Повседневная жизнь публичных домов во времена Мопассана и Золя

by Laure Adler, Лаура Адлер

One of France's most powerful cultural figures ranges far beyond the bordellos of her title and describes the lives of the three major kinds of prostitutes in France: courtesans and other kept women; registered bordello prostitutes; and the poorest, most pathetic kind, the unregistered street girls.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

230 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I refer to original French version, so don't hold me guilty if you fall on a dodgy translation.

Laure Adler writes well with a flowing style, never pompous. Erudite but not pedantic.
Good references to support her text, and evidently a broad scholarship.

Her subjects are well chosen, linked but never too narrowly focused. (Think of Foucault's historical writings.)

Probably most folk who've studied French in any depth will have read loads about prostitution, not only in the time frame of Adler's study. "Nana" covers most bases in Second Empire vice - can't believe I first read it (in English) at 15, as a school prize, of my choice, disguised by the sober, intellectual, respectable black format of Penguin Classics!

Much of French literature involves sexual mores. Manon Lescaut is a fairly early example, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, La Réligeuse, Voltaire, Balzac, Hugo, Flaubert.
(Rousseau's not included, as a total misanthrope and misogynist of evil memory!)

In the light of this book, it's easier to understand that Marguerite Duras's mother sold her virginity when she was 14/15 to the Chinese businessman, not to condone it, but to put it a cultural context, completely weird to a Scots Calvinist. Bastards aplenty in my family tree, but none abandoned, or daughters sold. (In a peasant society it would be ridiculous to reject any family member who will work, contribute to survival, now or in the future, so I wish I could research why there are such vast differences between French and Scots attitudes in those years. (England is another question, but I've less grasp of their culture, in spite of living in England for many years.)

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Documentaire qui se lit comme un roman, aucunement long, simple, mais rigoureux. Écriture douce et nullement scabreuse, mais qui détaille amplement. Un bon livre pour une introduction au sujet. La partie sur les bordels est particulièrement intéressante. Les sources, médicales, littéraires et documentaires, sont intéressantes et complètes.

[Camões · Rating 4 out of 5]

a prostituição é estado dentro de estado, organização em organização e, efetivamente, mal compreendida pelo senso comum.