#Louise Sagan

[paintermagazine]

‘Fall!’

Artist/model: Louise Sagan

Original source: ‘aliaslouiseblog’ (IG)

[kindlythevoid]

Edgar Allen Poe // Pinterest // When the Mind Sleeps by Mariusz Lewandowski // Dark Matter by Robert Hunter Jones // Trillium by Louise Gluck // Carina Nebula (C92) pic from NASA // Promptuarium // Introduction to Quantum Theory by Franny Choi // Miracle of Creation by Mariusz Lewandowski // Rainer Maria Rilke, from Where Silence Reigns: Selected Prose; "An Experience," // Pinterest // Carl Sagan, Symphony of Science // Nebula Sharpless 2-106 pic from NASA // Twitter User @tsaritsasimp06 // chasingdaises // The Old Astronomer to His Pupil by Sarah Williams // Pinterest // Pinterest // Galaxy Hercules A pic from NASA // Imaginary Heroes (2004) dir. Dan Harris // Spacetime Fairytale by Regina Spektor // 30 Doradus Nebula pic from NASA // Stormy End by Sunrise Avenue // Dumbbell Nebula (M27) pic from NASA

This one was titled: Finding Comfort in the Enormity of the Universe When Your Problems Feel Too Big.

Yeah, I was *thisclose* to an existential crisis (aren't we all at some point?) and was learning about the stars, and isn't there something comforting about there being this wide expanse out there? All that beauty and chaos and light and dark and it's billions and millions of light years away, so far that you measure it in light, and you can't even use yourself as a metric when measuring up against nebulae and supergiants and blackholes. And it makes you feel kinda small, and maybe a little scared, but suddenly those problems aren't so big, are they? We're just little people on a little rock next to a little star with our own little moon. We really won the lottery on chances, didn't we? And doesn't that make you want to look at the stars, take a breath, and make it to the next day?

Side note: I spent a good couple of hours scrolling through NASA's website and getting sidetracked (hence my earlier post on the moon landing in two years). Lowkey in love with NASA's website, ngl. So as an added treat, here are a few of my favorites that I came across!!

This will tell you when/where you can see the ISS! (idk if it works internationally, I just sort of focusing on where I was atm, ha ha!)

This lets you know about upcoming launches! (how I found out about Artemis!!)

This is a map that lets you see pictures of a bunch of cool stars/galaxies/exoplanets/nebulae! (This is where I grabbed all of the pretty space pictures!! There's so much more, too!!!)

This is a website that posts a fun picture of certain tech or something in the universe as well as an explanation below every day!! (I was shown this recently and I keeeeep checking.)

And, last but not least, this website tells you what picture the Hubble Telescope took on your birthday!! (Astrology signs are OUT, tell me what picture was taken the day of your birth!!)

There's also a (fictional) comic strip about the first woman on the moon! (I didn't get a chance to read it, but it's also found on a whole page dedicated to interactives and games which is absolutely where I found some of those other links)

Anyway, there's definitely more to find and would highly recommend just scrolling through their website to see what you can find!

We're gonna be okay, y'all. (っ´⌣`)ﾉ(´._.`)

[evilcatrat]

JEAN-YVES MOREAU

in "The Sunshine Court" by Nora Sakavic

or a messy webweave on jean and healing. i didn't get eveyrthing i wanted in there, and it might be not great but by god did the small miracles hit me like a train

??? // Herakles - Euripides (tr. Anne Carson) // Rien ne va plus - Margarita Karapanou (tr. Karen Emmerich) // ??? // The Art of Drowning - Billy Collins // Seeing a Dog in the Rain - Laura Gilpin // The Cow - Ariana Reines // Cosmos - Carl Sagan // Sunrise - Louise Glück //

[julictcapulet]

CAMILLE FERRI-KELLER &. BLAKE KELLER — “who is the real subject of most love poems? not the beloved. it is the hole. when i desire you, a part of me is gone: my want of you partakes of me.” for @asystcle

people will talk (1951) dir. joseph l. mankiewicz // jane austen, emma // gilda (1946) dir. charles vidor // françoise sagan, bonjour tristesse // breakfast at tiffany’s (1961) dir. blake edwards // dulce maría loynaz, absolute solitude: selected poems // daphne du maurier, rebecca // gilda (1946) dir. charles vidor // louise glück, poems 1962-2012; “timor mortis” // holiday (1938) dir. george cukor

[woodsfae]

2023 Reading Plans:

Currently Reading:

Thought Forms - Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater

The Ghetto And Other Poems - Lola Ridge

Descended from a Travel-Worn Satchel - Chris La Tray

Horsefly Dress - Heather Cahoon

The World We Used To Live In - Vine Deloria Jr.

