Iona

The Sign Of The Diver

excerpt Diogenes remembers he was not even ten when, together with other children, he would creep in mock secrecy among the neighbors' maize shocks, particularly if the neighbors in question happened to be in possession of a daughter of marriageable age, known to repair

Living In Sin

excerpt All his anxiety, that apoplectic fit, was proof he did not know Clara. That was precisely the state of their relationship at the time. In order to know and understand and accept her manner of thinking, the style of her infinitesimal psychic reactions – allowing

The Erotic Arms Race

A young man learning of how Les Fleurs du Mal was condemned for obscenity during Napoleon III's uptight times can only be left speechless if he has happened to read Baudelaire. For the young generations of today, the poet's depiction of lesbian delights appears

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Although it stirred the prefacing enthusiasm of enlightened spirits and brought about the awarding of quite honoring prizes, the talent of some is shadowed by the pornographic character of the books which should be put on sale in sex shops. The fact that they represent the

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In 2004 there was an impressive amount of literary productions by young authors. At the time I called them, too harshly, I'm afraid, 'Catchers in the Cannabis'. It seems that the first person narrative is still in fashion. The language they use is violent,

Ditty

The air is bracing where your high breasts rise. Around their peaks I breathe with greater ease. Yet I descend, beloved, by degrees,Cheap bastard that I am, towards your thighs.  Your carnal hip is naked and asleep,So lily-like it makes my halo blush. I long to kiss it,

On Love And More Than Love

It is amazing how many children are begotten from the sentimental exultation that one or the other of their parents feel for a third person, another than the partner in the respective action, irrespective if the person in question be a man or a woman. Sometimes this third

The Wild Wine Gallery

excerpt He continued to walk towards the former Senate Square, his hand pressed against his jaw, still paralyzed from the aggression of the figurant, and the bizarre appearance of his General in that particular place. One blow after another. It was too much… It was indeed

L'Abbandonata

excerpt I was half asleep in a somewhat uncertain state of mind (and of body)… A vague and – at first – terribly tortuous state of wakefulness was gently falling over me; then, the same confounded state came back floating over me, translucent, like some veils unbraided

She

Now of all times, now of all times,now that I love her the best,now of all times I've betrayed her. Now of all times, now of all times,now that she cares for me more than ever,now of all times I've obscured her. Now of all times, now of all times,now that she's

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From the point of view of yesterday's or today's reader, it is for sure – yet again! – a matter of code: one accepts it or not. If the education and the cultural concepts we operate with intuitively tell us that certain art forms are not tolerable, that certain

A Legendary Love Story: Maria Cantacuzino - George Enescu

One should add to the romantic universe of Berlioz, Chopin, Liszt and Wagner the love story of Maria Cantacuzino and the composer George Enescu, as the mystery of its extraordinary tension has been revealed in the recently published Ombres et lumières, Souvenirs d'une