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Les Cités intérieures
Szkarlatny Aniol
Polish translation of L'Ange écarlate.
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
8 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Natasha Beaulieu
25 books48 followersNatasha Beaulieu est une écrivaine dont l'oeuvre explore les relations humaines marginales. Ses personnages atypiques évoluent dans des ambiances underground dérangeantes, parfois fantastiques ou de science-fiction.
Les Cités intérieures, un cycle en quatre volumes, se déroule entre le monde réel et un Autre monde parallèle.
Les romans psychologiques Le Deuxième gant, Regarde-moi et Le Secret du 16V mettent en scène des personnages qui choisissent des chemins de vie hors de l'ordinaire.
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Natasha Beaulieu is a writer whose work explores marginal human relationships. Her atypical characters evolve in disturbing underground atmospheres, sometimes fantastic or science fiction.
Les Cités intérieures, a cycle in four volumes, takes place between the real world and a parallel Other world.
The psychological novels Le Deuxième gant, Regarde-moi and Le Secret du 16V feature characters who choose unusual life paths.
Les Cités intérieures, un cycle en quatre volumes, se déroule entre le monde réel et un Autre monde parallèle.
Les romans psychologiques Le Deuxième gant, Regarde-moi et Le Secret du 16V mettent en scène des personnages qui choisissent des chemins de vie hors de l'ordinaire.
------------------------------------------------
Natasha Beaulieu is a writer whose work explores marginal human relationships. Her atypical characters evolve in disturbing underground atmospheres, sometimes fantastic or science fiction.
Les Cités intérieures, a cycle in four volumes, takes place between the real world and a parallel Other world.
The psychological novels Le Deuxième gant, Regarde-moi and Le Secret du 16V feature characters who choose unusual life paths.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 14, 2017
Natasha Beaulieu is a strange and fascinating lady. I came across this little trilogy of hers when I still worked in a bookstore (OMG, that was ten years ago!) because no one could quite figure out where to shelve it. Even now, I am not super clear on what genre we are talking about here: I would be inclined to say urban fantasy, but the most accurate label might be Neo-Gothic Weird. We didn't have a section for that at the store, so it ended up in the horror section.
This book is about obsession and fetishism, but it is in no way lurid or trashy. The characters are opaque but also incredibly introspective. The story is very bizarre, but it was so completely unexpected that even the weaker points had me riveted. There is some blood drinking and some characters live unnaturally long lives, but this isn't about vampires. Beaulieu's immortals are weirder and more ambiguous than vampires, which I really appreciate. The emphasis is much more on unusual sexuality: fetishism, BDSM and the community involved in those practices. All of Beaulieu's books touch on those subjects, so if this is something that creeps you out, stay away. I didn't know anything about it before I picked up her books and while I wouldn't recommend them as educational works, they helped me understand that scene a little better.
Reclusive painter Jimmy Novak becomes fascinated with an enigmatic dominatrix: the Scarlet Angel, a woman known for her red hair and for the sharp metal claws she wears on her fingertips. Since she casually scratched Jimmy with those creepy things, he can't get her out of his head and is sent into a strange, almost trance-like creative drive. The Scarlet Angel also can't seem to keep Jimmy out of her mind, even as she takes on an unusual new client. In parallel to their story, an Englishman named David Fox is gifted with immortality on the condition that he will act as guardian to a city that seems to live in his mind.
These are not likable characters: Jimmy is arrogant and coarse, the Angel cold, impolite and emotionally detached. But they are also realistic and strangely vulnerable, driven by all too human impulses in a remarkably weird setting. I wasn't sure this book would be my thing, especially since the non-linear narrative goes to many different places and it can get hard to keep track of who is whom, and when, and where everything is happening. But everything on the page was so unlike any other books that I had read before: I just had to keep on reading! It's quite refreshing to read a book that doesn't try to be like anything else.
Beaulieu's weakness is really her dialogues, that can sound completely unnatural at times. Québec-French can be tricky to put down on paper, so its not entirely her fault, but it can be jarring. As are the occasional anglicisms that her editor dropped, but that happens more often than I'd like with Quebec authors: we are so used to navigating both languages and blurring the lines that slips like that are a common occurrence. Otherwise, it's a great and unsettling story that reads surprisingly fast. As the first tome of a trilogy, it naturally feels unfinished, and you have to read the sequels to really understand what is going on, but Beaulieu knows just how to hook readers!
A lovely addition to my collection of fantasy and horror novels by local writers. I hope these guys get the mainstream attention they deserve soon!
This book is about obsession and fetishism, but it is in no way lurid or trashy. The characters are opaque but also incredibly introspective. The story is very bizarre, but it was so completely unexpected that even the weaker points had me riveted. There is some blood drinking and some characters live unnaturally long lives, but this isn't about vampires. Beaulieu's immortals are weirder and more ambiguous than vampires, which I really appreciate. The emphasis is much more on unusual sexuality: fetishism, BDSM and the community involved in those practices. All of Beaulieu's books touch on those subjects, so if this is something that creeps you out, stay away. I didn't know anything about it before I picked up her books and while I wouldn't recommend them as educational works, they helped me understand that scene a little better.
