Alexis or the Book of Futile Struggle

Is it possible for a person to give up his sexual orientation just because it is not accepted by society? In this first novel, which was published in 1929 and remains current "because social morals have changed little since then", Marguerite Yourcenar tells the struggle with herself through the farewell letter written to the wife of a man who decided to stop denying his sexual identity, without mentioning the word homosexuality even once.

"This letter is a statement. I do not want it to become a defense. I am not crazy enough to ask for approval; I do not even ask for acceptance: that is too great a request. I only desire to be understood...
Life, Monique, It is more complex than all possible definitions; any simplistic image always runs the risk of being crude. Do not think that I approve of poets' avoidance of precise terms; they only know their dreams; there is much truth in their dreams, but life is more than just poetry. It is more than physiology, more than the morality I believed in for so long. Life is all these and much more: life is life. Our only wealth and our only curse.
So many people use words, Monique, that they don't fit anyone anymore; How can a scientific term explain a life? It does not explain even one event; points to it. It always points in the same way, however, there are no two events that are exactly alike in different lives, not even in the same life..."
(From the Promotional Bulletin)



Number of Pages: 96

Year of Printing: 2016


Language: Turkish
Publisher: < /b>Metis Publishing