Roadside Geology of Montana - David Alt and Donald W Hyndman

To-Read Stack:

Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer

When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through - edited by Joy Harjo

Ancestor Approved - edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Sentence - Louise Erdrich

The Stories We Tell - the Whitefish Review

People Before the Park - Sally Thompson, Kootenai Culture Committee & Pikunni Traditional Association

Lead from the Outside - Stacey Abrams

Re-Reading:

Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

Contact - Carl Sagan

Empress of Forever - Max Gladstone

[colorfulprincewombat]

Bonjour à tout le monde. Oggi la storia della più celebre "pretty woman" francese, del XIX secolo. Valtesse Delabigne. Nella storia di Émilie-Louise Delabigne ci sono tutti i passaggi obbligati di una giovanissima ragazza che si dedica alla prostituzione, fino a diventare una cortigiana in grado di influenzare i più potenti uomini dell’epoca e che, grazie alla sua professione, riesce ad accumulare un patrimonio pari a oltre 2 milioni di euro al cambio attuale.

Louise Delabigne (1848-1910) era la figlia naturale di una donna che per mantenere i sei figli si prostituiva per pochi soldi, e di un padre alcolizzato e violento, che le impedì per sempre di nutrire fiducia negli uomini. A 13 anni, già bellissima con i suoi capelli rosso-oro e intensi occhi azzurri, Louise perse la sua innocenza, violentata per strada da un uomo anziano che probabilmente l’aveva notata nel negozio di abbigliamento dove lavorava.

Il destino sembrava aver segnato il suo percorso: divenne una grisette, che nella gerarchia della prostituzione indicava quelle giovani donne che si vendevano per strada, rischiando l’arresto e il taglio dei capelli, se fermate dalla polizia. Intanto Louise lavorava anche in negozio di abbigliamento intimo femminile, frequentato da uomini facoltosi. Lì incontrò un giovane uomo che le prese il cuore e le diede due figlie, ma non trovò il coraggio di sposarla. Dopo quella deludente esperienza amorosa, Louise decise che non si sarebbe mai sposata, preferendo arrivare al traguardo della ricchezza e della notorietà con altri sistemi:

vendersi senza mai darsi veramente, senza eccezioni per nessuno

Intanto era salita di un gradino nella scala sociale delle mondane: era una lorette, che nel gergo della categoria indicava quelle donne che venivano mantenute da pochi clienti selezionati. La sua grande occasione arrivò quando conobbe il compositore Jacques Offenbach, che la elevò a livello delle grandes horizontales, cortigiane i cui favori erano contesi da tutti quegli uomini che potevano permetterselo. Divenne l’amante e musa ispiratrice di molti artisti, come Edouard Manet, Henri Gervex, Gustave Coubert, e altri pittori famosi, tanto che fu soprannominata “l’Union des Peintres”. Nel frattempo aveva cambiato nome, si faceva chiamare Valtesse de La Bigne: Valtesse aveva grosso modo lo stesso suono di “Votre Altesse” (vostra altezza). Con questo pretenzioso nome riuscì a rovinare economicamente diversi personaggi della nobiltà francese ed europea: il principe Lubomirski di Polonia e il principe de Sagan.

Dai suoi amanti pretendeva abiti lussuosi e gioielli preziosi, case, carrozze, viaggi, cene in locali prestigiosi, tanto che non ammise nella sua camera da letto lo scrittore Alexandre Dumas dicendogli: “Caro signore, non è nei tuoi mezzi”.

