num_pages: 201
description: The second novel in Bjorneboe's ""History of Bestiality"" trilogy. The story is told by Jean, a janitor in a mental hospital in southern France. Jean keeps protocols, keeps for himself a written record of those events occurring around him. Also in the hospital are a strange cast of characters, any of whom could have committed the executtion-like hanging of an ex-German SS member around which the plot, which is akin to a mystery or espionage potboiler, revolves. It's hospital policy that everyone can give a lecture and a large portion of the book is taken up with three the narrator talks about witch symptomatology; Lacroix, a Belgian executioner, offers up a powerful, Foucault-like piece on the history of execution, executioners, and capital punishment; and the acid-dropping Dr. Lefévre discusses heresy and heretics. ""Exudes the intermittently charming hippie disaffection of the '60s."" Publishers Weekly
language: English
title: Powderhouse
titlecomplete: Powderhouse
genres: Fiction, Philosophy, Classics, Mental Illness, 20th Century, Scandinavian Literature
ratings_count: 386
series: The History of Bestiality Trilogy
publisher: Norvik Press