DAMNED SHALL BE DESIRE

by Stephen Coulter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 1959

Somewheres between the title and the sub-title- ""The Loves of Guy de Maupassant"" this fictional reconstruction of one of the most dissipated of the French 19th century artists and writers is self-defined. And somewheres along in the amatory inventory with which it is chiefly concerned, one of de Maupassant's women says to him- ""You are young and in the fire of virility""- which is readily established- although no further attempt is made to qualify the man- or his work- save for the chronology of its appearance in print. There is a spattering of names, Goncourt, Zola, Huysmans, and Flaubert- his mentor in the early years. But beyond that- and between the later years with the migraines and, eventually, hallucinations of his disease (syphilis- of which his brother was also a victim) this is a succession of intimate interludes with the many women -- cocottes, demimondaines, married, single, he possessed. ""All these appetites- all these curiosities"" brought no real satisfaction to de Maupassant and they have very little to offer otherwise. Ripe.

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1959

Categories: FICTION