In un certo senso fu un altro scrittore, Emile Zola, a prendersi una rivincita sulla cortigiana: scrisse il libro Nanà, che ebbe un enorme successo, ispirandosi proprio a lei, la sirena che incantava e poi distruggeva gli uomini che si illudevano di possederla, descritta come amabile ma spietata, un ritratto poco lusinghiero che irritò molto la Valtesse. Valtesse fu abbastanza lungimirante da capire che la sua attività era legata all’età, così si ritirò a vita privata, nella sua lussuosa dimora a Ville-d’Avray, quando aveva poco più di 50 anni. Continuò però a istruire giovani donne sull’arte di intrattenere gli uomini, fino a quando, il 29 luglio del 1910, le scoppiò una vena e morì.

Lei stessa aveva scritto il suo annuncio funebre, che rivela un animo poetico nascosto sotto le vesti da cortigiana: “Bisogna amare un po’ o molto, seguendo la natura, ma velocemente, in un istante, come si ama un canto degli uccelli, che parla alla propria anima e che si dimentica con la sua ultima nota, come uno ama i colori cremisi del sole nel momento in cui scompare sotto l’orizzonte “.

[shit-talk-turner]

BTW men having wives/partners but then also mistresses has always been a pretty standard practice in France just saying // Well their favorite French cinema doesn't always provide the same standards of a healthy relationship. There's always some cheating going on. Some time ago Louise said that her favorite author is Francoise Sagan and if any of you have ever read her stories you know that the characters cheat on each other.

also Alex is not French and neither is Taylor so

[fashion-boots]

Louise Sagan in boots by Collection & Co

[tcm]

MADCHEN IN UNIFORM (’31): The First Lesbian Feature Film By Raquel Stecher

Director Leontine Sagan’s MADCHEN IN UNIFORM (’31) wasn’t the first movie that featured lesbian characters but it was certainly a notable one. This German film came during a time between WWI and WWII when there was a thriving gay subculture in parts of Europe. Movies like DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS (’19) and MICHAEL (’24) were born out of that era and candidly depicted gay relationships. Marlene Dietrich gave the world the first cinematic lesbian kiss in MOROCCO (’30). PANDORA’S BOX (’29), starring Louise Brooks, featured a lesbian subplot. This was a flourishing time for queer representation and it ended abruptly with the emergence of the Nazi regime.

MADCHEN IN UNIFORM was special in many regards. It’s the first feature film with a solely lesbian theme. It was based on a play written by a woman. It was directed by a woman, with an artistic director credit going to Carl Froelich. And, the cast was completely made up of women. Not a single man can be spotted throughout the whole movie.

Set in a Prussian all-girls boarding school, MADCHEN IN UNIFORM, which translates into “Girls in Uniform,” tells the story of new student Manuela (Hertha Thiele) and her attraction towards her instructor, Fraulein von Bernburg (Dorothea Wieck). The school is run by a strict headmistress, played by Emilia Unda, who extols Prussian virtues of discipline, obedience, restraint and self-denial. In the context of the story, these virtues are seen as old-fashioned and severe, something that the contemporary audience of Germany’s Weimar Republic would have agreed with. The headmistress creates an environment that stifles Manuela and her fellow students who find themselves in a fairly delicate stage of their development. Even though it’s a toned-down version of the original play, Sagan’s film is still a notably frank expression of lesbian romance. There is a kiss between Wieck and Thiele, an exchange of garments, a brief experimentation with gender identity and a passionate declaration of love.

Playwright Christa Winsloe based the story on her own experience at a Prussian boarding school. Writing the play was her way of processing the trauma of her youth. Upon the success of her play, Winsloe moved to Berlin and lived openly as a lesbian. She was once married to a Baron then later became romantically involved with two other women writers, newspaper reporter Dorothy Thompson and Swiss author Simone Gentet.

Winsloe’s play caught the eye of theater producer and actress Leontine Sagan. In her memoir, Sagan recalls MADCHEN IN UNIFORM “was an original play and true to life, but it was technically rough and amateurish in its dramaturgical structure. Nonetheless, I liked this unusual play about girls in a Prussian boarding school and made the author’s acquaintance.” MADCHEN IN UNIFORM would be Sagan’s directorial debut and she would later produce the play for the Duchess Theatre in London.

It was inevitable that changes had to be made to Winsloe’s original story. Overt lesbian themes were dialed back. Artistic director Froelich suggested that the ending be changed from tragedy to something that would be more open-ended. While Winsloe approved of the final film, she still felt a natural possessiveness towards her story. She novelized the film, her way of taking ownership of the story once again, and published MADCHEN IN UNIFORM as a book in 1933.

