The first story introduces a marquise whose search for pleasure is entirely detached from human touch, finding fulfillment instead in "artificial air." Riera uses this character to critique the coldness of high-society life and the potential for technology or artificiality to replace organic connection. The "cold" isn't just a physical preference; it’s a metaphor for a sanitized, controlled existence.
This essay explores by Carme Riera, a collection of three short stories—"Un poco de frío para Wanda," "Mr. Flowers," and "La novela experimental"—that use humor, irony, and the "unthinkable" to examine the eccentricities of human desire. The Architecture of Eccentricity: Desires in Pulsiones Pulsiones Carme Riera epub
In Pulsiones , Carme Riera moves away from the historical gravity of her earlier works to explore the fluid, often bizarre boundaries of human sexuality and obsession. The collection is anchored by three narratives that treat taboo or eccentric "pulses" (pulsiones) not as clinical pathologies, but as ironic windows into the human condition. According to descriptions from Amazon UK , Riera’s primary tool is a refined irony that "blurs" explicit sexuality, making the absurd feel grounded and the impossible seem plausible. The first story introduces a marquise whose search
The final story, "La novela experimental," serves as a meta-literary commentary. An aspiring writer promises a prostitute that he possesses the "keys to the literature of the future." Here, the "pulse" is the obsession with creation and fame. Riera satirizes the pretension of avant-garde movements, suggesting that the drive to innovate can be as consuming—and perhaps as transactional—as physical lust. According to descriptions from Amazon UK , Riera’s