Not a very long book. (About 70 or so pages.) In those pages the author conveys the simple, yet mystical, pleasures of Absinthe. He also describes the mindset of those who had it banned. (Never trust a government agency to protect your pleasures. They will find some reason to deny them to you for that is one of the ways they keep the population under control.)

Recommended for those who are interested in the topic and already have the other books on the subject. (Conrad Bartelby's book is a must.)

Bataille's writing is simple, the words succinct, and the message is clear. Witnessing the transformation of the missionaries as they spent years away from their home country was impressive. Still, I felt as though there was a lack of character development which made it difficult for me to fully appreciate this transformation. Perhaps if I would have read this book as a long poem vs. a novel I would have felt a greater connection.

A decaying duchy in 17th century France is the setting of this book. The duchy remains unnamed and is only referred to as "the City" or "the Realm" throughout the entire book. The duchy's sovereign, Duke Gonzaga, rules with a slack and indifferent hand, preferring the pursuit the City's young maidens than the restoration the City's former glory. Inside the Duke's palace, the passage of time is marked by the ticking of 218 clocks, maintained by the Duke's hourmaster.

After his first hourmaster vanishes and the second flees to escape an unspoken doom he senses in the City, Duke Gonzaga finally hires Arturo, better known as Gog. With the arrival of Gog, the City's atmosphere begins to change as if it has been given a second chance at glory. At the same time, Gog and Duke Gonzaga strike up an unlikely friendship. These events, however, are short lived and the events of the book take on a much more sinister tone.

The basic plot sounds very intriguing, but I was sorely disappointed by the time I finished the book. The plot is often confusing and the events the reader is writing about often seem to bear no relation at all to the book. I am not against subtle plots, but the pieces of the puzzle simply did not fit together. This led a disjointed story with foreign bits of information just thrown in.

I still had hope for the end, expecting a shocking secret or dramatic event to be played out. The end might be dramatic and significant, but again, I do not understand how it fits in with the rest of the story or why things happened the way they did. Unfortunately, readers are never privy to the motivations and thoughts of the characters.

The book's sole redeeming quality is that the author did do an excellent job of creating an atmospheric setting. You can almost feel a chill imaging the City's dark, damp winding streets. Although I applaud the author for this, it is not enough to save the sagging and pointless story.