Description
THE VEHEMENT FLAME
Book Summary
Following the scandal of The Case of Mr. Crump, Ludwig Lewisohn delivers his most successful novel: an unrelenting portrait of romantic relationships in New York from the Belle Époque to the Roaring Twenties. With a modernity that is still surprising today, the author dissects the lives of characters trapped in social conformism, where lies and self-imposition stifle genuine desire. Only one of them dares to defy the norms through deception, triggering a tragic and liberating outcome. A masterpiece on hypocrisy, marriage, and the search for authenticity.
What is it about?
The novel follows the fate of several New York couples, exploring their intimate lives from the turn of the century to the 1920s. In an environment marked by social conventions, the characters struggle between appearance and repressed desire. The central conflict revolves around an individual who, weary of the falsehood surrounding him, chooses systematic lying as a form of resistance, deceiving others but, above all, himself. The tension grows until a violent act, a gunshot, puts an end to the masks. This is not a typical crime of passion, but a radical gesture to finally reveal desire without veils.
Main themes
- Hypocrisy and conformism in middle-class marital relationships.
- The conflict between individual desire and oppressive social norms.
- Lying as a survival mechanism and a tool for rebellion.
- The evolution of customs and morality from the Belle Époque to the twenties.
- Violence as a definitive breaking of appearances.
Who is it recommended for?
For readers interested in the great literature of the early 20th century, with a critical and modern perspective on human relationships. Especially suitable for those who enjoy psychological novels that explore the complexity of desire, lies, and morality in a suffocating social context. Also for followers of classic fiction seeking works of surprising intensity and rawness for their time.
What this book offers
- A lucid and ruthless vision of marriage and social conventions, without concessions to sentimentality.
- A plot that maintains psychological tension until a shocking and liberating conclusion.
- The value of a work translated by Antonin Artaud, which underscores its literary power and modernity.
- A meticulous period portrait that connects the Belle Époque with the Roaring Twenties through private lives.
Technical data
- Author: LEWISOHN, LUDWIG
- Publisher: HERMIDA EDITORES, S.L
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY FICTION, CLASSIC FICTION
- Collection: EL JARDIN DE EPICURO
- Date of publication: June 2023
- Number of pages: 278
- Weight: 507 g
Editorial review
A necessary reissue of a novel that, despite its initial success, had been unjustly forgotten. Lewisohn demonstrates an exceptional mastery of psychological portraiture and an ability to unsettle the reader that places it on the level of the great modern classics. Its translation by Artaud is no coincidence: the work shares with the French playwright an obsession with the truth of desire and the violence of conventions. An essential title for those seeking an intense, lucid, and emotionally complex narrative.