Reviews

Monsieur Vénus by Rachilde, Maurice Barrès

saintsaens's review

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Published for the first time outside of France in 1884 (censored in the country for a few years still after), Monsieur Vénus follows a tragic and destructive couple, full of  excesses and love. The writing is not in any sense remarkable, and the characters are sometimes heavily handled, but the main characters, and their story, are so outstanding for the time that it is a must read. Questioning sexuality, gender, social norms, the novel raises subjects rarely broached back then. It is fascinating to follow the narrative and the emotional dilemmas, to read the detailed descriptions of spaces, to see everything deteriorate slowly. 

Explanation for the 3.5 and not higher: the writing wasn't catchy enough for me; considering the time of writing, the sexism/xenophobia were there and I'm still not a fan; and in general, I felt the writer wasn't sensitive to her own characters.