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Dec 17, 2009

hypothermya rated it:

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0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2010

Christina rated it:

This book is great, short as it is. And I was hankering to try another book on the topic of female domination after reading "Permanent Obscurity" by Richard Perez, which I truly enjoyed. "Venus in Furs" starts out a little stiffly but ups the ante as Severin gets himself into more trouble than he bargained for. Yeah, my word of caution to all you would-be male slaves out there: Be careful what you wish for! If your dream is be debased, be prepared when it happens! Come to thi More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2007

Jessica rated it:

If I remember correctly, this book was stupid. It also seems to have contributed to a lot of ridiculous behavior, and has led indirectly to many horrendous cultural products such as "people taking their silly sex hang-ups waaaaay too seriously," "fetish nights," "vinyl outfits," and "that irritating kid in your freshman dorm who walked around with a leash around his neck."

BUT, on the PLUS side, having read it made me feel way more knowledgeable More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2011

Rachel rated it:

This book is a fascinating, if not unsettling, exploration of the more aberrant relationships that can exist between the sexes. I've always been somewhat surprised that so few people seem to have read it; they may have heard of it, or know vague details as to the plot, which is still infamous even by today's standards, but it does tend to get overlooked as one of the great books of its time period. Personally, I'd recommend it highly, if for no other reason than to experience the subversive look More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Heather rated it:

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Sep 18, 2010

Meredith rated it:

Haven't reviewed on goodreads in a while, but was googling this work's translation dates and came across the negative reviews here. Thought I should contribute my defence.

What Makes Venus in Furs a groundbreaking and thoroughly enjoyable work?

1)Literary tradition

The finely-rendered frame structure follows the German novella tradition's strong, almost proscriptive, tradition of narrative framing (think Goethe, Storm, Hoffmann). Accordingly, it created a sensa More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 28, 2010

Panoramaisland rated it:

I would like to love this book, but I do not.

Taken as a list of ingredients, the book is right up my alley:
-Landmark document in the history of kink, the book which led Krafft-Ebing to term erotic pleasure derived from pain "masochism"
-Divulgement of the author's treasured fantasies, hashed out with nearly fannish enthusiasm
-Classic exploration of sadomasochism, submission and control
-Indulges in uniform fetishism and service submission, favorites of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 14, 2010

Sun rated it:

"Venus in Furs" is the story of Severin von Kusiemski and his rather unusual relationship with Wanda von Dunajew. Severin first meets Wanda, who lives next door, when he spies her in the garden and thinks that she is the statue of Venus come to life. As their acquaintance increases, he devotes himself to her and asks her to treat him as a slave. When the two go to Florence, Severin masquerades as Wanda's servant and invites both emotional and physical cruelty. Severin calls the relatio More...

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Sep 26, 2009

Tia Katrina rated it:

The vocabulary in this book mirrored its repetitive plot. It was as if Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch's translator was assigned to use the words "dilettante", "suprasensual", and "ermine" as many times as humanly possible in the course of 100 pages-- to lazily tell a story about a man who wants to be his lover's slave. Wanda's character tortures her readers more than she does Severin by boring us to tears.

When Sacher-Masoch did finally catch my attention f More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 16, 2009

Greg rated it:

How I caused irreparable harm to our entire country because of a relationship gone sour with the author of Anti-Oedipus"

Confession time. I didn't really read this book, but I'm going to rate it anyway. I did read the Deleuze book Cruelty, which is him writing about Venus in Furs, and then the book itself. I remember really liking the Deleuze part, but at that point in my life I was so in love with Deleuze that he could have written anything and I would have ejaculated all ove More...

14 comments like (6 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2011

Lindsey rated it:

I can see how this book may have been shocking to Victorian sensibilities and to the prudish now, but I felt the importance of this work in the world of erotica is exaggerated. The emotional experience of submission is well explored in this book, and, from the author's name comes 'masochism', but I feel like it all could have been opened even more. Maybe I feel less than satisfied with this book due to the standards of modern morality and entertainment. This book is tame compared to what you More...

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Jul 03, 2010

Stephanie rated it:

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May 04, 2009

Ben rated it:

If you've ever had doubts about the inherent transgressive qualities of fiction, Dr. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's philosophical treatise disguised as an erotic novella is sure to dispell them. Forever memoralized by the word coined from the author's name, "masochist," you don't have to loath yourself to love Venus in Furs. I found the prose--even in translation--simply stunning. Further, it is amazing that with such a simple premise, Sacher-Masoch continues to reinvent the story, spi More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2011

Day rated it:

In preparing for Paperback Dolls Passport to France feature, "The Story of O" came up as a French book and author to write about.

It had been years (since college) that I had even thought of this book. Anyway, it got me revisiting the old titles that dealt with the topics and of course how could I not re-read this?

This time through, I found the writing more poetic and emotional. One thing that today's "In your face sexuality" misses in their quest to shoc More...

