excerpt from Chapter Eight of 'Hell' by Henri Barbusse (demo)
Written by Henri Barbusse
Read by Mmmm
"Hell is the most highly focused study of voyeurism ever written. A young man staying in a Paris boarding house finds a hole in the wall above his bed. Through this he obsessively studies the private moments and secret activities of his neighbours. Marriage, adultery, lesbianism, religion and death are all seen through this small spy hole. Decades ahead of its time Hell shocked and scandalized the reviewing public when first released in English. Even so, The New Republic praised "the beauty of the book's nervous yet fluid rhythms... every simile is faultlessly keyed. The book sweeps away life's illusions."
Excerpt“She was behind him, on the sofa, hidden by the shadows of the evening and the shadow of the man. He, a pale, vague figure, with his hands on his knees, was leaning forward into space. The night was still dressed in grey, silky evening softness; soon it would be naked.”
First published in France in 1908. This reading is from the Turtle Point Press edition (1995).