(Sviashchennye monstry, 2003) is a collection of essays about famous people, written in 2001, when Limonov, an inmate at the FSB's Lefortovo prison in Moscow, sought comfort in the thought that some prominent authors, such as de Sade, Dostoevsky and Genet, had been incarcerated too. The example of these and other controversial but inspirational figures, who often acquired a cult following because “they were wild at heart” (
v nikh vo vsekh est' beshenstvo dushi, p. 5), also helped to fortify Limonov's spirit and thus earned a mention in the book. Its title is a direct Russian translation of the French set expression
monstres sacrés(first applied in the nineteenth century to famous thespians, e.g. Sarah Bernhardt, and later used in a title of a Jean Cocteau play),…
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Citation: Rogatchevski, Andrei. "Sviashchennye monstry". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 May 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24662, accessed 21 November 2024.]
