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Edini sin
"The Only Son is the fictional autobiography of Francois Rousseau, older brother of Jean-Jacques. Mentioned only once in Jean-Jacques' classic Confessions and dismissed as a libertine, Francois has been lost to history until now. Stephane Audeguy brilliantly resurrects him - and the secret life of eighteenth-century Paris." "Apprenticed to a clock maker and instructed at an early age in the philosophy of libertinage by a decadent aristocrat, Francois is disowned by his family and makes his way to Paris. He finds work at an exclusive brothel that caters to the fancies and fetishes of politicians and clergymen. There his clock-making skills are put to ingeniously kinky use. During the Reign of Terror, Francois lands in the Bastille, where he befriends the Marquis de Sade." Francois' story is a fascinating portrait of revolutionary Paris. Unlike Jean-Jacques, who extolled the virtues of the natural man, Francois celebrates the highly cultivated pleasures of the libertine. As he recalls the sights, sounds, and predilections of the demimonde, he has much more on his mind than mere titillation. In its examination of the erotic interplay between the individual and society, the private and the public man, The Only Son is, in essence, the anti-Confessions - Francois Rousseau's own, decidedly different, portrait of human nature.
- GenresFiction
199 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
3 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Stéphane Audeguy
24 books15 followersStéphane Audeguy (born 1964 Tours) is an award-winning French novelist and essayist.
He studied literature at the University of Paris, where he also taught. He served as an assistant professor at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville between 1986 and 1987. He returned to France and now lives in Paris where he teaches art history and film history at a local high school.
He studied literature at the University of Paris, where he also taught. He served as an assistant professor at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville between 1986 and 1987. He returned to France and now lives in Paris where he teaches art history and film history at a local high school.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 8, 2025
(spelling grammar corrected in July 2024).
Fantastic - only the French get to call their sex maniacs 'Libertines' - this novel is so French, so much a novel of the 18th century - it is wonderful - I really adored this book - for English readers the basic concept - the life of the utterly forgotten and written out of history older brother of Jean-Jacques Rousseau probably doesn't have the same comic/cathartic edge that it does for a French person - I am presuming that Rousseau still has a honoured place in their schools as a great writer/philosopher - it is hard for those outside France to understand what a national icon he is. Rousseau inspired not only Robespierre and others into the bloodiest of revolutionary excesses but also Marie Antoinette in her idiotic play acting at shepherdesses at the Hameau de la Reine at Versailles (which also inspired revolutionary violence).
In one way this whole novel is an attack, or piss take on Jean-Jacques's works like 'Julie - or the New Heloise' and his 'Confessions' works of such fatuous stupidity and self satisfaction that I have found them impossible to read - even tongue in cheek. But I wouldn't want you to imagine that the novel is all about Jean-Jacques - he is merely there as counterpoint to his older, abused, neglected and mistreated and misunderstood older brother whose life, love and actions (including surviving 13 years in the Bastille) are a reproach to the bilge his brother poured forth. That Jean-Jacques died before the revolution he inspired while his brother lived to see its worst is at the core of the story. Not that this is novel that regrets the revolution - don't look here for a sympathetic voice for fallen aristos - this is a novel denouncing bull shit and the betrayal of revolution by the likes Robespierre, with their clean hands (in the physical not metaphorical sense).
A wonderful fun and entertaining novel - I adore any novel which allows me to use the word picaresque!
Fantastic - only the French get to call their sex maniacs 'Libertines' - this novel is so French, so much a novel of the 18th century - it is wonderful - I really adored this book - for English readers the basic concept - the life of the utterly forgotten and written out of history older brother of Jean-Jacques Rousseau probably doesn't have the same comic/cathartic edge that it does for a French person - I am presuming that Rousseau still has a honoured place in their schools as a great writer/philosopher - it is hard for those outside France to understand what a national icon he is. Rousseau inspired not only Robespierre and others into the bloodiest of revolutionary excesses but also Marie Antoinette in her idiotic play acting at shepherdesses at the Hameau de la Reine at Versailles (which also inspired revolutionary violence).
