The Dead Donkey and the Guillotined Woman
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The Dead Donkey and the Guillotined Woman is a French novel by Jules Janin.
The most nauseating narrator in the entire history of literature
"The Dead Donkey" & "The Guillotined Woman"
- This story features probably the most nauseating narrator in the entire history of literature.
- In nineteenth century France there flourished a literature of horror on a par with the English Gothic novel or the German Schauerroman. It was christened 'the frenetique school'.
- The frenetique was at its peak in the late 1820s and early 1830s. Of this short-lived literary movement Jules Janin's The Dead Donkey and he Guillotined Woman is one of the finest and certainly one of the most unpleasant examples. Jules Janin is supposed to have begun the tale as a spoof of the fashionable frenetique style. However, with its wealth of horrible incident and its sinister and claustrophobic atmosphere, it seems likely that the author actually fell in love with his subject. The bizarre duality of the novel is one of its most striking qualities.
- This edition comes with Balzac's extraordinary spoof sequel, Chapter XXX, published in an all-English edition for the first time. Masterly in-depth commentary by Terry Hale, and the celebrated illustrations by Tony Johannot. --[1] [Nov 2006$
References
- La France frénétique de 1830: Choix de textes (1978) - Jean-Luc Steinmetz
- Smarra & Trilby (1821, 1822) - Charles Nodier
