Twisted love in French literature?

[birdgerhl]

Sorry for the very specific nature of this thread. I'm having to come up with my dissertation proposal over the next few weeks, complete with an intended bibliography. At the moment I'm thinking something along the lines of 'twisted love in the French novel' as my proposed question, and using Francoise Sagan's 'Bonjour Tristesse' and 'Wonderful Clouds', and Colette's 'The Cat' as primary sources.

However, I wondered if anyone knows of any texts they think will work well with this question that I'm not aware of? Thankfully I'm a very fast reader and would like to have explored all the options possible before submitting my proposal.

Many thanks in advance!

[Kafka's Crow]

What level of studies are you at. Is it for the first degree? In that case turn 'twisted love' into 'decadence', if it is for a higher degree, you will have to narrow your scope, find a piece and work on it. Samuel Beckett has some extremely 'twisted' romantic encounters. Get hold of Molloy in French, you might find something of importance there.

[ThousandthIsle]

Possibly 'The Third Body' by Helene Cixous? "Twisted" could be taken many ways.

Also, are you looking for literature by French authors, or in a French setting, or French characters, etc? Specifically fiction or non-fiction too?

Interesting topic!

[loe]

If I understand "twisted" in the right way I would recommend books like Emile Zola: Thérèse Raquin or Stendhal's The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma. Maybe also Alexandre Dumas', The Lady of the Camellias could be interesting.

[EricP]

Georges Bataille's novel "The Story of the Eye"

[jgweed]

What about Les Liaisons dangereuses? It is about several kinds of twisted love, including seduction.

[stlukesguild]

How about Verlaine and Rimbaud as it shows up in Rimbaud's Season in Hell?:D

[stlukesguild]

Georges Bataille's novel "The Story of the Eye"

"Twisted?" Undoubtedly. "Love?" I'm not so sure about that.

[Pecksie]

Apart from the ones already mentioned, and since the phrase "twisted love" is ample enough to encompass many different situations, I would suggest:

* Le sang des autres, by Simone de Beauvoir
* Tous les hommes sont mortels, idem
* Belle du Seigneur, by Albert Cohen

Neither the first nor the second are primarily about love, but they deal with it. The third is an absolutely moving love story.

[slobone]

The most twisted thing I've ever read. LOL But I didn't think it was about love, either.

I don't understand the context of "twisted," either. Even "Madame Bovary" and "Sentimental Education" could be said to be twisted, to a degree.
Or Cousin Bette. But again, maybe not actually love.

To bad you're not doing movies, you could include nearly anything by Truffaut. He apparently only believed in twisted love.

[Kafka's Crow]

Or Cousin Bette. But again, maybe not actually love.

To bad you're not doing movies, you could include nearly anything by Truffaut. He apparently only believed in twisted love.

Talking about French movies, Audery Tatou's À la folie... pas du tout is the most twisted love-story I have ever seen on screen.