In one way this whole novel is an attack, or piss take on Jean-Jacques's works like 'Julie - or the New Heloise' and his 'Confessions' works of such fatuous stupidity and self satisfaction that I have found them impossible to read - even tongue in cheek. But I wouldn't want you to imagine that the novel is all about Jean-Jacques - he is merely there as counterpoint to his older, abused, neglected and mistreated and misunderstood older brother whose life, love and actions (including surviving 13 years in the Bastille) are a reproach to the bilge his brother poured forth. That Jean-Jacques died before the revolution he inspired while his brother lived to see its worst is at the core of the story. Not that this is novel that regrets the revolution - don't look here for a sympathetic voice for fallen aristos - this is a novel denouncing bull shit and the betrayal of revolution by the likes Robespierre, with their clean hands (in the physical not metaphorical sense).
A wonderful fun and entertaining novel - I adore any novel which allows me to use the word picaresque!
January 8, 2009
Though this charming bit of French picaresque was not widely reviewed, those who did so enjoyed it quite a bit. Critics praised the setting, which naturally lends itself to adventure and misbehavior (Tom Jones, after all, was running around England while Fran
January 13, 2021
2.5/stars
Summary
"In the end, my brother grew so bad that he went away and disappeared entirely. Some time afterward, we heard that he had gone to Germany. He never wrote, not even once. He has never since been heard of, and this is how I became the only son."
In The Only Son, Stephane Audeguy uses this single sentence from French Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s book The Confessions for the basis of a fictional autobiography of the man’s brother, Francois.
We follow Francois from childhood where he is raised by only his mother for most of his formative years until his father returns to the family. His father rejects Francois in favor of his newly born younger brother, so Francois turns to a man named Comte de Saint-Fonds for attention and education – education which includes “licentiousness” or promiscuous sexual behavior, to put it simply. Like his father, Francois is apprenticed to a watchmaker, and the skills he acquires lead him to a very lucrative job creating erotic accessories, aka sex toys. He also spends years of his life attempting to create an animatronic sex doll with fully functioning parts and life-like movement. He spends time working in a high-class bordello as well. Eventually, he is imprisoned in the infamous Bastille along with the Marquis de Sade who is covertly writing his book 120 Days of Sodom, and when he is freed he becomes entangled with a feminist revolutionary as the Terror looms closer.
My Review
This book should have been longer, but not for the reasons you may think. It covers 90 years of Francois’s life, and in my opinion leaves a lot to be desired by trying to cover too much too fast.
My main issue is with the episodic format, which is usually one of my favorite techniques in historical fiction when it is done well (re: Zebulon Finch). I love following a character as they move through history and we see how they affected change or how changes and events in the world affected them within the framework of their longer biography. It’s one of my favorite tropes. However, I don’t feel the author executed it well here. We never linger long enough in any part of Francois’s life for all the parts to really flow together and give it that biographical feel. The result is choppy and leaves me feeling as if I just skimmed the surface of the story, not to mention that most of these episodes focus on characters in Francois’s life, rather than on Francois himself.
Also, it’s hard to explain, but it’s almost as if Francois is purposefully manipulating the story of his life as he tells it so that it paints him in a certain light. This makes sense to a certain degree, as the autobiography is meant to be addressed to his brother, Jean-Jacques, and could be meant as a way to reflect Francois’s jealousy of his younger brother and is an attempt to impress him. I’m not sure if this was intentional on the author’s part or not, though, or if it’s just how I’m interpreting the telling vs showing style in the writing. After all, Jean-Jacques is already passed at the time Francois begins to write this. Is it simply a method of catharsis for Francois and nothing else?
If so, this book is actually about the dynamic between these two siblings that never meet or speak to each other, one who became famous and one who disappeared into history, and how that relationship (or lack of) affected Francois’s life, and it’s not really about Francois’s life at all.
