This post continues my translation of Régine Deforges' interview of Pauline Réage, "O m'a dit", started there. The interview took place in 1975. Régine died on April 3, 2014. RD - You said: I long had hope to rebuild my life, in a certain way. In what way? PR - Well, to have a life like everyone … Continue reading Two writers and a dark princess
Histoire d’O
#FiveSentenceFiction: Pages
In memoriam: Pauline Réage I read the words, the sentences, slowly turn the pages: your novel. Looking back, through the mist of time, I imagine you, at night, under the feeble light of post-war Europe, patiently moving your pen along the lines, writing for him, just for him. The woman you invented, was she you, was … Continue reading #FiveSentenceFiction: Pages
#SundayMusing: Susan holds the pen
Continuing the never-ending dialogue with those elusive characters, it is my pleasure to hand over the pen to Susan, perhaps the most sinful creation of this writer's delirious imagination. I dislike your introduction: yes, I recognise that you have placed me in situations that many readers may find distasteful. But, pray, remember that yesterday's taboos are today's fads, … Continue reading #SundayMusing: Susan holds the pen
O m’a dit: Régine Deforges’ interview of Pauline Réage (cont’d) #literature
I am posting here, on several pages, the end of my translation of Régine Deforges' s interview of Pauline Réage (1975) . The beginning is here. RD - What seduces you in a woman, what draws you to her? PR - Her beauty, and her courage. RD - Her beauty? PR - In essence, yes. I … Continue reading O m’a dit: Régine Deforges’ interview of Pauline Réage (cont’d) #literature
Régine Desforges and Pauline Réage: O m’a dit
I will be posting here the whole text of Régine Desforges' s interview of Pauline Réage, author of Histoire d'O (© 1975, 1995 Éditions Jean-Jacques Pauvert). Régine Deforges interviews Pauline Réage in 1975, twenty one years after "Histoire d’O" was published (1954). Régine is then forty, and in 1968 founded her own publishing house, “L’Or du … Continue reading Régine Desforges and Pauline Réage: O m’a dit
Of freedom and slavery
"You are free now, O, said Anne-Marie. We can remove your rings, the collar, the cuffs, erase your mark. You have diamonds, you can go back home." O did not cry, did not complain. She did not reply to Anne-Marie. "But if you want, Anne-Marie added, you can stay." Pauline Réage ~ Retour à Roissy … Continue reading Of freedom and slavery
The End of the Challenge #AtoZChallenge #WritersWednesdays
The End of the Challenge There is always an anticlimax at the end, like finishing the first reading of a beloved book. But, somehow, one of the posts has given me an idea. Doing research for the Challenge leads sometime to old friends, or friends one did not expect to have. Thus I have met … Continue reading The End of the Challenge #AtoZChallenge #WritersWednesdays
#AtoZChallenge: April 17, 2013 ~ (Histoire d’)O
For @Unraveling_Mari When it was published in 1954 it was an immediate success spurred by the condemnation of the censors, worthy successors, in their ineptitude, of Lady Chatterley’s judges. This is the story of O, a born and ingénue submissive to be, who learns the true meaning of openness and acquires the gift of obedience. Chained, … Continue reading #AtoZChallenge: April 17, 2013 ~ (Histoire d’)O