Upon release, critics and audiences alike raved about the movie. It received glowing reviews. While it was never widely released in the United States, it did ultimately screen in over 1,000 theaters. Andre Sennwald of The New York Times called it a “masterpiece”. Mordaunt Hall of the same publication said in two 1932 reviews “Few motion pictures have been endowed with the magnetic quality of MADCHEN IN UNIFORM… It is a film in which all the characters fasten themselves in one’s mind, not as actors, but as real persons. The performances of all are deserving of the highest praise.” Of course the film met with some opposition. It was “Banned in Boston”, a badge of honor for provocative work. Film producer John Krimsky battled with the Hays Office to get the film approved for distribution.

Producer David O. Selznick was so impressed with Sagan’s debut film that he invited her to Hollywood. She made two films there, both were flops, and returned to the theater where she thrived. Actress Dorothea Wieck was also courted by Hollywood. Paramount executives, intrigued by her striking resemblance to MGM star Norma Shearer, put her under contract. Wieck’s Hollywood films were box-office failures. She was booted out of tinseltown and unfairly labeled a Nazi spy. The irony was that Wieck was an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime and refused to act in Nazi propaganda films.

In fact most of the women involved with MADCHEN IN UNIFORM were courted by the Nazis. Although the film was banned in Nazi Germany and many copies were destroyed, Joseph Goebbels himself was a fan and called it a “magnificently directed, exceptionally natural and exciting film art”. Leontine Sagan, actresses Hertha Thiele and Erika Mann all refused offers by the Nazi government to use their talents for propaganda.

After the war, the film languished under censorship but never lost its appeal. It was remade several times including a 1958 film adaptation starring Lilli Palmer and Romy Schneider. It was in a long line of lesbian-themed stories set in all-girl schools, including Colette’s Claudine novels (she wrote the French subtitles for the film), Jacqueline Audry’s OLIVIA (’51) and William Wyler’s THE CHILDREN’S HOUR (’61). MADCHEN IN UNIFORM enjoyed a resurgence of interest in the 1970s finding fans among a growing community of feminists and lesbians with an interest in women directed films. Today it still stands as a seminal lesbian drama that deserves to be studied and appreciated.

[vlrvlr]

sep. 2021

2021년 9월. 이달의 정산

* 이달의 드라마 : [D.P]

이거보고 주변 남자들이랑 군대에 대해 대화 많이 함..ㅋ 내가 경험해보지 못한 세계..ㅋ 끝으로 갈수록 수위가 점점 세지는 느낌. 드라마가 재밌다고 하기에는 이것이 현실반영이라는 것이.. 정말 씁쓸함..ㅠㅠ

* 이달의 영화 :

애니[바람계곡의 나우시카]_동물사랑, 식물사랑, 곤충사랑, 자연사랑을 말해주는 애니.니메이션?ㅋ 1984년작인데도 하나도 안촌스럽네

인간이 자연과 곤충과(?) 함께 살아가야한다는.. 교훈ㅋ 미세먼지 생각도 많이 나고, 코로나 바이러스 생각도 나고.. 아무튼 환경을 보호해야겠다는 생각을 들게 하는 영화다!!

[미첼가족과 기계전쟁]_(Mitchells vs the Machines) “세상에 맞춰 정상이 되지마”

키치함과 재기발랄, 유쾌한 느낌을 3D애니메이션+2D애니메이션의 조합으로 풍성하게 만들어준듯. 엔딩에 라디오헤드 노래가 흘러나왔는데 넘 좋았음.

[콘택트]_저번달에 본 콘택트와 제목은 같지만 전혀 다른 내용. 개인적으로 조디포스터나오는 이 [콘택트]가 더 재밌고, 흥미롭고, 생각할 것들도 많았는데 사람들에게 물어보니 이게 진짜 콘택트라고함 ㅋㅋ 칼세이건 원작의 영화.

- 명대사 기록 -

과학자 애로웨이 박사(조디포스터)가 우주를 바라보며 하는 말 : “말로는 도저히 표현할 수 없네요. 시적이네요. 시인을 보냈어야 하는데.. 정말 아름다워요. 아름다워. 상상도 못했어요”

아빠의 모습을 한 외계인이 하는 말 : “너희들은 흥미로운 종족이야. 흥미로운 혼합. 아름다운 꿈도 꿀 수 있고 끔찍한 악몽도 꿀 수 있지. 너희는 길을 잃고 단절되고 외롭다고 생각해. 하지만 그렇지 않아. 그거 아니? 우리가 찾아낸 것중에 이 공허함을 견딜 수 있게 하는 유일한 것은 서로 밖에 없어.

