Pinera's (1912-1979) dark and defiant novel unforgettably amplifies the absurdist themes so startlingly introduced in his short-story collection, Cold Tales . Rene is 20, ripe for education in the cult of flesh, "not of intact, athletic flesh, but of slain meat, truly alive and throbbing like a wound." Rene's father exhorts him to elect the path of suffering, sending the reluct...(展开全部)