In the end, the book spends very little time on the most interesting parts of Francois’s life – like his time manufacturing erotic toys in the 1700s, his time living in a bordello or a bath house, about his thoughts when reading Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom (and orchestrating it’s publication), and his love affair with a feminist revolutionary.
In my opinion, this story is about the weight of words left unsaid, and ironically leaves the reader feeling as if the author should have said a lot more as well.
Trigger Warnings (Spoilers): Several scenes involving sexual acts with children, graphic descriptions of torture, animal harm/abuse, and rape/sexual abuse.
Summary
"In the end, my brother grew so bad that he went away and disappeared entirely. Some time afterward, we heard that he had gone to Germany. He never wrote, not even once. He has never since been heard of, and this is how I became the only son."
In The Only Son, Stephane Audeguy uses this single sentence from French Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s book The Confessions for the basis of a fictional autobiography of the man’s brother, Francois.
We follow Francois from childhood where he is raised by only his mother for most of his formative years until his father returns to the family. His father rejects Francois in favor of his newly born younger brother, so Francois turns to a man named Comte de Saint-Fonds for attention and education – education which includes “licentiousness” or promiscuous sexual behavior, to put it simply. Like his father, Francois is apprenticed to a watchmaker, and the skills he acquires lead him to a very lucrative job creating erotic accessories, aka sex toys. He also spends years of his life attempting to create an animatronic sex doll with fully functioning parts and life-like movement. He spends time working in a high-class bordello as well. Eventually, he is imprisoned in the infamous Bastille along with the Marquis de Sade who is covertly writing his book 120 Days of Sodom, and when he is freed he becomes entangled with a feminist revolutionary as the Terror looms closer.
My Review
This book should have been longer, but not for the reasons you may think. It covers 90 years of Francois’s life, and in my opinion leaves a lot to be desired by trying to cover too much too fast.
My main issue is with the episodic format, which is usually one of my favorite techniques in historical fiction when it is done well (re: Zebulon Finch). I love following a character as they move through history and we see how they affected change or how changes and events in the world affected them within the framework of their longer biography. It’s one of my favorite tropes. However, I don’t feel the author executed it well here. We never linger long enough in any part of Francois’s life for all the parts to really flow together and give it that biographical feel. The result is choppy and leaves me feeling as if I just skimmed the surface of the story, not to mention that most of these episodes focus on characters in Francois’s life, rather than on Francois himself.
Also, it’s hard to explain, but it’s almost as if Francois is purposefully manipulating the story of his life as he tells it so that it paints him in a certain light. This makes sense to a certain degree, as the autobiography is meant to be addressed to his brother, Jean-Jacques, and could be meant as a way to reflect Francois’s jealousy of his younger brother and is an attempt to impress him. I’m not sure if this was intentional on the author’s part or not, though, or if it’s just how I’m interpreting the telling vs showing style in the writing. After all, Jean-Jacques is already passed at the time Francois begins to write this. Is it simply a method of catharsis for Francois and nothing else?
If so, this book is actually about the dynamic between these two siblings that never meet or speak to each other, one who became famous and one who disappeared into history, and how that relationship (or lack of) affected Francois’s life, and it’s not really about Francois’s life at all.
In the end, the book spends very little time on the most interesting parts of Francois’s life – like his time manufacturing erotic toys in the 1700s, his time living in a bordello or a bath house, about his thoughts when reading Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom (and orchestrating it’s publication), and his love affair with a feminist revolutionary.
In my opinion, this story is about the weight of words left unsaid, and ironically leaves the reader feeling as if the author should have said a lot more as well.
Trigger Warnings (Spoilers): Several scenes involving sexual acts with children, graphic descriptions of torture, animal harm/abuse, and rape/sexual abuse.
lv-0-чух-основите-няма-да-чета
January 8, 2022Раздаваха безплатно в библиотеката. Има защо. Много мразя претенциозни книги, които не можеш да разбереш бързо за какво се разправя в книгата. Не е претенциозно или завладяващо - досадно е. Накрая амазон помогна. Книгата е роман за братът на Джан Жак Русо. Колкото повече съм разбирал за действията на Русо, толкова повече не проявявам интерес към този човек, еле па към неизвестния му брат. Сега се чудя тая книга какво да я правя... Като гледам и читатели на книгата в нета също не са били особено впечатлени.
