I'm participating in the Clink Street Publishing Blogival 2017 this month, and am pleased to share an extract by Giuseppe Cafiero from his book Gustave Flaubert: The Ambiguity of Imagination.
Blurb
This is what happens to the legendary writer Gustave Flaubert, when his character Harel-Bey comes to life with a grudge to bear. Even the imaginary characters of books that Monsieur Flaubert has never actually written, but had long pondered and discussed with his most intimate friends, begin to stir with their own motivations.
Quite unexpectedly, Harel-Bey begins a long and difficult journey through the writings of Monsieur Flaubert to try to understand the reasons that induced the writer to write so many books and stories, but never the one that would have had him as leading protagonist. As a vengeful killer, Harel-Bey is determined to murder all of the protagonists of the books and stories Flaubert has written.
In the company of a certain Monsieur Bouvard, himself the star of another book which Flaubert had started but never finished, Harel-Bey seeks his revenge. There’s will be a mission rich in disturbing discoveries, revealing the reasons and the irrationalities of fictionalised reality and unreal fiction.
Extract
The Bedouin Harel-Bey, a possible character of a certain Book that Monsieur Gustave Flaubert never wrote, but which he long pondered and long spoke about with his most intimate friends, unexpectedly and autonomously, begins a long and difficult journey through the writings of Monsieur Flaubert to try to understand the reasons that induced the writer to write so many books and stories, but never the one that would have had him as absolute protagonist. A journey to try to cancel, as vengeful killer, all the protagonists of books and stories written by Monsieur Flaubert.
The crimes were thus conceived as works of cunning and safeguarding, also a natural occasion to make Harel Bey an actor in the region of notoriety, or a shrewd choice for being the unsuspected executioner of liberty, fraternity, equality amongst the characters already active in the novels of Monsieur Gustave Flaubert. In committing crimes the sense of smell perceived, in fact, the imprints of death on this or that person. Touch perceived the signs of bodies which Harel Bay would has to torment. Hearing recognized the haughtiness of phonemes and declamations so that it was inevitable to ponder, in primis, the irreverent impudence of a writer who, with detrimental intentions and fraudulent ardour, Harey Bay murdered amidst appearances and intrigues.
Monsieur Gustave Flaubert was a man of letters who was very partial in the choice of his characters even for unforeseen loves, so that never did a single one of his characters had any certainty that his presence wasn’t solely an opportunity, a casual, scatter-brained invention simply to fill up a sheet of paper, give voice to some bit of writing, realize an idea. As Gustave Flaubert was a born manipulator, Harel Bey wanted only to alternate the protagonists of certain stories with other characters so that these others could be the principal actors or at least participants with a few lines to speak.
Author Bio
Giuseppe Cafiero is a prolific writer and author of ten published works focusing on cultural giants from Vincent Van Gogh to Edgar Allan Poe. Cafiero lives in Italy in the Tuscan countryside. Visit his website or Facebook page.
Blurb
What would happen if a character, even if only roughly sketched in the mind of a writer, decided to take on a life independent of his creator in order to take revenge against all the other characters that this author had created in his other books?
This is what happens to the legendary writer Gustave Flaubert, when his character Harel-Bey comes to life with a grudge to bear. Even the imaginary characters of books that Monsieur Flaubert has never actually written, but had long pondered and discussed with his most intimate friends, begin to stir with their own motivations.
Quite unexpectedly, Harel-Bey begins a long and difficult journey through the writings of Monsieur Flaubert to try to understand the reasons that induced the writer to write so many books and stories, but never the one that would have had him as leading protagonist. As a vengeful killer, Harel-Bey is determined to murder all of the protagonists of the books and stories Flaubert has written.
In the company of a certain Monsieur Bouvard, himself the star of another book which Flaubert had started but never finished, Harel-Bey seeks his revenge. There’s will be a mission rich in disturbing discoveries, revealing the reasons and the irrationalities of fictionalised reality and unreal fiction.
Extract
The Bedouin Harel-Bey, a possible character of a certain Book that Monsieur Gustave Flaubert never wrote, but which he long pondered and long spoke about with his most intimate friends, unexpectedly and autonomously, begins a long and difficult journey through the writings of Monsieur Flaubert to try to understand the reasons that induced the writer to write so many books and stories, but never the one that would have had him as absolute protagonist. A journey to try to cancel, as vengeful killer, all the protagonists of books and stories written by Monsieur Flaubert.
The crimes were thus conceived as works of cunning and safeguarding, also a natural occasion to make Harel Bey an actor in the region of notoriety, or a shrewd choice for being the unsuspected executioner of liberty, fraternity, equality amongst the characters already active in the novels of Monsieur Gustave Flaubert. In committing crimes the sense of smell perceived, in fact, the imprints of death on this or that person. Touch perceived the signs of bodies which Harel Bay would has to torment. Hearing recognized the haughtiness of phonemes and declamations so that it was inevitable to ponder, in primis, the irreverent impudence of a writer who, with detrimental intentions and fraudulent ardour, Harey Bay murdered amidst appearances and intrigues.
Monsieur Gustave Flaubert was a man of letters who was very partial in the choice of his characters even for unforeseen loves, so that never did a single one of his characters had any certainty that his presence wasn’t solely an opportunity, a casual, scatter-brained invention simply to fill up a sheet of paper, give voice to some bit of writing, realize an idea. As Gustave Flaubert was a born manipulator, Harel Bey wanted only to alternate the protagonists of certain stories with other characters so that these others could be the principal actors or at least participants with a few lines to speak.
Author Bio
Giuseppe Cafiero is a prolific writer and author of ten published works focusing on cultural giants from Vincent Van Gogh to Edgar Allan Poe. Cafiero lives in Italy in the Tuscan countryside. Visit his website or Facebook page.
