#victoria mas

[prosedumonde]

Mais la folie des hommes n’est pas comparable à celle des femmes : les hommes l’exercent sur les autres ; les femmes, sur elles-mêmes.

Victoria Mas, Le bal des folles

[petit-atelier-de-poesie]

NOTE DE LECTURE : Le bal des folles. Victoria Mas. 2019

J'appréhendais un peu de commencer ce roman qui trainait dans ma pile à lire depuis des mois, car je connaissais globalement la teneur de l'histoire et la folie, ça fait peur.  Or j'ai débuté avec aisance le récit de Victoria Mas, auquel j'ai accroché facilement malgré les éléments de surnaturel qui en font l'intrigue : Eugénie, l'héroïne, est médium et communique avec des esprits, sans qu'à aucun moment ne soit envisagé le délire. Le parti pris de l'autrice est bien d'effacer la frontière de la vie et de la mort, de la folie et de la norme pour évoquer uniquement des femmes qui souffrent, et pour lesquelles la folie est le seul moyen de défense contre des traumas et/ou une société maltraitante.  C'est donc une fiction qui prend le ton d'un engagement féministe pour dénoncer les violences du patriarcat : les proxénètes, les abuseurs, les menteurs, les voyeurs, les médecins, les pères, et les hommes en général de ce XIX siècle parisien.  Dans ce premier roman, Victoria Mas réussit à la fois à décrire l'ambiance sociale et les découvertes médicales de cette époque tout en tenant le fil de sa narration autour des personnages d'Eugénie, l'internée et de Geneviève, l'intendante du célèbre neurologue Charcot, qui étudie les maladies nerveuses et autres hystéries.  L'histoire d'Eugénie et de Geneviève, de Louise, de Thérèse et toutes les autres femmes internées à la Salpétrière est extrêmement touchante, humaine et sensible, passant d'un instant à l'autre du côté des parias, le plus souvent et malheureusement pour entrer à l'hôpital d'ailleurs... sans plus d'espoir d'en sortir. Ainsi Le bal des folles a reçu un très bel accueil lorsqu'il est sorti, lui, ce qui montre bien que le message de fond est bien passé. Tant mieux ! 

[livingfictionsystem]

-Xanthe

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: The Mad Women's Ball

Author: Victoria Mas

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2019

Genres: fiction, historical fiction, feminism, fantasy, mental health, gothic

Blurb: Dr. Charcot holds all of Paris in thrall with his displays of hypnotism on women who have been deemed mad and cast out from society...but the truth is much more complicated: these women are often simply inconvenient, unwanted wives, those who have lost something precious, wayward daughters, or girls born from adulterous relationships. For Parisian society, the highlight of the year is the Lenten Ball, deemed the Madwomen's Ball, when the great and good come to gawk at the patients of the Salpetriere Asylum dressed up in their finery for one night only. For the women themselves, it is a rare moment of hope. Genevieve is a senior nurse. After the childhood death of her sister Blandine, she shunned religion and placed her faith in both the celebrated psychiatrist Dr. Charcot and science...but everything begins to change when she meets Eugenie, the 19-year-old daughter of a bourgeois family that has locked her away in the asylum because Eugenie has a secret: she sees spirits. Inspired by the scandalous banned work The Book of Spirits that all of Paris is talking about, Eugenie is determined to escape from the asylum - and the bonds of her gender - and seek out those who will believe in her. For that, she will need Genevieve's help.

[lex-blogs]

And besides, sometimes one has to choose one's battles. It is neither possible nor appropriate to rebel against everything, all the time, to attack every individual or institution guilty of injustice.

Victoria Mas, The Mad Women’s Ball

[princessofmistake]

L'anziana è impietrita. Difficile capire se voglia scappare da quel che sente o abbracciare la nipote. Quanto a Eugénie, alla confessione segue l'imbarazzo. Quando diciamo la verità non sappiamo mai davvero se abbiamo fatto bene a dirla. Sebbene sul momento sia un sollievo, l'onestà si trasforma presto in rimpianto. Ce la prendiamo con noi stessi per esserci confidati, lasciati trascinare dall'urgenza di parlare, aver riposto la nostra fiducia in un altro, e quel rimpianto ci fa ripromettere di non farlo più.

[quarterpastmidnight]

Books read in 2023: The mad women's ball by Victoria Mas

Illness dehumanises; it makes puppets of these women, at the mercy of their grotesque symptoms, rag dolls in the hands of doctors who manipulate and examine every fold of skin; curious animals who elicit only a clinical curiosity. They are no longer wives or mothers or adolescent girls, they are no longer women to be considered or contemplated, they will never be women who are desired or loved; they are patients. Lunatics.

[hamsterdiaries]

oh yeah, i finished reading eileen by ottessa moshfegh. i enjoyed how weird it was and a certain appreciate for eileen, so i picked up a couple other books by her. returned the other books i got at the same time as eileen cause i wasn’t feeling them as much and just wanted to keep reading stuff.

what i have checked out from the library right now:

my year of rest and relaxation - ottessa moshfegh

death in her hands - ottessa moshfegh

downeast: five maine girls and the unseen story of rural america - gigi georges

the madwomens ball - victoria mas; translated from french by frank wynne

i also renewed devotions by mary oliver so i could keep dipping in and out of it. the other night i decided to read the first chapter of every book i got and it actually feels good for my brain to be reading a couple books at once. thinking i might go and spend time in the library again tomorrow.