Не съм много сигурен дали бих прочел книга за Русо поначало, еле па за неизвестният му брат.
Някой, ако я иска за подарък да ми пише на ЛС, щот може и да я изхвърля. Френският институт си дават парите за глупости...
Не съм много сигурен дали бих прочел книга за Русо поначало, еле па за неизвестният му брат.
Някой, ако я иска за подарък да ми пише на ЛС, щот може и да я изхвърля. Френският институт си дават парите за глупости...
February 26, 2019
Posso colocar esse livro na lista de "acidentes felizes", porque encontrei por acaso em uma gondola de supermercado e que por algum motivo me chamou a atenção o suficiente pra me fazer levar pra casa.
O livro é bem escrito, em aquela linguagem atemporal dos clássicos e creio que tenha sido de propósito, porque realmente coloca o leitor num ambiente histórico, de volta ao século XVIII. O fato de ter um protagonista mais velho foi uma grata surpresa, assim como a quantidade de personagens femininas fortes e marcantes, tão bem escritas.
Acabei adorando, e recomendo essa leitura!
O livro é bem escrito, em aquela linguagem atemporal dos clássicos e creio que tenha sido de propósito, porque realmente coloca o leitor num ambiente histórico, de volta ao século XVIII. O fato de ter um protagonista mais velho foi uma grata surpresa, assim como a quantidade de personagens femininas fortes e marcantes, tão bem escritas.
Acabei adorando, e recomendo essa leitura!
April 21, 2021
4/5. Prepričljiva psevdo-avtobiografska zgodba zamolčanega brata Jeana-Jacquesa Rousseauja želi v de Sadovi maniri razkrinkati čistunsko, predvsem pa črno-belo predstavljanje dogodkov pred in med francosko revolucijo. Ta se je že v svojih najkrhkejših povojih že zapletala v lastne paradokse, Starega reda se ni dalo zbasati v ropotarnico zgodovine od danes na jutri. Razsvetljeni arhitekti Novega reda so "pridobivali" lastne klofute, saj so naprednejše oblike mišljenja nosile vonj po starikavem in odpravljenem.
February 14, 2012
Fils Unique, Stéphane Audeguy
Fils unique, c'est ce qu'est devenu Jean Jacques Rousseau lorsque son frère aîné disparaît de Genève. Jeune idéaliste qui sort des sentiers battus, il s'en va courir l'aventure vers Paris, où il fera les rencontres les plus troublantes, entre libertinage et philosophie. Sa vie le portera jusqu'aux temps importants de l'Histoire, dans le tourment de la révolution française, qu'il jugera d'un œil critique et impitoyable, lui alors sur le déclin de sa vie.
Si les débuts du récit à Genève laisse présager un roman assez agréable, on tombe rapidement dans le graveleux sans que cela soit vraiment bien exploitée. Le héros, tout aussi obsédé que celui de la Théorie des Nuages La Théorie Des Nuages, n'a cependant pas la fibre poétique qui puisse contrebalancer ce trop plein de lubricité. Les scènes de recherche mécanique sont passablement dérangeantes et grossières. Il est donc fort dommage que ce roman dans l'intention d'écrire sur le libertinage (autant intellectuelle que corporel) laisse le récit s'aventurer dans de telles impasses. Il aurait mieux fallu broder à l'aide de la première partie initiatique et de celle tardive de la rencontre avec Sade à la veille de la Révolution française. Le roman aurait alors gagné en crédibilité et en profondeur.
Fils unique, c'est ce qu'est devenu Jean Jacques Rousseau lorsque son frère aîné disparaît de Genève. Jeune idéaliste qui sort des sentiers battus, il s'en va courir l'aventure vers Paris, où il fera les rencontres les plus troublantes, entre libertinage et philosophie. Sa vie le portera jusqu'aux temps importants de l'Histoire, dans le tourment de la révolution française, qu'il jugera d'un œil critique et impitoyable, lui alors sur le déclin de sa vie.
