism of sex and women. I knew this was gonna be somewhat smutty going in, and while I appreciate the flowery prose, I could not get past the absurdity of the character. She's beautiful, everyone she has sex with is "substantial," and she wrangles her way out of every situation with almost no fear or apprehension. The one thing that I really appreciated about this book was that it was a strong female character who enjoyed sex for sex and had no attachments to the men or women; it takes on somewhat of a feminist view in that sense.

[Ella Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this in a second hand bookshop, had a really beautiful and tasteful green cover and looked interesting. Had never heard of this book before and googled the author's name after reading the first ten pages. To my surprise, discovered that 'Frances Lengel', the author on the cover, was actually a pseudonym adopted by Alexander Trocchi when writing erotica! Quite an insane read, because none of the 1960s language has been changed at all (my copy was from 1962), so there were lots of words you would never see used now. Very, very much of the era but all the more interesting for it.

[John Boyce · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a pile of drivel

[Kate Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned

[Glitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The descriptions in the book were incredible, spinning a story of mesmerising beauty. I was slightly disappointed at times and some facts seem well-informed, but it was a wonderful book nonetheless.

[Marina Hristova · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was good, fast reading :) Like it

[Carol Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.