Summary
Mirto Azina Hronidi: The Experiment
European Prize for Literature 2010
The novel Experiment by the Cypriot writer Mirto Azina Hronidi explores the relationship between erotic love and the soul. The two protagonists - she and he - agree to carry out an experiment that will help them understand the nature of erotic love and their sexual relationship, but abstaining from physical contact and devoting themselves to writing in order to sublimate the awakened libido. She is the paradigm of Eros, exemplified by Camus's sentence "the strong north blowing in me leaves no room for absolute loyalty", while he embodies the "Socratic sage".
The experiment is a kind of contemporary interpretation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche and the eternal question about the nature of the relationship between reason and passion. Seductively written, similar to the prose tradition of magical realism, this novel boldly asks questions about one of the biggest topics of human existence - human desire.
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