#ak blakemore

[becdecorbin]

Tarrare explorations.

some details are inspired by descriptions of him in AK Blakemore's "The Glutton" (a sort of fictionalized character study of how Tarrare may have been as a person).

[furiouser-and-furiouser]

“It makes me think of the Bible, and what the Bible says of Hell, and I think that this cannot be what God intended when he decreed it all—that men would take the most memorable parts, the juiciest bits, and use them as a playbook, by which to make their earthly world be full of tiny hells under roofs of thatch and slate, over which they claim they have dominion, in which they shut each other up.”

— The Manningtree Witches, A. K. Blakemore

[becdecorbin]

Tarrare related media

so like, I read The Glutton by AK Blakemore (published by Granta Books) mostly because hey someone with similar tastes to me gave it a glowing endorsement so of course I had to give it an honest look!!

it's great, definitely worth a read if you're fascinated by Tarrare and wonder what he could have been like as a person. Blakemore does clarify that the book isn't intended to be historically accurate but rather explore what could have been feasible, some possibilities and such. nobody can get inside the head of a guy who's been dead for over 200 years. but one can speculate. and Blakemore's depiction of Tarrare is very affecting.

also the book is super gross and visceral too but one should expect that with a guy like Tarrare (and also the time and place the book takes place in).