[hondana]

#28 The Mad Women's Ball - Victoria Mas | France | historical fiction | 224 pages

The Salpetriere Asylum: Paris, 1885. Dr. Charcot holds all of Paris in thrall with his displays of hypnotism on women who have been deemed mad and cast out from society. But the truth is much more complicated—these women are often simply inconvenient, unwanted wives, those who have lost something precious, wayward daughters, or girls born from adulterous relationships. For Parisian society, the highlight of the year is the Lenten ball—the Madwomen’s Ball—when the great and good come to gawk at the patients of the Salpetriere dressed up in their finery for one night only. For the women themselves, it is a rare moment of hope.

Genevieve is a senior nurse. After the childhood death of her sister Blandine, she shunned religion and placed her faith in both the celebrated psychiatrist Dr. Charcot and science. But everything begins to change when she meets Eugenie—the 19-year-old daughter of a bourgeois family that has locked her away in the asylum. Because Eugenie has a secret: she sees spirits. Inspired by the scandalous, banned work that all of Paris is talking about, The Book of Spirits,Eugenie is determined to escape from the asylum—and the bonds of her gender—and seek out those who will believe in her. And for that she will need Genevieve's help . . .

from: Goodreads

[bookjotter6865]

Winding Up the Week #343

An end of week recap “The evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups whose common denominator is low intelligence and high emotionality.” – Arthur Koestler (born 5th September 1905) This is a post in which I summarise books read, reviewed and currently on my TBR shelf. In addition to a variety of…

[thebookhoard]

Title: The Mad Women's Ball

Author: Victoria Mas

Pages: 210

"The Salpêtrière asylum, 1885. All of Paris is in thrall to Doctor Charcot and his displays of hypnotism on women who have been deemed mad or hysterical. But the truth is more complicated - these women are often inconvenient, unwanted wives or strong-willed daughters. Once a year, a grand event is held - the Mad Women's Ball. For the Parisian elite, it is the highlight of the social season; for the women themselves, it is a rare moment of hope.

Geneviève is a senior nurse who has placed her faith in Doctor Charcot and his new science. But everything changes when she meets Eugénie, the daughter of a bourgeois family. For Eugénie has a secret and needs Geneviève's help. Their fates will collide on the night of the Mad Women's Ball..."

I enjoyed this book greatly, and it's no surprise that it has become one of my favourites. I do have to mention that it has two heavy scenes - I'll put the trigger warning into the tags. What surprised me, though, was the supernatural/spiritual element, but to me, it made the story even more interesting.

Here are two of my favourite quotes:

"In order to criticize, someone must be informed."

"As if intellectual constraints were not sufficient, women had to be hobbled physically. One might almost think that, in imposing such restrictions, men did not so much scorn women as fear them."

[prosedumonde]

Dès le réveil, la perspective de devoir traverser une journée entière accable déjà les pensées et les corps. L’absence d’horloge fait de chaque jour un moment suspendu et interminable. Entre ces murs où l’on attend d’être vue par un médecin, le temps est l’ennemi fondamental. Il fait jaillir les pensées refoulées, rameute les souvenirs, soulève les angoisses, appelle les regrets - et ce temps, dont on ignore s’il prendra un jour fin, est plus redouté que les maux mêmes dont on souffre.

Victoria Mas, Le bal des folles

[plantdad-dante]

Book #89 - The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas

(hey. hi. intending to read this? look up content warnings, omg.) I sometimes forget what rage feels like. Rage is energy, in the sense that it spurs you into action, that it is a drive to do something, anything, to make stop whatever caused it. And I forget. Energy is so hard to come by. My brain defaults to indignation, frustration, shame, or, hell, melancholy. Anything that can feel horrible, but doesn't need energy. Seldom, my mind allows me rage anymore. I am too tired, too exhausted. It is stressful to live these days. It fucking sucks. So I like books that remind me. Not books that make me angry, no. Books that show me rage. This book showed me Eugénie. And not only did she have the rage I have missed for years and years, she knew how to use it, too. This book isn't a parable. It doesn't end with a clear "compassion gets you here, rage gets you there". It is about these women trying to choose for themselves, and getting widely different results - and only secondarily, if at all, due to their individual approaches. I feel enthralled with this book. I would not be able to fit all that I think into a single post, a single comment, a single explanation. This post, then, became about Eugénie, and rage, and, in a way, envy. Thinking about Geneviève elicits a sad, yet proud smile. Thinking about Louise is like stepping barefeet on broken glass. Thinking about Thérèse brings back the yearning - the yearning for a quiet, a peaceful life. Thinking about Eugénie feels like remembering.

[les-toupies-h]

Victoria Mas

[estrellavanidad]

La fe inquebrantable en una idea conduce a los prejuicios .

-El baile de las locas.