“조스 목사님! 당신은 무엇을 믿습니까?” “저는 그녀를 믿습니다”

“자신만의 답을 찾으려고 노력하는 게 중요해요. 우주에 대해 한 가지 알려줄 건 있어요. 우주은 아주 커다란 공간이죠. 아무도 상상할 수 없을 정도로 커요. 그러니 거기 우리밖에 없다면 엄청난 공간 낭비일 거예요. 그렇죠?”

영화[파고]_딱히 영화가 인상적이거나 재밌진 않았는데 다 보고나서 이게 실화라니.. 하는 부분이 가장 놀라웠는데 그것조차 코엔형제의 극적인 구라였다는..

(코엔 형제의 대표작 리스트에 기본으로 언급되는 범죄 드라마 [파고]. 1987년 미국 노스 다코타주 파고에서 있었던 실화임을 강조하기 위해 영화 첫 시작 오프닝에 "실화를 기반으로 하고 있다."는 자막을 등장시키지만, 이는 사실과 달랐다. '파고'라는 지역은 실제로 존재하지만, 1987년 이 당시 이와 같은 사건은 발생하지 않았다. 심지어 경찰과 FBI 내에서도 기록에 존재하지 않는 사건이라며 코엔 형제에게 사건의 진실 여부를 묻는 일이 발생하기도 했다. 이에 대해 코엔 형제는 여러 매체와의 인터뷰를 통해 1976년 미네소타서 발생한 유괴 사건과 잘 알려지지 않았던 납치 범죄 사건의 비하인드를 조합해 이야기와 인물을 구성했다고 설명했다.)

[모노노케히메]원령공주_자연이 화가 나면 저런 모습일까. 왜 근데 예쁘고 푸르른 자연이 나올 때 왜자꾸 동물의 숲이 생각나는지..ㅋㅋ 아무래도 모동숲 중독인가보다.ㅋ

* 이달의 다큐 : 칼세이건 [코스모스] 다큐1화

* 이달의 책 : [달러구트 꿈백화점 2]_후속작이 나왔으면 좋겠다고 생각할만큼 재밌게 읽었지만 정말 후속작이 나올 줄은 몰랐다..ㅋ 클라우드 펀딩으로 압도적 지지를 받아 소설책으로 나왔다는데 그럴만하다. 소재도, 내용도 참신하고 재밌다. 해리포터 같은 판타지 느낌도 들고.. 아무튼 2편도 재밌게 읽었다. 더 따뜻해지고 인간적인 느낌이 들었다. + 읽으면서 영화로 나오면 좋을 것 같다고 생각했는데 이것도 또 진짜 그렇게 되는거 아닐까?ㅋㅋ

* 이달의 문장 :

• 인생은 탐구하면서 살아가는 것이 아니라

살아가면서 탐구하는 것이다.

실수는 되풀이 된다. 그것이 인생이다……. - 인스타 글 발췌

• ‘자연의 신비는 단 한 번에 한꺼번에 밝혀질 성질의 것이 아니다’ - 칼세이건[코스모스]중에서

• ‘이 우주에서 지구에만 생명체가 존재한다면 엄청난 공간의 낭비다.’ - [코스모스]의 저자인 칼 세이건(Carl Edward Sagan, 1934~1996)의 말.

