The Motorcycle

by André Pieyre de Mandiargues

English, French (translation)

Genres: Literature, Fiction, Modern

187 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

André Pieyre de Mandiargues was a French writer born in Paris. He became an associate of the Surrealists and married the Italian painter Bona Tibertelli de Pisis (a niece of the Italian metaphysical painter Count Filippo De Pisis). He was a particularly close friend of the painter Leonor Fini.

His novel La Marge (1967) won the Prix Goncourt and was made into a film of the same name by Walerian Borowczyk in 1976. It is his collection of pornographic items that is featured in Borowczyk's Une collection particuliere. He also wrote an introduction to Pauline Reage's Story of O.

His book Feu de braise (1959) was published in 1971 in an English translation by April FitzLyon called Blaze of Embers (Calder and Boyars, 1971).

Reviews

[Czarny Pies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ce roman minable a la vocation pédagogique de représenter le roman surréaliste dans les programmes de littératures offerts par les universités anglophones en Amérique du Nord. Très court et dénuée de toute subtilité, c'est une role qui lui convient parfaitement. Chez les francophones "La Motocyclette" aura un intérêt seulement pour ceux qui ont une fétiche pour des femmes en cuir.
Pieyre de Mandiargues annonce avec une citation avant le commencement du texte que son livre est une reprise de Metzengerstein d'Edgar Allen Poe qui raconte l'histoire d'un jeune protagoniste va meurt dans d'une chevauchée folle, (Avant de commencer la lecture de "La motocyclette" on est conseillé de lire le résumé excellent de Wikipedia ou la conte dont une traduction excellente de Baudelaire est gratuite chez Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20761/...).
Le protagoniste de "La Motocyclette" est une jeune fille de 19 ans qui s'appelle Rebecca Res (qui veut "chose" en latin) dont le père est un libraire qui se spécialise dans les ventes de livres d'Emmanuel Swedenborg un théologien qui proposait la thèse que le jugement dernier a eu lieu en 1757. Rebecca est donc jugée et condamnée bien avant d'être née.
Rebecca épouse un professeur de lycée qui s'appelle Raymond Nul ("Vraiment Nul") est par le fait devient nulle aussi. Son amant un Daniel Lionart ("Lion Heart) qui est aussi un disciple de Swedenborg lui donne comme cadeau de noce une motocyclette Harley qui deviendra l'instrument de sa mort. Mariée Rebecca Nul se sert de la monture
diabolique pour aller aux rendez-vous avec Daniel. Elle se promène toujours sur la motocyclette "nue sous la combinaison de cuir noire très brillant et doublé de fourrure blanche". Chez Daniel elle se livra à pratiques sadomasochiste dans lesquelles elle prend toujours le role de l'esclave.
L'appétits de Rebecca pour la perversion sexuelle et la vitesse sur la route s'accroissent rapidement. Tel que promis au début du roman elle va mourir dans un accident de motocyclette, une fin que l'auteur qualifie de "dionysiaque".
"La Motocyclette" est un bon véhicule pour montrer bien le coté vicieux du surréalisme aux étudiants anglophones du premier cycle. Il n'a pas d'autre role.

[X · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Without a doubt, he will not restrain himself, and soon she will become a leaf abandoned to the marvellous storm which will bend her and carry her away with such authority that nothing will be left but submission. The motorcycle too is a storm, bringing her so far and so quickly too and so violently, but differing from the other nevertheless, because it is a storm obedient to the will of the driver who controls it at will by a slight movement of the hand or the foot, and thus its role is an inferior one, that of a pander in the service of some great depredator."

This passage, from chapter two of the novel "The Girl on the Motorcylce," is indeed a beautiful statement that flows well. However, after one hundred and sixty four pages of it, it becomes quite boring.

I discovered this book through the film starring Marianne Faithfull and Alain Delon. I liked the film well enough so I hunted down the book, only to be incredibly disappointed. This book seems to play to at two things that lie in nearly every man's fantasy: an alluring woman and a motorcycle. The book centers around Rebecca, a woman who goes through life loving the men in her life and her precious Harley Davidson motorcycle, a bike in which there is not another like in this world apparently. The conflict of the book begins with Rebecca, fleeing her newlywed to see her lover in another town. The book goes on from there although I was often felt I was rereading the same passage over and over again. Particularly in the beginning when the author (Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues) just kept going on and on about Rebecca's beloved motorcycle and the anticipation of meeting her lover.
Throughout the book, the author points out many facets of Rebecca's sensuality. For example, when she sneaks out of the double bed she shares with her husband (with whom she sleeps in the nude while he sleeps in pajamas, a fact she criticizes greatly) it is revealed that she was in such a hurry to leave that she didn't even bother putting on any clothes under her leather suit, rather she just puts on a pair of dirty underwear she fetched from the hamper, and was completely nude otherwise. While I can understand this desperation, I don't necessarily see why it must be mentioned time and time again. Also, the author continually describes Rebecca's experience on the motorcycle to her sexual relationships. Which is all clever enough, but once again, it was all too much and it reminded me a bit of Stephen King's "Cristine." As for her experience with her lover, it nearly seems like every time she had sex, it sounds like a "romance (AKA porn) novella." (i.e. "...he considered her with his superior being's and his wild beast's look, ...zip open her leather suit which will tumble off her smooth body like a discarded skin..." etc.)
Altogether, this book got old very quickly. From it's flowery repetitive opening to its predictable end. I still recommend the film, despite the fact that the original story was made entirely for the purpose of fueling 1960's adolescent boy's daydreams of the perfect woman who thinks of nothing but sex, love, and her motorcycle.

[Justin Tuijl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it, not as good as the film though

[Christophe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Repetitive and predictable. This so-called masterpiece of erotic literature is very sloppy indeed.

[René Toet · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Girl on the Motorcycle' is an interesting book. Although not much happens, the writing style is captivating enough by itself to continue reading and to enjoy it. Like motorcycling, the trip is more important than the destination. 3 Stars

[albin james · Rating 2 out of 5]

i will go and spit upon your graves.