Bob Laerhoven
asked
Bob Van Laerhoven:
Why is "Baudelaire's Revenge" so provocative when it comes down to sex? It seems that you focus on the cruel side of sex. Why not on the healing side?
Bob Van Laerhoven
First: why did I have to ask the question myself? Is it the man addressing the author? Partly, maybe. But foremost I did it while many readers don't want to ask that question in public. Let me tell you this: as a male who has had a loving and tender sex life until now, it hurts me to write these harsh sex scenes that sometimes are necessary in my novels. But as an author, I write them because I have to if I want to be true to my themes. Not in a cheap way, mind you, not for "commercial reasons", on the contrary. Only when the layer of themes in a novel make it necessary.
Why I write about the destructive power of sex? Because I was a travelling author in mostly conflict-torn countries in the period 1990 until end of 2003 and what I’ve witnessed has made a lasting impression on me. I've seen the maimed Pakistani women who were accused of adultery. I've spoken with the genitally mutilated women of Africa. I have seen and spoken to the raped and desperate women of the Bosnian enclave Srebrenica during the Bosnian war. I’ve seen and spoken to the drugged rapists in Liberia during the civil war in the nineties. In many countries - Burma, Lebanon, Laos, to name just a few - I listened to the testimonies of women who were submitted to sexual domestic violence, even sadism.
And then, at fifty, when I thought I had seen and heard enough cruelty, Fate brought me a five year long relationship with a much younger woman, very sensitive and intelligent, who had been abused by her father in her early teens. Via her, I’ve seen, felt and deplored the bitter and sad consequences of such unnatural male lust. An incest victim has to struggle all her life to become herself - and not an object of lust - and to be able to welcome the healing power of loving sex.
All those - and more - experiences are the reason for why I try to delve into the warped sexual needs of especially the male psyche - I know how much damage those twisted needs can do. As a result of the way in which I treat the subject, some readers may be shocked, but isn’t it the task of a novelist to open our eyes to the most hidden and frightening impulses that lurk in our minds?
My cross-over novels between literature and the mystery novel are thus not “simple”. They are not “easy reads”. But I do hope that they give something back in return: if we don’t try to shine a light into our most obscure vices, if we don’t try to analyze and to understand them, mankind will never be able to evolve into something better.
In my view, literature has become one of the last vestiges of art where the artist can dig profoundly into the human condition. Let us read for pleasure and entertainment. Sure. But let us also read novels that ask fundamental questions, that explore the human condition in every corner, be it light or dark.
That was also Charles Baudelaire's intent. Baudelaire, a poetical genius but a wreck of a man, was prone to sadomasochistic tendencies and he tried to exorcise these dispositions in his poetry. "Baudelaire's Revenge", being a novel wherein Baudelaire plays an important role, reflects the decadency of the poet but also of his era.
Decadency is not limited to sexuality alone. In 1870, the chasm between rich and poor in France had grown into absurd dimensions: the aristocracy held orgies, the workers were famished. That is as shocking - or even more, if you ask me - as sexual decadency.
So, yes, "Baudelaire's Revenge" can be provocative but also invites the reader to ponder about the hidden impulses and inclinations with which every man is burdened.
There's much more to say and to think about the subject, but let me just - as a last afterthought - add this: why do you think that Islamic State (IS) - which pretends to be a religious organization - uses horrific sexual violence in Iraq and Syria? Not because the victims are branded as infidels: that's the excuse for the foot soldier, mostly very young men with little education. But the leaders of IS are no idiots: they know all too well that rape is a formidable weapon in war.
These sexual crimes are truly horrendous. Why then don't you hear more about them? The UN estimate that IS has turned more than 1500 women and children(girls and boys) into sexual slaves and Amnesty International has reported that IS abducts whole families and that its "soldiers" go from door to door in the Iraqi town of Mossoul to rape the women.
We hear a lot about the atrocities of IS - the deplorable beheadings and such - but a lot less about their sexual crimes. Why? Because victims of rape often keep quiet. Not only in war time: it is estimated that plus minus 60 percent of the victims of sexual harassment in the US don't lodge a complaint....If mankind can't analyze - and canalize! - the dark side of lust and aggression, we will all be doomed...
Why I write about the destructive power of sex? Because I was a travelling author in mostly conflict-torn countries in the period 1990 until end of 2003 and what I’ve witnessed has made a lasting impression on me. I've seen the maimed Pakistani women who were accused of adultery. I've spoken with the genitally mutilated women of Africa. I have seen and spoken to the raped and desperate women of the Bosnian enclave Srebrenica during the Bosnian war. I’ve seen and spoken to the drugged rapists in Liberia during the civil war in the nineties. In many countries - Burma, Lebanon, Laos, to name just a few - I listened to the testimonies of women who were submitted to sexual domestic violence, even sadism.
And then, at fifty, when I thought I had seen and heard enough cruelty, Fate brought me a five year long relationship with a much younger woman, very sensitive and intelligent, who had been abused by her father in her early teens. Via her, I’ve seen, felt and deplored the bitter and sad consequences of such unnatural male lust. An incest victim has to struggle all her life to become herself - and not an object of lust - and to be able to welcome the healing power of loving sex.
All those - and more - experiences are the reason for why I try to delve into the warped sexual needs of especially the male psyche - I know how much damage those twisted needs can do. As a result of the way in which I treat the subject, some readers may be shocked, but isn’t it the task of a novelist to open our eyes to the most hidden and frightening impulses that lurk in our minds?
My cross-over novels between literature and the mystery novel are thus not “simple”. They are not “easy reads”. But I do hope that they give something back in return: if we don’t try to shine a light into our most obscure vices, if we don’t try to analyze and to understand them, mankind will never be able to evolve into something better.
In my view, literature has become one of the last vestiges of art where the artist can dig profoundly into the human condition. Let us read for pleasure and entertainment. Sure. But let us also read novels that ask fundamental questions, that explore the human condition in every corner, be it light or dark.
That was also Charles Baudelaire's intent. Baudelaire, a poetical genius but a wreck of a man, was prone to sadomasochistic tendencies and he tried to exorcise these dispositions in his poetry. "Baudelaire's Revenge", being a novel wherein Baudelaire plays an important role, reflects the decadency of the poet but also of his era.
Decadency is not limited to sexuality alone. In 1870, the chasm between rich and poor in France had grown into absurd dimensions: the aristocracy held orgies, the workers were famished. That is as shocking - or even more, if you ask me - as sexual decadency.
So, yes, "Baudelaire's Revenge" can be provocative but also invites the reader to ponder about the hidden impulses and inclinations with which every man is burdened.
There's much more to say and to think about the subject, but let me just - as a last afterthought - add this: why do you think that Islamic State (IS) - which pretends to be a religious organization - uses horrific sexual violence in Iraq and Syria? Not because the victims are branded as infidels: that's the excuse for the foot soldier, mostly very young men with little education. But the leaders of IS are no idiots: they know all too well that rape is a formidable weapon in war.
These sexual crimes are truly horrendous. Why then don't you hear more about them? The UN estimate that IS has turned more than 1500 women and children(girls and boys) into sexual slaves and Amnesty International has reported that IS abducts whole families and that its "soldiers" go from door to door in the Iraqi town of Mossoul to rape the women.
We hear a lot about the atrocities of IS - the deplorable beheadings and such - but a lot less about their sexual crimes. Why? Because victims of rape often keep quiet. Not only in war time: it is estimated that plus minus 60 percent of the victims of sexual harassment in the US don't lodge a complaint....If mankind can't analyze - and canalize! - the dark side of lust and aggression, we will all be doomed...
More Answered Questions
Jay Hardin
asked
Bob Van Laerhoven:
Hey Bob! I'm writing a research paper on Maupassant and I'm trying to connect his fictions to his illness. You mention in one of your posts that he was obsessed with flies eating his brains. I think that is just so interesting, I see flies in a lot of his works. I cannot find anything scholarly on that whatsoever though. Could you point me in the direction where you learned this? I would be eternally grateful.
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