Morning: When the lover wakes up from the bed

Author: Jean-Claude Kaufmann (France)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: I woke up from a sleep I had never had before, from the profound darkness. I strained to open my eyes, but what I saw was a roof I had never seen before. Slowly looking around, I found a completely unfamiliar and very unpleasant room. I had no idea how I had gotten there. I immediately told myself: This is a dream! However, the dream was vivid and clear—bright morning light outside the window, dazzling sunlight, the continuous rumbling of carriages downstairs, the jingling of trams, and the noisy chatter of people. I couldn’t help but sit up and try to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, I turned aside and looked—words cannot describe the shock I felt at that moment: an unfamiliar person was sleeping next to me on a large bed, but I didn’t know him, I didn’t know him, I didn’t know him: a half-naked, unfamiliar person—excerpted from Stefan Zweig’s The Twenty-Four Hours a Woman Spent in Love “Morning,” referring to the morning after a night of intimacy between a man and a woman. When lovers awaken drowsily, they begin to look with their eyes, search with their senses, perhaps hide awkwardness with kisses; perhaps, they suddenly feel shy when getting up; perhaps, they worry about the fear of facing disappointment; perhaps, they are startled to discover their own double split. The atmosphere of morning is a strange mix of various sensations. Perhaps, they quietly get out of bed and quickly get ready; perhaps, they have an impromptu love breakfast; perhaps, they hastily flee with an indescribable feeling; perhaps, they find that today’s sun is brighter and warmer than any other day. Morning is a rather dramatic moment in the plot of life. French sociologist uses this special moment as a starting point, through extensive actual surveys of men and women in love, to meticulously analyze the various twists and changes in body, psychology, and emotions between lovers at this time, thereby depicting the development trajectory of love. Reading this book, readers will understand that love actually unfolds in the morning; savoring this book, readers will discover the new rules of the game in gender relationships.