Zonked
The New Yorker|April 17, 2023
The exhausting history of fatigue.
- By Anthony Lane
Zonked

In 1698, the Duc de Berry had a nosebleed. This calamity was brought on by his “overheating” during a partridge hunt. Three hundred and nineteen years later, the writer Anaïs Vanel quit her editing job and went surfing. What links this unlikely couple? Well, both of them earn a mention in “A History of Fatigue” (Polity), a new book by Georges Vigarello, translated by Nancy Erber. The book sets out to examine, in frankly draining detail, the many ways in which humans, often against their will, end up thoroughly pooped.

Vigarello is not, as his name suggests, an irrepressible sidekick in a minor Mozart opera, egging his master on to commit extravagant japes, but a research director at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, in Paris. He has previously written books about, among other things, cleanliness, obesity, and sports. Now it is the turn of the tired— the French tailors, for instance, who worked “fourteen to eighteen hours in the most painful positions,” as one of their number reported in 1833. Or the combatant in the First World War who found himself “on the brink of the void, feeling nothing but monotony and lassitude.” Or, at a slightly lower pitch of extremity, the supermarket cashier who, in 2002, was struck by “terrible pain” after lifting a pack of bottled water. Will the agony never cease?

この蚘事は The New Yorker の April 17, 2023 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は The New Yorker の April 17, 2023 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

THE NEW YORKERのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
BADDIE ISSUES
The New Yorker

BADDIE ISSUES

\"Wicked\" and \"Gladiator II.\"

time-read
6 分  |
December 02, 2024
LET'S MAKE A DEAL
The New Yorker

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

\"Death Becomes Her\" and \"Burnout Paradise.\"

time-read
5 分  |
December 02, 2024
ANTI HEROES
The New Yorker

ANTI HEROES

\"The Franchise,\" on HBO.

time-read
5 分  |
December 02, 2024
FELLOW-TRAVELLERS
The New Yorker

FELLOW-TRAVELLERS

The surprisingly sunny origins of the Frankfurt School.

time-read
10+ 分  |
December 02, 2024
NOW YOU SEE ME
The New Yorker

NOW YOU SEE ME

John Singer Sargent's strange, slippery portraits of an art dealer's family.

time-read
10+ 分  |
December 02, 2024
PARIS FRIEND - SHUANG XUETAO
The New Yorker

PARIS FRIEND - SHUANG XUETAO

Xiaoguo had a terror of thirst, so he kept a glass of water on the table beside his hospital bed. As soon as it was empty, he asked me to refill it. I wanted to warn him that this was unhealthy - guzzling water all night long puts pressure on the kidneys, and pissing that much couldn't be good for his injury. He was tall, though, so I decided his insides could probably cope.

time-read
10+ 分  |
December 02, 2024
WILD SIDE
The New Yorker

WILD SIDE

Is Lake Tahoe's bear boom getting out of hand?

time-read
10+ 分  |
December 02, 2024
GETTING A GRIP
The New Yorker

GETTING A GRIP

Robots learn to use their hands.

time-read
10+ 分  |
December 02, 2024
WITHHOLDING SEX FROM MY WIFE
The New Yorker

WITHHOLDING SEX FROM MY WIFE

In the wake of [the] election, progressive women, who are outraged over Donald Trump's victory at the ballot box, have taken to social media with public, vengeful vows of chastity. - The Free Press.

time-read
4 分  |
December 02, 2024
DEADLINE EXTENSION
The New Yorker

DEADLINE EXTENSION

Old age, reborn.

time-read
10+ 分  |
December 02, 2024