Ryu Murakami. Ecstasy

"Do you even know why Van Gogh cut off his ear?" It is under the influence of this mystery that Miyazita, the fragile self of this story, decides to try a new game (one that will prove fatal for him) – sadomasochistic relationships. Like in a video game, caught up in a dizzying whirlpool of pleasure, in a drug-fueled haze, he will reach a deadly crescendo and cross a line of no return. "Ecstasy," the first volume of a trilogy (including "Melancholia" and "Thanatos"), was first published in 2003. The plot revolves around three characters: a madam experienced in nymphomaniac and sadomasochistic pleasures, practicing in Tokyo; a Japanese homeless man wandering around New York; and a young actress living in Paris. Ryu Murakami once again lifts the curtain on the darkest sides of our reality, giving a new sound to his "monologues about pleasure, apathy, and death."