• ‘지금의 행복에 충실하기 위해 현재를 살고

아직 만나지 못한 행복을 위해 미래를 기대해야 하며

지나고 나서야 깨닫는 행복을 위해 과거를 되새기며 살아야 한다.’ - <달러구트 꿈 백화점 2>

• 현재에 충실하게 살아갈 때가 있고, 과거에 연연하게 될 때가 있고, 앞만 보며 달려나갈 때도 있지. 다들 그런 때가 있는 법이야. 그러니까 우리는 기다려야 한단다. 사람들이 지금 당장 꿈을 꾸러 오지 않더라도, 살다 보면 꿈이 필요할 때가 생기기 마련이거든.” - <달러구트 꿈 백화점 2>

• 우리는 ‘우주에 흔적을 남기고(put a dent in the universe)’싶은 명상가들 이었고..- <레이달리오 원칙>

* 이달의 단어 :

• The cosmos(특히 질서 있는 시스템으로서의) 우주

• 피카레스크 구성으로 이루어진 소설_ 피카레스크 구성은 독립된 각각의 이야기에 동일한 인물이 등장하여 여러 가지 이야기를 구성하는 방식이다

• 스큐어 모피즘 / 뉴모피즘 / 글래스모피즘

* 이달의 음악 :

• Five Hundred Miles(500 miles)JustinTimberlake 한 곡 반복 엄청 많이함. 퇴근길에 많이 들었는데 집에 가고 있는데도 집으로 너무 가고 싶은 느낌이 드는ㅋㅋㅋ 엄청난 향수병을 자극하는 곡이다.

• 유키구라��토 시골길 라이브 콘서트

Dawn / Meditation / Lake Louise / Romance

유키구라모코 곡 중 레이크루이스, 로맨스도 좋지만 나는 포레스트가 제일 좋다. 힐링 송🎧🎶🎹

* 이달의 소비 : 뭐니뭐니해도 먹거리?ㅋ 앵갤지수 점점🆙

* 이달의 발견 : 다 그런 때가 있고 그런 날이 있다. (다들 그런 때가 있는 법이야)는 구절 발견.

* 이달의 첫경험 :

• 신동엽의 인생 ‘안심’이라는..ㅋ 뜨락 청담점에서 안심, 등심, 육전, 보리굴비, 물냉 짱맛있게먹음ㅋㅋ

• 닌텐도!! 게임ㅋ 모여라 동물의 숲! 넘 재밌다. 힐링이다.

• 스시치우_하이엔드 스시오마카세

삼성동[스시치우]_간판도 없고 들어가는 문도 무슨 벽인줄 알았는데 두드리니 열려서 신기했는데, 손���도 우리와 다른 한 팀 뿐이라서 정말 프라이빗 하고도 프라이빗한 저녁이었다! (저녁 6시 예약이었는데 이 날 점심에 예약이 너무 많아서 쉐프들이 힘들어서 저녁은 두팀만 받았다고 한다. 그래서 완전.. 프라이빗한 오마카세를 즐길 수 있었다!!) 스시집을 빌린 것 같더라는..ㅋ 그리고 이 날따라 아나고가 너무 맛있어서 앵콜스시는 아나고로 결정! 127년 전통을 자랑하는 일본의 가장 오래된 맥주 브랜드이자, 가장 비싸게 팔린다는 에비수 생맥도 스시와 찰떡이었다! 정말 한끼였지만 모든 것이 맘에 들었던 완벽한 저녁이었다아아아☺️

* 이달의 반성 : 책 좀 읽어야하는데 모동숲 많이함. 그래서 엄지랑 팔이랑 어깨까지 저려서.. 나중에는 의도적으로 게임하는 시간 많이 줄임 ㅠㅠ

* 이달의 슬픈일 : 엄지손 아픔ㅠ 아마도 모동숲 게임하는 것 때문이겠지.. 나이가 들어가는게 느껴진다. 온몸의 뼈가 전체적으로 너무 뻑적지근함

* 이달의 기쁜일 : 맛있는 거 많이 먹고 댕긴듯(스테이크 & 스시 오마카세)

* 이달의 잘한일 :

• 화이자 백신 2차 접종 완료

• 컨디션 생각해서 영양주사 맞음

• 칼세이건[코스모스]/레이달리오 [원칙]_매우 두꺼운 벽돌책 읽기 도전중

• 이래저래 힐링 많이함

* 이달의 감동 : 칼세이건의 창백한 푸른점과 존레논의 이메진 곡 하나면 지구에서 우리가 삶을 어떻게 살아야하는지 깨닫기 충분하다는 말.

* 이달의 인상적 이벤트 : 나는 이제 백신 접종 완료자

[venicepearl]

Marie Dorothée Louise de Talleyrand-Périgord (17 November 1862 – 17 July 1948) was a French aristocrat most notable for her salons and her role in European high-society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as "Dolly" to her friends, she inspired artists and writers including Marcel Proust. She was the half-sister of the prince de Sagan, who had dual French and Prussian nationality and sat in the Prussian House of Lords.

