The Brothel in Rosenstrasse (Paperback)

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Review
Old, bedridden Rickhardt von Bek lies dying, circa 1936 - and his bitter directives to an aged man-servant are interwoven with nostalgic, rueful, erotic memories of 1897: the year of playboy Ricky's obsessive affair with a headstrong Lolita, amid the destruction of Europe's most exquisite little city and its famous, idyllic whorehouse. In the first of the three long chapters that make up this short novel (published in Britain in 1982), Ricky - son of a rich German official ("close to Bismarck") - recalls the old World glories of his favorite city, Mirenburg, sedate capital of the Middle European principality of Waldenstein. Even more longingly, he remembers Alexandra, the wellborn 16-year-old who was his eager, lusty mistress in fin-de-siecle Mirenburg: "She requests instruction. I am inventive. . .Sexually I am a chameleon." And, though Ricky occasionally frets about Alexandra's youth, "I still cannot determine which of us exploits the other. . ." Then, as recollected in Chapter Two, Ricky - to add further stimulation to the liaison - introduces Alexandra to Frau Schmetterling's elegant, comfy brothel, which "has the ambience of an integrated nation, hermetic, microcosmic." Here Alexandra embraces the decadent pleasures of cocaine, threesomes, "ivory dildoes," and S&M, growing particularly attached to one of the whores and one of the guests (a titled British lesbian). Despite sporadic guilt - "Have I no morality left to me, after all?" - Ricky joins in the escalating "erotomania." But when civil war breaks out in Waldenstein (Chapter Three), the beautiful city is reduced to rubble; the brothel is transformed from a lush hideaway to a desperate hideout as the bombardments draw ever closer; and the "wholesome lechery" of the Ricky/Alexandra affair sours into jealousy and betrayal. "One should never attempt to possess a beautiful whore, or hold on to the soul of a child, nor assault an idea as fragile as Mirenburg." Like Moorcock's more ambitious historical novels (Byzantium Endures, The Laughter of Carthage), this mock-memoir is often densely vivid in its evocation of bygone European moods and manners. But the details aren't zesty enough (except perhaps for connoisseurs of erotica) to compensate for the static, uninvolving nature of Ricky's disheartening sexual adventure. And, with the brothel an obvious yet unconvincing symbol of Old Europe on the brink of extinction, this blend of sex and political history (with strained parallels between the two) is superficially impressive, ultimately shallow and inanimate. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
Old Count von Bek remembers his sexual glory days in pre-1914 Mirenburg. He remembers Alexandra, his teenage lover and the brothel in Rosenstrasse where outrageous fantasies were realised. But all the while civil war closes in. Politics and military power soon destroy the exotic and erotic mirage.

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7 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Tastefully sexy, deeply serious, 20 Dec 2003 By  Arnold Gold - See all my reviews Set at the turn of the 19th/20th century in a middle European principality's capital, Mirenberg, the main action of this novel takes place in a high class brothel. Here all the materialism and greed which lead up to the first world war is displayed in the tale of the roue Count von Bek and his obsession with a teenage girl whom he eventually takes to the brothel in Rosenstrasse, overseen by a clever old procuress and madame, to enjoy every possible erotic fantasy with the aid of the ladies who live there. Meanwhile, outside, a war is brewing and ultimately von Bek, his paramour and other customers and denizens of the brothel are all stuck inside together as the battles come closer and closer. This is a highly original and beautifully written novel in the best European moral tradition, with echoes of Thomas Mann and even Proust. Moorcock is a seriously undervalued writer by the reading public, though critics such as Peter Ackroyd, Angus Wilson, Angela Carter and Iain Sinclair have all praised him, and this is one of his finest, and shortest, works. It would be a fine introduction to anyone who wanted to read his non-fantasy fiction. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful prose, clever idea, 15 May 2003 By A Customer Set at the turn of the last century in a small independent province dominated by the Austro-Hungarian and Prussian empires, this book reminded me somewhat of German writers of the period and perhaps it has something in common with the likes of Heinrich Mann and Joseph Roth in its precise attention to detail, its cast of representative characters, its interest in what you might call Freudian sexuality. Old Count von Bek, exiled to Italy, remembers his finest hour (as he sees it) when he began an affair with the young daughter of friends. Their erotic obsessions take them to Frau Schmetterling's (Madam Butterfly's) fashionable and elegant brothel in Rosenstrasse, Mirenberg where they enjoy a vast menu of perverse sexual pleasures. Moorcock draws parallels between the life of the brothel and the decadent life of upper class Middle Europe which lets us slip inexorably towards disaster. A short, brilliantly written book which displays all Moorcock's virtues (apart from his skill as an adventure writer). If you don't want to read his fantasy books or even his fine London novels, this is a book almost any reader of good fiction will enjoy. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Precise, beautiful prose, 29 Dec 2002 By  "gordian26" - See all my reviews In the face of some of Moorcock's more fast and furious fantasy adventure stories, one's inclined to think of him as a talented writer who can sometimes be a bit careless. This book reminds us that he can be a superbly controlled intellectual writer of character and social ideas. The book is divided into three sections. First we are introduced to the erotic world of the central characters, both of them supremely selfish in their own way. Second we learn of the society in which they exist -- that of pre-1914 upper class Europe. Third, we see the self-deception and search for pleasure collapsing into war, betrayal and decadence. Yet the poignancy and irony of the story is never lost. Moorcock is almost always a laconic, economical writer, using a variety of styles to tell a wide variety of stories, but this remains in my view one of his very best. A polished gem of precise, beautiful prose. I hardly ever read fantasy since I was a student, but Moorcock is the only writer who goes on appealing to my more sophisticated, mature self! He is, in my view, a seriously under-appreciated modern novelist and this book has never had the readership it deserves. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 7 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars NOT FOR TEENAGERS -- OR PRIM ADULTS! Phew! This sharply written book makes you sorry you couldn't have been in Mirenburg at the turn of the last century as the European powers prepared for war and the likes of Oscar... Read more Published on 26 Jan 2002 5.0 out of 5 stars Sex and War This is a beautifully written little gem. An examination of erotomania within a brothel while outside the world moves towards war -- both finding resolution in the final... Read more Published on 15 Nov 2001 by jugadora 5.0 out of 5 stars QUIET GENIUS The clarity and the intensity of the writing of this book are extraordinary. Why it isn't recommended as a classic everywhere I don't understand. Read more Published on 20 Nov 2000 5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Moorcock at his finest The Brothel in Rosenstrasse presents us with the transition from the romance and innocence of the 19th century to the brutal reality of the 20th. Read more Published on 7 April 2000 by hiu43d@bangor.ac.uk Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 7 customer reviews...

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