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A Rude
Awakening

Brian W. Aldiss










Weidenfeld and Nicolson
London






Copyright © 1978 by Brian W. Aldiss

First published in Great Britain by
Weidenfeld and Nicolson
11 St John's Hill London SW11

ISBN 0 297 77448 4




My suspicion is that in Heaven the Blessed are of the opinion
that the advantages of that locale have been overrated by
theologians who were never actually there. Perhaps even in
Hell the damned are not always satisfied.
Jorge Luis Borges, THE DUEL

'The idea of prostitution is a meeting point of so many elements
­ lechery, bitterness, the futility of human relationships,
physical frenzy and the clink of gold ­ that a glance into its
depths makes you dizzy and teaches you so much! It makes you
so sad, and fills you with such dreams of love!'
'But one can live a full life,' suggested Claudin, 'without
frequenting prostitutes.'
'No, you can't,' thundered Flaubert. 'A man has missed
something if he has never woken up in an anonymous bed
beside a face he'll never see again, and if he has never left a