[paintermagazine]

‘Hearth!’

Artist/model: Louise Sagan

Original source: ‘aliaslouiseblog’ (IG)

[galina]

Is there some writers you would recommend to someone who like Rachel Cusk?

Here are a few, I’ve linked to specific books: Ali Smith, Lisa Halliday, Yiyun Li, Olivia Laing, Deborah Levy, Ottesa Moshfegh, Claire Louise-Bennett, Françoise Sagan, Sally Rooney, Zadie Smith, Sophie Mackintosh, Lorrie Moore

[here-to-fill-in-gaps]

Helena Frith Powell lives in France and is the author of Two Lipsticks and a Lover, an investigation into the lives, lusts and secrets of French women, from the cultural circles of Saint-Germain-des-Prés to the exclusive Sonia Rykiel sex shop.

"Why are French women so sexy? Ever since 1066, we've been enthralled by the innate superiority of the French female. Never mind Larkin and 1963; the French were at it well before that. French women are beautiful, stylish and chic - but they have something else that many English women lack. One of their tools, every bit as potent as their matching underwear, is their knowledge of literature. They see being well-read as important as being well-groomed. In order to outwit our French female foes across the Channel, here is a list of the top 10 sexy French books, guaranteed to land you a date with Thierry Henry."

1. Chéri by Colette

All 10 books on this list could be by Colette, the most sensual and evocative writer of all time, who lived like one of her sexy heroines, still dancing on tables at 65, and marrying her son-in-law. Every woman's fantasy, this tells the story of an ageing courtesan (49!) who remains irresistible to her much younger lover.

2. Madame de by Louise de Vilmorin

Classic faux-brow, this is the book that French girls love to take seriously, even though it's nothing more than a story of adultery, written by the lover of Duff Cooper, British ambassador to France during the 1940s. When Cooper was away, Louise hunkered down with Diana, his wife. The smouldering passion between the fictitious ambassador and his mistress is a splendid example of Parisian society at its best and most snooty. Cooper himself did the English translation.

3. The Ravishing of Lol Stein by Marguerite Duras

Possibly the maddest book ever written, but the title alone makes the book worthy of inclusion on this list. Voyeurism, lesbian leanings, broken hearts and adultery: what more could you ask for?

4. Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan

The sound of cicadas and the smell of suntan oil jumps off the pages. Is there a sexier location in the world than the south of France? Not only are the teenagers getting down and dirty, the grownups are too. As the young narrator says, "Fidelity is arbitrary and sterile." - a mantra her father lives by. This sexy, poignant, moving and brief book is a must. If you read only one book on this list, this should be it.

5. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

No list of French books of whatever genre is complete without Madame Bovary. The unfortunate heroine, whose only crime is an endless search for romantic love, gives us some of literature's sexiest moments: the mussed-up bed, the carriage ride, the sheer foolishness of falling in love with French men. Madame Bovary's choice of lovers are 19th-century versions of Bridget Jones's fuckwits.

6. Emmanuelle by Emmanuelle Arsan

My husband's favourite French book. He says he reads it for the philosophy. It is the story of a woman getting laid. A lot. In just about every position and place imaginable, but mainly Thailand. This book has entertained French boys since publication. I fully expect to find it under my son's pillow in a few years' time.

7. Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos

"It's beyond my control." Is there a more brutal line in literature? This is the book that justifies any amount of appalling behaviour. It turns seduction into a game and an art form. While the Anglo Saxons were reading Pride and Prejudice by candle-light, this book was teaching French society how to frolic and seduce.

8. I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere by Anna Gavalda

Worth it just for the opening story, the Courting Rituals of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Two strangers meet in a street; dinner follows; candles flicker as the sexual tension burns.

9. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond de Rostand

A play based on the life of the 17th-century swordsman Cyrano, this is the olden day equivalent of a cyber romance. Proof of the enduring attraction of words. And that you can still be sexy, even if you've got a big nose and a floppy hat.

