The necrophiliac by Gabrielle Wittkop

The story centers around a necrophiliac and his lovers that he brings from the cemeteries. His love for them is uncompromising and inconsiderate. Naturally, the story is absurd, bizarre, repulsive and desecrating. But, at the same time, it's beautiful, describing a sublime element in something horrible. An expressive prose flows wonderfully and as a matter of fact the choice of description liberates it from being vulgar.

The author describes the necrophiliac as between two worlds. He would like to live and to die, but can neither live nor die. The way he looks at death might be described as liberating. He perceives living people as if on their way, waiting for them. All flesh carries the seed to it's own destruction, as mentioned in the book. But to never be able to have something everlasting is a void, never being filled, and makes it possible to sympathize with him, whose life centers around a struggle to satisfy his repugnant needs. One after the other he has to get rid of them, however carefully he tries to preserve them. But what is really everlasting?

Gabrielle Wittkop was an interesting author, known for her peculiar literary works. She vindicated a strong sexual indulgence and breach as the only way to give life meaning. Not surprisingly, she was a fan of Markis de Sade. Le nécrophile, published in 1972, was her debut novel.