Reclusive painter Jimmy Novak becomes fascinated with an enigmatic dominatrix: the Scarlet Angel, a woman known for her red hair and for the sharp metal claws she wears on her fingertips. Since she casually scratched Jimmy with those creepy things, he can't get her out of his head and is sent into a strange, almost trance-like creative drive. The Scarlet Angel also can't seem to keep Jimmy out of her mind, even as she takes on an unusual new client. In parallel to their story, an Englishman named David Fox is gifted with immortality on the condition that he will act as guardian to a city that seems to live in his mind.
These are not likable characters: Jimmy is arrogant and coarse, the Angel cold, impolite and emotionally detached. But they are also realistic and strangely vulnerable, driven by all too human impulses in a remarkably weird setting. I wasn't sure this book would be my thing, especially since the non-linear narrative goes to many different places and it can get hard to keep track of who is whom, and when, and where everything is happening. But everything on the page was so unlike any other books that I had read before: I just had to keep on reading! It's quite refreshing to read a book that doesn't try to be like anything else.
Beaulieu's weakness is really her dialogues, that can sound completely unnatural at times. Québec-French can be tricky to put down on paper, so its not entirely her fault, but it can be jarring. As are the occasional anglicisms that her editor dropped, but that happens more often than I'd like with Quebec authors: we are so used to navigating both languages and blurring the lines that slips like that are a common occurrence. Otherwise, it's a great and unsettling story that reads surprisingly fast. As the first tome of a trilogy, it naturally feels unfinished, and you have to read the sequels to really understand what is going on, but Beaulieu knows just how to hook readers!
A lovely addition to my collection of fantasy and horror novels by local writers. I hope these guys get the mainstream attention they deserve soon!
September 23, 2017
J'ai trouvé l'histoire un peu tirée par les cheveux, mais je trouve qu'il y a encore trop de mystère sur Kaguesna. Quand c'est trop fantaisiste, c'est pas mon genre, mais ça c'est bien lit tout de même. Je ne sais pas trop si j'ai envie de lire les deux autres tomes.
July 23, 2024
Une grande trilogie québécoise. Personnages vraiment bien construits.
December 1, 2021
Lors d'une soirée fétichiste, Jimmy Novak, un jeune peintre talentueux fait la rencontre de l'Ange Écarlate. Après cette rencontre, il en devient obsédé. De plus plusieurs changement surviennent dans sa vie de puis ce moment : Il de dort plus, il ne mange plus et surtout, il comment à aimer boire son propre sang. Comme si ce n'était pas assez, des images d'une cité inconnue nommée Kaguesna lui hantent l'esprit.
Ce roman est d'une genre dont je ne suis pas familier. De plus, il est bien difficile d'en faire un bon résumé sans révéler des points importants de l'intrigue. C'est un peu un univers gothique et fétichiste où se mélange un peu de fantastique et d'horreur. Même après la lecture, je ne sais pas si c'est vraiment un roman avec des vampires mais il y a quelques ressemblances. Ce qui est bien c'est que le roman m'a intrigué du début à la fin. Il y a beaucoup de mystères et ils ne sont pas tous résolus à la fin. J'ai donc hâte de lire la suite pour voir où s'en va l'histoire.
Ce roman est d'une genre dont je ne suis pas familier. De plus, il est bien difficile d'en faire un bon résumé sans révéler des points importants de l'intrigue. C'est un peu un univers gothique et fétichiste où se mélange un peu de fantastique et d'horreur. Même après la lecture, je ne sais pas si c'est vraiment un roman avec des vampires mais il y a quelques ressemblances. Ce qui est bien c'est que le roman m'a intrigué du début à la fin. Il y a beaucoup de mystères et ils ne sont pas tous résolus à la fin. J'ai donc hâte de lire la suite pour voir où s'en va l'histoire.
October 30, 2021
L'histoire de ce roman est vraiment fucker! Dès le début, l'auteure nous met dans un ambiance de mystère et d'intrigue, sans oublier l'intensité!
J'ai vraiment adoré ma lecture, où on en append un peu de plus en se promenant dans le temps, sur une période de deux ans.
Des questions restent en suspend, dont j'imagine seront répondu dans les prochains tomes.
J'ai vraiment adoré ma lecture, où on en append un peu de plus en se promenant dans le temps, sur une période de deux ans.
Des questions restent en suspend, dont j'imagine seront répondu dans les prochains tomes.
February 5, 2025
I thought this book was going to be somehow erotic but I stopped reading after the rape scene in a fetish event. This is not the type of BDSM content I was hoping for... The characters are a bit cliché: The broke artist struggling with his complexity, the cold femme fatale,... It was useful to practice French but I stopped reading halfway with lots of disappointment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2022
Weird asf kinda into the weirdness, and its definitely different than other books ive read
July 30, 2023
C’était une relecture pour me préparer au 4e tome qui sortirait dans quelques semaines. Dire que j’ai lu les 3 premiers il y a maintenant presque 20 ans!
October 7, 2014
Bof et rebof. Je n'ai pas aimé l'écriture que j'ai trouvé simple et sans poésie. Je n'ai pas adhéré à l'histoire goth/vamp, comme si le style d'écriture ne collait pas ou ne suffisait pas à créer une ambiance. Ce sont des personnages typées sans profondeur. Je l'ai trouvé rempli de clichés. Il y manquait peut-être le petit qqch de Shelley ou de Stoker pour que j'accroche. Mais je crois que ça pourrait quand même plaire à un certain public.
February 15, 2014
un livre à couper le souffle. Des la première page on s'engage dans une poursuite folle qu'on n'oubliera jamais
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews