Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin Books (1998), Edition: Reprint, 384 pages
Description
Don Rigoberto - insurance executive by day, pornographer and sexual enthusiast by night - misses his estranged second wife. As he compensates for her absence by filling notebooks with a steamy mix of memory and sexual fantasy, readers are drawn into his confusion between imagination and reality.
User reviews
LibraryThing member gbill
What is contained in the ‘notebooks’ of Don Rigoberto? Intellectual musings, sometimes outrageous, about the world, art, and life. Narration of the present day events of his wife Lucrecia, who he’s cast out because of some sort of indiscretion between her and his son (who is the child of a
What else do the notebooks contain? Sexual fantasies. Lots of them. One of the very early chapters has a bunch of cats licking honey off of her naked body as a part of foreplay, and it’s apparent on page 10 that you’re in for a ride. I won’t describe the range of acts which follow except to say it may seem pretty “dirty” depending on your tastes, so if you’re sensitive to that, I wouldn’t recommend the book. Personally I never felt cheap reading it, because the writing is beautiful, and it’s filled with such intelligence and honesty. It feels like eroticism, not pornography (and indeed Rigoberto rails against the latter at one point), and it’s all told very naturally, without shame, and with a mix of playful flirtation and bold directness. The line between reality and fantasy is blurred and one becomes seduced, just as Lucrecia finds herself being seduced.
Intellectually the novel is a “defense of hedonism and the individual”; emotionally it is a love story of regret and of understanding; sexually it is not only an acceptance of desires as being natural, but something to foster, and an embrace of our differences and fetishes because they are a “privileged form of expression of human particularity that allows men and women to define their space, mark their difference from others, exercise their imagination, express their anti-herd spirit, and be free.”
Beyond that there are references to art from father and son that are fun to look up while reading, and all of these threads were woven together in a dreamlike array throughout the book so that I never knew what was coming next. This one really surprised me, even all the way up to now, when I decided to give it five stars.
Quotes:
On desire:
“All human activity that does not contribute, even indirectly, to testicular and ovarian arousal, to the meeting of sperm and egg, is contemptible. For instance, the selling of insurance, to which you and I have devoted the past thirty years, or misogynistic Rotary luncheons. As well as everything that distracts us from the truly essential purpose of human life, which in my opinion, is to satisfy desires. I see no other reason for being here, spinning like slow tops in a gratuitous universe.”
On nonconformity:
“I know of no lie more base than the phrase taught to children: ‘A sound mind is a sound body.’ Who ever said that a sound mind is a desirable goal? In this case, ‘sound’ means stupid, conventional, unimaginative, and unmischievous, the vulgar stereotype of established morality and official religion. Is that a ‘sound’ mind? It is the mind of a nonconformist, a pious old woman, a notary, an insurance salesman, an altar boy, a virgin, a Boy Scout. That is not health, it is an impairment. A rich, indepdent mental life demands curiosity, mischief, fantasy, and unsatisfied desires, which is to say a ‘dirty’ mind, evil thoughts, and the blossoming of forbidden images and appetites that stimulate exploration of the unknown, renovation of the known, and systematic disrespect towards received ideas, common knowledge, and current values.”
On religion:
“I spent the best years of my youth working to realize the Christian Republic, that collectivist utopia of the spirit, enduring with all the zeal of a convert the brutal refutations endlessly inflicted on me and my companions by a human reality vexed at the lunacy of every effort to construct something coherent and egalitarian out of the vortex of incompatible particularities which constitute the human conglomerate.”
On tolerance to homosexuality: (I giggled over the wording in this one)
“I am delighted that they enjoy themselves, and I support their campaigns against discriminatory laws. Beyond that I cannot go, for very practical reasons. Nothing related to what Quevedo called the ‘eye of the ass’ gives me pleasure. Nature, or God, if He exists and wastes His time on these matters, has made that concealed aperture the most sensitive of all orifices that pierce my body. Suppositories wound it, and the tip of an enema syringe makes it bleed (once, during a period of stubborn constipation, one was forced into me, and it was terrible), and so the idea that certain bipeds enjoy having a virile member inserted there fills me with horrified amazement. I am certain, in my case, that along with howls and screams, I would experience a true psychosomatic cataclysm if that aforementioned opening were to be penetrated by an erect penis, even if it were a Pygmy’s. The only punch I ever threw in my life was aimed at a physician who, without warning and on the pretext of determining if I had appendicitis, attempt to commit upon my person a form of torture disguised by the scientific label ‘rectal examination.’ Despite this, I am theoretically in favor of human beings making love inside out, upside down, alone or in couples or in promiscuous collectives (ugh! [sic]) matings in which men copulate with men, and women with women, and both with ducks, dogs, watermelons, bananas, cantaloupes, and every imaginable disgusting thing if it makes them agreeable to the pursuit of pleasure…”
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previous marriage, and so her son-in-law). The son-in-law shows up at her house in an attempt to get his parents reconciled, but it’s apparent pretty quickly that his behavior is a little dangerous. He draws her attention to the art of Egon Schiele in seemingly innocent ways, but always with a touch of flirtation so that she (and her maid) struggle to understand whether he’s truly naughty, or if their adult minds are just in the gutter. What else do the notebooks contain? Sexual fantasies. Lots of them. One of the very early chapters has a bunch of cats licking honey off of her naked body as a part of foreplay, and it’s apparent on page 10 that you’re in for a ride. I won’t describe the range of acts which follow except to say it may seem pretty “dirty” depending on your tastes, so if you’re sensitive to that, I wouldn’t recommend the book. Personally I never felt cheap reading it, because the writing is beautiful, and it’s filled with such intelligence and honesty. It feels like eroticism, not pornography (and indeed Rigoberto rails against the latter at one point), and it’s all told very naturally, without shame, and with a mix of playful flirtation and bold directness. The line between reality and fantasy is blurred and one becomes seduced, just as Lucrecia finds herself being seduced.
Intellectually the novel is a “defense of hedonism and the individual”; emotionally it is a love story of regret and of understanding; sexually it is not only an acceptance of desires as being natural, but something to foster, and an embrace of our differences and fetishes because they are a “privileged form of expression of human particularity that allows men and women to define their space, mark their difference from others, exercise their imagination, express their anti-herd spirit, and be free.”
Beyond that there are references to art from father and son that are fun to look up while reading, and all of these threads were woven together in a dreamlike array throughout the book so that I never knew what was coming next. This one really surprised me, even all the way up to now, when I decided to give it five stars.
Quotes:
On desire:
“All human activity that does not contribute, even indirectly, to testicular and ovarian arousal, to the meeting of sperm and egg, is contemptible. For instance, the selling of insurance, to which you and I have devoted the past thirty years, or misogynistic Rotary luncheons. As well as everything that distracts us from the truly essential purpose of human life, which in my opinion, is to satisfy desires. I see no other reason for being here, spinning like slow tops in a gratuitous universe.”
On nonconformity:
“I know of no lie more base than the phrase taught to children: ‘A sound mind is a sound body.’ Who ever said that a sound mind is a desirable goal? In this case, ‘sound’ means stupid, conventional, unimaginative, and unmischievous, the vulgar stereotype of established morality and official religion. Is that a ‘sound’ mind? It is the mind of a nonconformist, a pious old woman, a notary, an insurance salesman, an altar boy, a virgin, a Boy Scout. That is not health, it is an impairment. A rich, indepdent mental life demands curiosity, mischief, fantasy, and unsatisfied desires, which is to say a ‘dirty’ mind, evil thoughts, and the blossoming of forbidden images and appetites that stimulate exploration of the unknown, renovation of the known, and systematic disrespect towards received ideas, common knowledge, and current values.”
On religion:
“I spent the best years of my youth working to realize the Christian Republic, that collectivist utopia of the spirit, enduring with all the zeal of a convert the brutal refutations endlessly inflicted on me and my companions by a human reality vexed at the lunacy of every effort to construct something coherent and egalitarian out of the vortex of incompatible particularities which constitute the human conglomerate.”
On tolerance to homosexuality: (I giggled over the wording in this one)
“I am delighted that they enjoy themselves, and I support their campaigns against discriminatory laws. Beyond that I cannot go, for very practical reasons. Nothing related to what Quevedo called the ‘eye of the ass’ gives me pleasure. Nature, or God, if He exists and wastes His time on these matters, has made that concealed aperture the most sensitive of all orifices that pierce my body. Suppositories wound it, and the tip of an enema syringe makes it bleed (once, during a period of stubborn constipation, one was forced into me, and it was terrible), and so the idea that certain bipeds enjoy having a virile member inserted there fills me with horrified amazement. I am certain, in my case, that along with howls and screams, I would experience a true psychosomatic cataclysm if that aforementioned opening were to be penetrated by an erect penis, even if it were a Pygmy’s. The only punch I ever threw in my life was aimed at a physician who, without warning and on the pretext of determining if I had appendicitis, attempt to commit upon my person a form of torture disguised by the scientific label ‘rectal examination.’ Despite this, I am theoretically in favor of human beings making love inside out, upside down, alone or in couples or in promiscuous collectives (ugh! [sic]) matings in which men copulate with men, and women with women, and both with ducks, dogs, watermelons, bananas, cantaloupes, and every imaginable disgusting thing if it makes them agreeable to the pursuit of pleasure…”
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LibraryThing member yonas
I loved this book. It wasn't as blatantly erotic as "In Praise of the Stepmother," but it was definitely a good read with much more of a suspenseful feel to it. I highly recommend it. Llosa's use of the language really shines through here.
LibraryThing member Myhi
Great.... following the story of the stepmother - absolutely amazing fiction ! So colorful images-stories-descriptions...
More and more into it - as I further read; very tastful lecture; noticeable obsession for European picture of the author. The link between picture & love, very strong,
Yet another artist who built his skill/art in Paris; we're all waiting for him to FINALLY get his well-deserved Nobel prize !
An artist of the written word - one of the greatest of all times.
Happyending. Not as surprising as the other one, though.
More and more into it - as I further read; very tastful lecture; noticeable obsession for European picture of the author. The link between picture & love, very strong,
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convinceable VISUAL impression. Also, the way the WOMAN is to be in the middle of everything - Llosa's particular art. Lucrecia is a Godess for sure - her emotions & sensuality are actually leading the action. Yet another artist who built his skill/art in Paris; we're all waiting for him to FINALLY get his well-deserved Nobel prize !
An artist of the written word - one of the greatest of all times.
Happyending. Not as surprising as the other one, though.
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LibraryThing member JCO123
I could'nt finish it. Too weird and very boring at times.
LibraryThing member MarshaKT
This book is filled with such graphic sex scenes that I had a difficulty time reading it in public! He's a beautiful writer (one of Bill Clinton's favorites) and not all of his books deal so directly with sexual deviance/oddity, but this one is just over the top
LibraryThing member CindaMac
This novel held my attention because it is both erotic and funny. If you like erotic literature written in the magical realism style, you will give this book by a great writer far more than my meager 3 stars, but I can't - because in the end I started reading something else and was never inclined
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to finish "The Notebooks." Show Less
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2000)
Language
Original language
Spanish
Original publication date
1997 (original Spanish)
1998 (English: Grossman)
Physical description
384 p.; 7.75 x 0.87 inches
ISBN
0140274723 / 9780140274721
Other editions
The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto by Mario Vargas Llosa (Hardcover)