Literature and evil cover

Literature and evil

by Georges Bataille

"In this collection of essays, first published in France in 1957, Georges Bataille explores the value of evil as expressed in literature. 'Literature is not innocent,' Bataille writes in his preface. 'It is guilty and should admit itself so.' It is only by acknowledging its complicity in the knowledge of Evil that literature can communicate fully. This idea is explored through a series of remarkable studies on the work of eight outstanding authors; Emily Bronte, Baudelaire, Blake, Michelet, Kafka, Proust, Genet and de Sade."--BOOK JACKET.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?