MALDOROR 6:1 – THE FUTURE STRINGS OF FICTION

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

THE FUTURE STRINGS OF FICTION

Isidore Ducasse

We are beginning the 6th and final Canto of The Songs of Maldoror. This 1st Stanza is an address to the reader from the author Isidore Ducasse. The self-titled Count de Lautreamont grandly warns the reader not to think that his attacks on humanity, God and even himself were the height of his plans. He boasts that the worst is yet to come in this final Canto.

Ducasse – optimistically but incorrectly – seems convinced that his audacious work of poetry will usher in an era when what he calls “the future strings of fiction” will follow along in his path, with authors assailing the human animal and faith in gods while skewering their own thoughts and values along the way. He promises that when this work of poetry is done he will astound the world with novels that go beyond even The Songs of Maldoror in terms of exploring taboo material.

Sadly, those novels never came to be, since the Count de Lautreamont died in 1870 at the age of 24. All that remain of his post-Maldoror writings are a few letters and a verse work that – depending on the literary critic – is either the introduction to a never-completed second work of poetry OR is that second work of poetry itself.

Even more tantalizingly Ducasse stated that his novels would put The Songs of Maldoror in complete perspective. He was anticipating a career as a major force in world literature. Certainly this debut work showed the potential for him to fulfill those expectations, but his early death has prevented us from ever knowing for sure.

Up next the 2nd Stanza rejoins the supernatural creature Maldoror as he stalks his next victim.

I WILL BE EXAMINING ADDITIONAL SECTIONS VERY SOON. CHECK BACK ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK FOR NEW INSTALLMENTS.

FOR PART ONE CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2015/02/28/maldoror-a-neglected-masterpiece-of-surreal-horror/

FOR OTHER PARTS OF MALDOROR CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/category/maldoror/

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