The Monk - Tapa dura

Antonin Artaud's evil simulacrum of The Monk is the only work of sustained fiction by the infamous literary provocateur. Taking Matthew Gregory Lewis's gothic novel of 1794 as the raw material for an astonishing exploration of the far edges of death, sexuality, terror, language and the body, Artaud conducted an aberrant evisceration of the original novel, discarding entire chapters, recreating others and stamping his own distinctive identity on the work in his avowed aim to accentuate the story's violence and atrocity to the maximal degree.

Scarcely had the Abbey Bell tolled for five minutes and already was the Church of the Capuchins thronged with Auditors.