10. The Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin

In the first half of the 20th-century, if you wanted to publish anything vaguely sexy, it had to be in Paris. Nin is the quintessential female player, willing to risk everything for the sake of art and adventure. This is one of her best books, a collection of erotic short stories. Her catchphrase was: "I really believe that if I were not a writer I might have been a faithful wife." Unlikely, but extremely cunning to blame her creativity for her lasciviousness.

[marianhalcombes]

hey i was just curious about your tastes and wondering what your fave books/poems were? have a good day 🌿

Hello! 

Short answer: my goodreads account and Wuthering Heights. 

Long answer:

I’m getting my doctorate in English literature, so most of my life is (happily) centered around books. I focus on late 18th century through the early 20th century, approx. 1764-1914, with the Victorian era as the crux of that. Within that, I am particularly interested in the intersections of gender, sexuality, and Empire… also the Gothic which often tackles these topics. I mention this just bc a lot of my faves are within that scope. I’ll break some stuff down by categories bc otherwise it’ll be a ridiculously long, unreadable list lol

Novels/stories prior to 1914: The Woman in White, The Moonstone, A Tale of Two Cities, anything by Poe except his very racist novel lmao, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the Brontë sisters’ entire oeuvre, Jane Austen OBVS but esp Emma, Peter Pan, Moby-Dick, most of Charles Dickens but esp A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, Dracula, Frankenstein, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Middlemarch, North and South. My literary comfort food is the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, including non-ACD writers but specifically those by Lyndsey Faye, a current writer.

Novels/stories post-1914: We Have Always Lived in the Castle is my fave Shirley Jackson story but she is one of my ultimate faves and I love everything by her, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Maurice, Wide Sargasso Sea, basically everything by Karen Russell but specifically her short stories, Good Omens, The Song of Achilles, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Rebecca, Harry Potter obvs (OOTP is my fave), The Secret History, Funny Boy, Tender is the Night, To the Lighthouse, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell 

Poetry: literally anything by Anne Carson but esp Autobiography of Red and Glass, Irony, and God, Upstream by Mary Oliver, Crush by Richard Siken, Ararat and Averno by Louise Gluck, Sappho’s fragments trans. by Anne Carson, A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud, Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney, Orange Crush by Simone Muench. I also really like the modernist poets like Yeats and Eliot. 

My favorite poem is probably “The Glass Essay” by Anne Carson. I also have a very special place in my heart for “The Garden of Proserpine” by Charles Algernon Swinburne. “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti is as grotesque as it is fanciful. 

Drama bc why the hell not: Out of all of Shakespeare my two faves are Hamlet and Twelfth Night, Pygmalion by GB Shaw, Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, The Bacchae by Euripides

Fave graphic novels are Through the Woods by Emily Carroll and Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

My fave non-fictions are probably Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan and Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy. 

Honestly I also read a lot of academic stuff which I love but that’s prob not worth mentioning here and the list is already wayyy too long as is. 

tl;dr I like spooky and gay stuff! It’s best if it’s both

[antigonick]

French women write classics, too.

Astonishing I know, but I feel like my pals Hugo, Flaubert, and Baudelaire take all the credit around here; and if you’re in the mood for some feminine gallicisms, here’s a list of women writers and a few of my to-be-read, or favourite works:

FICTION & NON FICTION Marguerite Duras : Hiroshima Mon Amour; The Lover from Northern China; The Ravishing of Lol Stein Colette : Chéri; Ripening Seed; Gigi Marguerite Yourcenar : The Memoirs of Hadrian; Coup de Grace Simone de Beauvoir : She Came to Stay; The Second Sex Hélène Cixous : The Laugh of the Medusa; The Awakening of the Erynies; The Name of Oedipus Andrée Chedid : The Message George Sand : Pauline; Fanchon the Cricket Nathalie Sarraute : The Planetarium; The Golden Fruits Françoise Sagan : Bonjour Tristesse Madame de Lafayette : The Princess of Cleves Maryse Condé : Tituba, Black Witch of Salem Anaïs Nin : Delta of Venus; Henry and June; Journals of Love Elsa Triolet : The White Horse

POETRY Marguerite Yourcenar : Fires; The Crown and The Lyre Renée Vivien : Sappho; A Crown of Violets Anna de Noailles : The Living and The Dead; Eblouissements Marie de France : Breton Lais Louise Labé : Works Rosemonde Gérard : The French Muses; The Rainbow Catherine de Pizan : The Book of the City of Ladies