Description
HEN'S ARSE
Book Summary
A historical account as rigorous as it is irreverent regarding the most intimate and painful ailment of Louis XIV. José Ángel Barrueco narrates with humor and precision the details of the pilonidal cyst that tormented the Sun King for a year, showing how a taboo condition proved more powerful than all the wars waged by the monarch. A work that combines biography, medicine, and satire to offer a unique perspective on human fragility behind absolute power.
What is it about?
On January 15, 1686, Louis XIV awoke with an acute discomfort in his perianal area. The diagnosis was a sacrococcygeal pilonidal cyst, a condition that, at 47 years of age, would become his most atrocious and relentless battle. The book recounts, with a tone that oscillates between documentary rigor and irony, how the Sun King, victor of dozens of wars in Europe and in his own country, was reduced to impotence by an ailment considered taboo. Through an agile and well-documented narrative, José Ángel Barrueco unravels the details of this disease, its treatments, and the impact it had on the court and the monarch's life, offering a human and demystifying look at a historical figure.
Main themes
- Illness as a human experience that levels absolute power.
- The social and historical taboo surrounding intimate ailments and perianal health.
- The figure of Louis XIV from an intimate and vulnerable perspective, far from the Sun King myth.
- 17th-century medicine and its limitations in the face of complex conditions.
- Satire and humor as tools to address history and the human condition.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in the history of France and absolute monarchy, but also at those looking for original biographies that stray from conventional accounts. It is ideal for those who appreciate intelligent humor and irony applied to serious subjects, as well as for those curious to know the more human and less glorious aspects of great historical figures.
What this book offers
- An unprecedented and humanizing perspective of Louis XIV, showing his physical and emotional fragility.
- An informative and enjoyable approach to a little-known historical and medical ailment.
- A reflection on how taboo diseases affect the public and private perception of power.
- An agile and entertaining read that combines historical rigor with a fresh and casual narrative style.
Technical specifications
- Author: BARRUECO, JOSE ANGEL
- Publisher: EDICIONES LA UÑA ROTA
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: BIOGRAPHY: ROYALTY, TRUE STORIES, PROSE: NON-FICTION, MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY FICTION, HISTORY
- Collection: MICRORROTURAS
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: April 2021
- Number of pages: 112
- Weight: 105 g
Editorial review
A biographical essay that demonstrates how history can be told from the most unexpected angles. Barrueco's work achieves a difficult balance: documenting a real episode with seriousness while, at the same time, maintaining a light and accessible tone that hooks the reader. Its main success is stripping the Sun King of his armor of greatness to present him in a situation of absolute vulnerability, generating a reflection on power, illness, and taboo. It is a recommended read for those looking for an original, brief, and memorable approach within historical non-fiction.