Very Woman (Sixtine): A Cerebral Novel - Softcover

De Gourmont, Remy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0988202689 ISBN 13: 9780988202689

Publisher: Antipodes Press, 2015

Synopsis

"What is that cloud, called Sixtine, which comes to trouble my royal indifference and to conceal my sun—death? I do not want to go to sleep in the shadow of her beauty...."

Hubert Entragues, aesthete and litterateur, conceives a passion for the ethereal Sixtine in this "cerebral novel" of 1890. The romance remains largely imaginary, a passion localized in the skull of the intellectual Entragues. Alone with his thoughts and his literature, the narrator's baroque reflections careen from lyrical exaltation to sullen despondency according to the inscrutable actions of his elusive inamorata. In his refined loneliness, his lucid and sensual daydreams develop into a story within the story, mirroring and embellishing the inner experience of their author.

Very Woman is a masterpiece of the symbolist movement of fin de siecle literature. A brilliant stylist, Gourmont's luxurious, poetic prose is full of erudition, irony, and eroticism, creating an atmosphere all its own.

"A book that meant a lot to me is Sixtine, Remy de Gourmont." —Blaise Cendrars

About this title

About the Author

Remy de Gourmont (1858-1915) was a French Symbolist poet, novelist, and influential critic. He was widely read in his era, and an important influence on Blaise Cendrars.

Edition details

• Publisher: Antipodes Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0988202689
• ISBN 13: 9780988202689
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224