
L’HEURE SEXUELLE
I FAITES AVANCER LE CHAMEAU DE LA REINE!
II LE GESTE DE BEAUTÉ
III LES ROSES ROSES, LES ROSES ROUGES, LES ROSES D’IVOIRE
IV LE PETIT SINGE DE VÉNUS CHEZ LES AUGURES
V NOUS AVONS SUR LES YEUX COMME UN VOILE DE CENDRES
VI A LA COUR DE CLÉOPÂTRE, IL ÉTAIT UN TIGRE ROYAL…
VII DANS LA CHAMBRE DE Mlle LÉONIE SE TROUVE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE D’UN SOLDAT
VIII OÙ ÉROS MET DEUX PERDRIX DANS LE MÊME CARNIER
IX « SOIS BELLE ET SOIS TRISTE »… MAIS NE FRAPPE PAS SI FORT
At an unnamed hour of early morning, a restless narrator is jolted from sleep, feeling the pulse of something both dead and newly born. The room swirls with familiar yet alien objects—a soft flame licking gold frames, a porcelain Cleopatra’s head that seems to inhale dust—while a candle’s halo casts trembling shadows across meticulously ordered books. This vivid, almost dream‑like tableau spirals into a contemplation of banality, desire, and the absurd, setting a tone that is both intellectual and sensually charged.
Compelled to leave the apartment, the narrator steps onto deserted boulevards where the city’s breath is a thin mist of distant car engines and fading gaslights. The nocturnal walk becomes a meditation on destiny, with each footfall echoing a fragile balance between a lethal certainty and an eager yearning for life. Through lyrical, stream‑of‑consciousness prose, the story invites listeners to share a haunting, introspective hour where the boundaries between reality and imagination dissolve.
Language
fr
Duration
~4 hours (262K characters)
Release date
2025-11-27
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1860–1953
A daring, unconventional voice of French Decadent literature, this novelist and playwright became famous for fiction that challenged social rules and played provocatively with gender and desire. Writing under a pen name, she helped shape the literary life of fin-de-siècle Paris both on the page and in criticism.
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