Review: The Trial of Gilles de Rais

The Trial of Gilles de Rais by Georges Bataille

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Reading [b:Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris|12978606|Death in the City of Light The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris|David King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327946392s/12978606.jpg|16225004] recalled to me this book by [a:Georges Bataille|20842|Georges Bataille|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1287941328p2/20842.jpg], for some reason I couldn't place. Then, as the author got into WW II-era philosphers and surrealists and mentioned Bataille, I figured we were on the same wavelength.

Something about clumsy and lethally confused de Rais speaks to the "banality of evil". This book presenting so much unearthed trial transcripts made this horrible monster real and believable, like the police reports of [b:Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris|12978606|Death in the City of Light The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris|David King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327946392s/12978606.jpg|16225004].

It's also amazing how de Rais caused so much mayhem without getting caught, like so many serial killers. Of course, de Rais had his hired minions who "were just following orders", bringing me back to the Nazis...



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