2nd in a series, after The Brass Bed (by the same author.)

Finished May 2009.

Oh, my god. Obviously I have not read properly in ages - I was going to document the books I was reading for uni but then I never finished any - but this was EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO GET BACK IN. Fucking sublime. I need my own copy immediately. Mmmm.

This was an intense read. It was first published anonymously. Parts of the book were hard to read. This is one I'll probably re-read in the future.

This was a gift from my awesome boyfriend. I'm really looking forward to it.

I am not feeling articulate enough for this, but never mind.

Could have been amazing - Trocchi clearly talented; sad that need for smack overran this. However, tragedy runs nicely alongside book and its content. Several amazing passages. Skeptical at first that a man could convincingly portray first-person womanhood, particularly in erotic context, but was very wrong. Which was nice.

I read this in one sitting. It was mega, although I found the set-up that bookends the story quite disappointing. Severin really doesn't need that: he's far more compelling and reachable as a slave than as a tyrant. More to the point, it just wasn't necessary. I'd take it out and just have the story as told from his journals - it'd shine more brightly on its own. Still definitely worth a read, though.

I read this in one sitting. It was mega, although I found the set-up that bookends the story quite disappointing. Severin really doesn't need that: he's far more compelling and reachable as a slave than as a tyrant. More to the point, it just wasn't necessary. I'd take it out and just have the story as told from his journals - it'd shine more brightly on its own. Still definitely worth a read, though.