The Malady of Death

by Marguerite Duras

Book Overview

A man hires a woman to spend several weeks with him by the sea. The woman is no one in particular, a "she," a warm, moist body with a beating heart-the enigma of Other. Skilled in the mechanics of sex, he desires through her to penetrate a different mystery: he wants to learn love. It isn't a matter of will, she tells him. Still, he wants to learn to try . . .This beautifully wrought erotic novel is an extended haiku on the meaning of love, "perhaps...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394538668
• ISBN13: 9780394538662
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Grove/Atlantic
• Length: 60 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Small book with a large impact

This book is great to read again and again and still find new meanings and personal understandings each time. It is deceptively light - and the rich meanings underneath the words could easily be missed because of the style in delivery. A Beautiful piece of truth and human poetry.

hmmm.....?

not as accessible as some of her other work... it is in some ways connected to "blue eyes, black hair" which you might like to read first.... powerful stuff, if a bit ... hard to get into at times, but as always the writing is beautiful.

Beautifully hypontic

I picked up "Malady of Death" in a bargain bin at Waldenbooks many years ago. Having heard a great deal about "The Lover," also by Duras, I decided that at a mere 60+ pages and at a ridiculously low price, there was little to lose. I found myself reading it and re-reading it. There isn't much to the story, nor is it much of one. However, this is not so much a case of what is written as much as how it is written. Duras language is extremely poetic with an ever present sense of longing and sorrow. The lyrical quality in her writing is absolutely magical. The simple story of someone paying for companionship, intimacy and, ultimately, sex because of his inability to love is hardly a groundbreaking premise, but, again, its worth and beauty lie in how it is communicated and the sensation you experience in its wake. Very beautiful, indeed.

An Intriguing Story

Hmmm. One could write a review longer than the book, it seems; I wonder if that would miss the point. I suppose one could impose a number of interpretations upon this very brief novel, but I though of it as a rather literal story. A very lonely and probably shy man pays a woman to spend several nights with him to see if he can ever love or be loved. Sadly, the answer is no. And then she is gone. His effort to exert and enforce control proves to be impotent. Even though he won't even allow her to voice her pleasure - why? - she seems to feelo only a reserved pity for him; not anger, hatred, resentment, fear, or any other emotion I would expect a woman in her position to feel. Such is his own powerlessness, his malady of death. This is an excellent book which, yes, can be read in the book store without spending any money. Shame on you for doing that, and not supporting such inquisitive literature, and giving yourself the opportunity to re-read and study the text.

It will make you question.

This is a book for those that want to understand the pain of the human soul. It tells a story of a person that had died inside, but still continues to exist in the world of the living. He desperately tries to love in order to live again, but fails, because he is ill. His illness has a name, it is called - "The Malady of Death". I assure you, this is not just another french book. This book is written by Marguerite Duras. If you have ever read anything of hers, you would know what I mean. She writes with thoughts instead of sentences, and that alone captivates reader's imagination. This particular creation will inevitably leave a trace in your memory, because her work is not only unforgetable, it is at times disturbing. She knows the other, unknown side to the human soul, and she carries her message across skillfully. If you are one of the people that questions and desires to understand - this is a book for you. Every word has it's place, every sentence has it's mission. Indulge.