Neons

by Denis Belloc, William Rodarmor (Translator)

In this brilliant tale of violent sexuality, set forth in stark, hypnotic prose, Denis Belloc presents a narrative of the gay underworld in 1960s Paris. As a young child, Denis witnesses his father’s death in a sideshow boxing match and is left with nothing but faded photographs. Numbed by his mother’s neglect and her new husband’s abusive treatment, he turns to Paris’s teeming street life and to the sordid corners of the city’s public restrooms. He is absorbed quickly into a world of physical and emotional prostitution, and finds temporary stability only with a few lovers and friends. Belloc’s detached style is devoid of self-pity, and creates a savage, involving tension that is unrelenting and uninhibited.

Genres: Queer, Fiction, LGBT, Collections, Gay

114 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There's much brilliance in Neons. Belloc's story of homosexual underlife in Paris may be ages old, but he has sculpted it into a sequence of amazing musical fragments whose cacophonous honesty is perfectly matched to a prose both offhanded and capable of unnerving emotional feats."
-Dennis Cooper

"This explosive and magnificent book speaks the truth, always."
-Marguerite Duras

[Sudhanva K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Visceral

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

In case anyone's curious, the 'weird movie' the narrator and his lover see in the theatre on page 66 is Pasolini's Teorema.

[Liam Ostermann]

Until I read and review this marvellous sounding novel I refer you to Denis Cooper's blog:

https://denniscooperblog.com/spotligh...

from which I quote the following, for those who are to busy/lazy to follow the link (which I do recommend):
‘This is an old story, but one that literature has ignored until relatively recently–a universal story that Denis Belloc sets in France in the 1960s. A poor boy whose mother neglects him and whose stepfather beats him finds excitement and a kind of love in “tearooms,” or public restrooms. Uneducated but good-looking, he is absorbed into a homosexual underworld of prostitution, petty crime and unstable relationships with men a little older and a little better off than he.

‘The protagonist, named Denis like the author, “lives the absence” of his father, a boxer who was killed in a carnival sideshow. He has a vacancy in him that nothing seems to fill. He drifts through blue-collar jobs, prison and intervals as a kept man, periodically infected by syphilis, impulsively drawn to violence, oblivion and flight. The novel’s minimalist style fits the subject. Belloc presents Denis’ life in terse, detached scenes, as brutally clear but as fleeting as the neon lights that flow over him as he guns a stolen motorcycle through the streets of Paris.

‘Denis hardly has a chance. At 20, an ex-con with a drinking problem, his marketability waning–“(my body is) all I have to give”–he seems to have little to look forward to. He does have an interest in painting–his mother’s one positive legacy. And that literary phrase “living the absence” suggests that he may be acquiring an artist’s ability to give form to his pain. Belloc leaves the question open; his main purpose is to show how deforming pain can be.’ — Michael Harris, The Los Angeles Times

‘_

[Lars Meijer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neon van Denis Belloc voelt ergens aan als een roman van Edouard Louis, maar dan zonder de invloed van Pierre Bourdieu; allebei schrijven ze over hun kindertijd die gekenmerkt wordt door armoede, huiselijk geweld en de rol van hun homoseksualiteit. Daarnaast delen ze ook een vergelijkbare relatie met hun moeder. Deze korte roman van Belloc is de enige die naar het Nederlands is vertaald. Dat is jammer. Ik ben nieuwsgierig of er wellicht meer overeenkomsten tussen deze twee Franse auteurs te vinden waren geweest.

[Guillaume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incroyablement poignant puisqu'incroyablement humain. Les 20 premières années de la vie de Denis Belloc. Les pissotières, la découverte de l'homosexualité, la prostitution, les amitiés, les amours, la taule, une relation fraternelle qui vous tire de grosses larmes... Réaliste n'est pas le mot juste comme le dira Duras dans son interview en fin d'ouvrage, on est bien au-delà de ce genre de considération. Jute un récit qui se lit d'une traite et qui emporte dans un tourbillon de vie, basse, "dépravée" certes, si on veut, mais avec un cœur gros comme ça.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bearly a spoiler, but you might think of it as one so take it or leave it


It was really good. A very raw book, and the constant struggle of the main character hurts at moments, especially the childhood sexual abuse which didn't seem to be fully seen as that. Seeing his age, and what he's gone through, was hard. But it was a good book definitely.

[Charlotte (charlotte.en.bretonnie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une plume incisive, un concentré de situations malsaines, de souffrance, de détresse mais également de beauté et de poésie. Un roman difficile à lire quand on sait qu'il est autobiographique.

[Lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay so this book is a bit raw but like it’s good.
I think i am not the perfect audience for this one but yeah i understand what the person who loved it saw in it

[Celestica · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai pas les mots mais c’est une honte que ce livre ait une note aussi basse