They
Franck Delorieux
Le Temps des Cerises
French Letters
10 Euros
Cover My Face – Lilly Wood And The Prick
Saturday, December 4, Paris
“They” because they are – profoundly – two.
Crédit : Prudence d'Avril
During sexual intercourse, two bodies end up together. It lasts 89 pages, and takes less than two hours to read. A word of advice: I’d recommend reading “They” in the morning rather than at night (a question of sleep). The book takes no prisoners, none whatsoever, and speaks crudely of “sex”, “verge”, “cock”, “member”, “dick”, and “pine”, because “the (French) language sometimes forgets that it is an organ”.
It’s deliciously violent and unheard-of in the pleasure they take in playing together, and even worse in the pleasure we take in playing with them. Because, let’s face it, we’d almost like to be part of it. In fact, we’re already there, as Franck Delorieux is determined not to let go of our hand… Sois dedans, et tais-toi” (“Be in it and shut up”) is what it’s all about.
Crédit : Prudence d'Avril
While the book focuses on these two men making love together, in parallel, the author also tells us, in the form of short parentheses, of other nights of cuddling/pleasure, which develop in the background to the central sex scene. There are also all those veiled encounters with faceless men, which take place and make sense in obscure places of desire.
Usually, men speak, but here only bodies have the right to speak, and we listen, we listen to them, loudly, surrendering themselves to ardent flesh and expressing themselves in sensual cruelty. From moaning bodies to sexual ardor, there’s no “off”, and nothing is ever silenced. In a bestial, dry and violent setting, games are played, and the episodes narrated inevitably take on a lyrical and poetic transgressive scope. It’s from this indiscreet but genuinely participatory perspective that Franck Delorieux – without even asking (us) for our opinion – poses, indeed imposes, desire.
It’s a fine feat on the author’s part, to pull us along with him in these emotive effluvia charged with sex and pleasure, especially when – for once – we asked for so little.
April caution
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