Si les débuts du récit à Genève laisse présager un roman assez agréable, on tombe rapidement dans le graveleux sans que cela soit vraiment bien exploitée. Le héros, tout aussi obsédé que celui de la Théorie des Nuages La Théorie Des Nuages, n'a cependant pas la fibre poétique qui puisse contrebalancer ce trop plein de lubricité. Les scènes de recherche mécanique sont passablement dérangeantes et grossières. Il est donc fort dommage que ce roman dans l'intention d'écrire sur le libertinage (autant intellectuelle que corporel) laisse le récit s'aventurer dans de telles impasses. Il aurait mieux fallu broder à l'aide de la première partie initiatique et de celle tardive de la rencontre avec Sade à la veille de la Révolution française. Le roman aurait alors gagné en crédibilité et en profondeur.
December 19, 2008
I believe I hve written on more than one occasion recently that some of the novels I've read lately are a bit ambitious and their mere undertaking seems almost too much for the author. In this instance, I must say the opposite.
Mr. Audeguy's subject matter (particularly the last quarter) is such an undertaking that he should have done more. The eighteenth century in France encompassed so many contradictions that it required more treatment. In a sense, this may be the strength of the book. Rather than leaving me bloated, my appetite is still strong.
The novel focuses so much on the jealousy of an older brother and his intentional choice of a different path than his younger, celebrated brother that the political musings and historical commentary seem. almost part and parcel of this jealousy. Still, there is much to be gained in this novel, particularly when we revisit the not-so-"Enlightenment".
Mr. Audeguy's subject matter (particularly the last quarter) is such an undertaking that he should have done more. The eighteenth century in France encompassed so many contradictions that it required more treatment. In a sense, this may be the strength of the book. Rather than leaving me bloated, my appetite is still strong.
The novel focuses so much on the jealousy of an older brother and his intentional choice of a different path than his younger, celebrated brother that the political musings and historical commentary seem. almost part and parcel of this jealousy. Still, there is much to be gained in this novel, particularly when we revisit the not-so-"Enlightenment".
July 25, 2015
Edini sin (Stéphane Audeguy)
- Your Highlight on Page 5 | Location 74-76 | Added on Monday, May 11, 2015 4:33:22 PM
Izvedel sem, kakšno strahovito vodilo si si bil izbral, Jean-Jacques: vitam impendere vero. Življenje podrejaj resnici … Zaradi tega si živel v samoti, ki je jaz ne bi mogel nikoli prenašati. Preveč sem imel rad družbo žensk in druščino moških: svetova, v katerih moraš lagati drugim, če nočeš lagati sebi.
Edini sin (Stéphane Audeguy)
- Your Highlight on Page 54 | Location 823-824 | Added on Monday, May 11, 2015 7:31:35 PM
Odgovarjal sem ti, da ne obstaja nič takega, kot je Usoda, da bi bil po mojem kmečki hlapec lahko dober kralj, če bi se ga le potrudili vzgajati v tej smeri.
January 13, 2011
A delicious book, full of rich imagery of the time period of Rousseau (18th century Paris)I can see why it won the Prix des Deux Magot in 2007. One of those books that you can fall into and feel that you are there with the narrator, who is the older brother Francois, who we know scant little of in reality.
December 17, 2011
I enjoyed the first half of this book. The topic was something I'd never read about, and the frank subject matter was exciting. But the book lost me in the more political second half, and when you combine that with the jumpy narration, I can only give it 2 stars.
May 17, 2009
I found this book quite dull. There was no over riding arc to the story.
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August 14, 2009Libertinism. Fascinating.
April 15, 2011
een nogal vlak geschreven relaas over het leven van jj Rousseau gezien door de ogen van zijn (fictieve?) broer.
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January 21, 2010I'm not liking it...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews