Maldoror and Poems

by Comte de Lautréamont

Book Overview

One of the earliest and most astonishing examples of surrealist writing

Insolent and defiant, the Chants de Maldoror, by the self-styled Comte de Lautr amont (1846-70), depicts a sinister and sadistic world of unrestrained savagery and brutality. One of the earliest and most astonishing examples of surrealist writing, it follows the experiences of Maldoror, a master of disguises pursued by the police as the incarnation of evil, as he...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140443428
• ISBN13: 9780140443424
• Release Date: November 1988
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Forever beautiful

What to say about Maldoror that hasn't been said yet? What to say about the mysterious son of a diplomat who appeared in France, wrote this book and died, vanishing from the world, yet leaving his mark for decades and centuries yet to come? The first time I had the pleasure of reading this exceptional work, I was taken aback. Barely seventeen, I hungrily swallowed the disturbing images leaping at me from the pages, not to fully comprehend them until years later. This work, over a century old, is believed to be the first work, the foundation stone of the surrealist movement, a movement that penetrated into every aspect of art, life, being; whether we are willing to admit it or not, this work is as important today as it was when originally published in 1868 (well, at least a part of it was). The world was not ready to receive the complete self-awarness of evil Maldoror so fully comprehends, and the world is still not ready. This work is certainly not to be read by a "closed" mind. It is said that to be creative, one must borderline insanity, yet, Lautreamont was playing with genius; a genius of a caliber capable of scaring away even the most immodest of us. But get deeper into his work, walk past the disturbed images, surpass your fears and you shall see the light. This work cannot be ignored, cannot be left to collect dust. I have owned several copies over the past 14 years, and I am still finding new meanings, new passages and new understanding in this wonderful work. This trully is the one book that will never get old, that will always keep on giving, as long as one is ready to listen.

After the tempest

Many of the reviewers on this site wrote spot-on commentary of the book. It seems, at its core, Maldoror is a misanthropic treatise that curses and maligns humanity, depicting innumerable "sins" and sufferings. The narrative switches from third-person to that of the anti-hero, Maldoror, on alarming occasions. It is unsettling to note how often Lautreamont's masterpiece scorns mankind and God, especially just how often we might sympathize with him. I don't know how unprecedented this style of writing was when he wrote it (not informed enough), but I know that this book is a disoriented, hallucinatory trip. Maldoror is an existential book that compels the reader to check his/her morals and attitude toward humanity. It's immediately a nihilistic book, but maybe you'll notice an ethical undercurrent more than anything else. Awesome, strange book; Like nothing else I've read.

What hit me?

If reading a normal horror novel (a term which I really dislike) is like watching a car crash, this evil, sick, tasteless and brilliant book is like being in one. Sensitive types should be warned that it contains lashings of blasphemy, weird sex (including, in one eye-popping instance, sex with a shark), bloody murder and rape, and all manner of thoroughly awful things. At which point I suspect you've all fallen asleep. Don't. What separates this from the supposed 'shock' lit of, say, Irvine Welsh, is a delirious sense of invention. More in tune with Michael Moore or Chris Morris than Howard Stern, each revolted gasp from the reader is carefully placed and planned to provoke a deep-seated feeling of terror. What always needles me is the way that the book's Satanic protagonist Maldoror often switches places with the narrator. It's a full-frontal assault on the reader's security. And why do we read it? Because it makes every other supposedly shocking novel seem tame, unadventurous and laboured. Even American Psycho. Especially American Psycho. Rather than a plot, Lautreamont has chosen a selection of essays and incidents to show Maldoror's evil. His concern over whether or not to kill a child is one of the many freakish and distressing incidents ("...lest your body burst like an over-ripe fruit"), but it is all shot through with black humour and a surprisingly moral indignation. In fact, Lautreamont offered to 'tone it down' for its first publication. Thank God he didn't. "You have no idea how hard it is", as Maldoror would say.

My favourite translation

This is my favourite translation (and I own several) of Ducasse's famous, highly influential work. The prose is lucid and poetic and flows evenly. A very good example of Romanticism tweaked and taken to the nth degree. Historic bible of misanthropes, misfits and today's darky gothy kid types. Typical arthouse fare. A must read for those who desire to become literate in the Modernist classics. The 'Natural Born Killers' of the Symbolist Poets. A work to savour, enjoy, and then throw in the trashbin. Or to let collect dust on the bookshelf, placed cover down, lest the reader be reminded of his exquisite culpability in sharing vicarious pleasure in Mal's anti-social exploits.

Revolutionary

The work that led me to a kinship with a soul,a flurry of words that gave a concreteness of voice to my seemingly endless void,the inspiration to make me pick up a pen & create somehting new.Realize people,how much anger & hatred can be generated towards everything that is beloved & endeared by mankind,through its fault or none at all.Frightening.The highly elevated poetry that exalts almost everything universal except God & Man strangles the Lit. virgins neck by its disfiguring prose fumingly expungated by perhaps the most evil character in all of lit.Witness the rape & butcher of the young girl by Maldoror & his dog.The fact that this masterpiece elevated Lautreamont to immortality & may have caused his death is enough reason for you to dare.