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Mar 18, 2011

Ani rated it:

Having recently discovered that my so-called "emotional" intelligence is probably rather low (i.e. I am often confused even in my own feelings, can't clearly understand and/or qualify them), I find this book to be unbelievably helpful in the sense of covering this lack. I have 2, no, 3 options:

1. the book really uncovered for me many aspects of my own behavior, expounded my own feelings, as well as those of other people around me;
2. all coincidence is merely formal, a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 20, 2008

Meadow rated it:

I liked this book for several reasons:

1) 'Cause I'm a freak for etymology (i.e. the origin of the word 'masochism' as well as the context for the infamous Velvet Underground song)

2) 'Cause the prose is poetic, flamboyant, and totally over the top.

3) 'Cause Severin calls his mistress 'my goddess'

4) 'Cause it is enjoyable to read aloud in bed to lovers.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 18, 2011

Sophia rated it:

Venus in Furs is the novella that led von Krafft-Ebing to coin the term 'masochism' after its author in his 1890 Psychopathia Sexualis. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch tells the story of Severin, a young nobleman who meets a young beautiful widow named Wanda von Dunajew, and ultimately places himself in her hands as her slave. It's a brief, frenzied affair without any sexually explicit scenes, but the cruelty and repetition can make one flinch. The introduction by Larry Wolff provides great historical More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Stella rated it:

Horribly frightening yet strangely seductive!

This book starts off slow, in fact, it is slow till very nearly the end. I picked it up because it is known as a classic and because I had never read anything on masochism. At first, I read purely out of curiosity and then out of a strange fascination and then the book had me in its grip.
The image of Wanda as Venus in Furs, her proud shoulders pulled back, a cruel look in her eyes, a contemptuous twist of her mouth, playing almost More...

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Jun 05, 2009

Phyllis added it

Reads like a letter to Penthouse Forum. And the ending is as unrealistic as a letter that starts "I never thought it would happen to me."

And like a Forum letter, the framing device is clunky. A friend of the protagonist has an erotic dream inspired by a painting that hangs in his friend's drawing room. He asks about the painting and is then subjected to reading his friend's dirty diary??? Chock full of expository dialog! Oh, goody!

Mercifully, I was spared a More...

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Sep 25, 2009

Pedro rated it:

Most of people start reading this book with different backgrounds: knowing Sade's works, after listening to Velvet Underground music, studying the psychology of masochism etc etc ... Well, in my case i just found it by accident and started reading it without knowing any of these other things. I think that this was pretty good for me since i had no idea about what to expect, or how the book would be like, and i quite liked it. Despite of the particularities that could make some more traditional o More...

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Dec 16, 2009

Pwntalive rated it:

very romantic book. i wish i could find someone to share this sort of rich, emotional connection with. i imagine it as a deeply religious experience. also: no fat chicks

if your interested in topping from the bottom... this is the book for you.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 16, 2011

Rob rated it:

(7/10) Okay, so this is a book about a German dude who wants to be a chick's slave and a hot chick who goes along with this until she gets bored because he's kind of a creep and dumps him for a hot Greek dude. This is the first real non-pornographic example of BDSM, which has since turned into an open and kinda dorky subculture. As a historical document it's interesting, especially in demonstrating a kind of misogynistic/nihilistic ideology of battle of the sexes behind the characters' sexual More...

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Jan 11, 2011

Loren rated it:

"I respect only a woman who is actually virtuous, or who openly lives for pleasure's sake."
"Like me, for instance," replied Wanda jestingly, "but you see, child, a woman can only do that in the rarest cases. She can neither be as gaily sensual, nor as spiritually free as man; her state is always a mixture of the sensual and spiritual. Her heart desires to enchain man permanently, while she herself is ever subject to the desire for change. The result is a conflict, a More...

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Sep 20, 2010

Suvi rated it:

A guy glanced at me suspiciously at the uni cafeteria when he saw what I was reading. I had an extremely hard time keeping a straight face :P

Krhm, anyway, I pretty much loved this. Well... As in I am not into kinkyness but I liked the flickering dream atmosphere where art had an important role. The beginning especially was gorgeous and the themes of savageness, dreaming, love, cruelty and wearing fur were very interesting. I just wish Severin had more guts to actually take everyt More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 31, 2010

Holly added it

I don't feel qualified to actually rate this book. It's a culture-making book, what with the word "masochism" literally termed after the author, so it's not as if this isn't ever worth the time to read. Given its date of publication, I give it a great deal of latitude to the extent it was raising interesting questions about sexuality that simply were not being asked (still aren't being asked, frankly). But I think most people nowadays are turned off by this being a piece of fiction rat More...

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Jan 12, 2011

Emily rated it:

Mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the writing falls short of great. Much of the language is repetitive, both in content and in vocabulary, frequently leaving me with a sense of dialogue deja vu. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, the framework for the story is somewhat weak, almost lazy. It is clearly simply a method for "getting to the good stuff" and adds little or nothing to the story itself.

On the other hand, I still enjoyed reading this book. It is ce More...

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Jul 10, 2011

Vanessa rated it:

I have not yet met a man who wants me to put on ermine and trample his supine body but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to give it a try. Intriguingly, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch projected a whole series of books on love, property, money, the state, war and death, but never finished his life's work and today only this single volume is available in English. If, like me, you harbour any literary ambitions, it's best not to get side-tracked by fetishes. This book has a curiosity value. It was semin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 24, 2010

Bettie rated it:

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7 comments like

Jul 28, 2011

Marina rated it:

Потрясающая книга!
Я впервые думала о том, что 1,5 часа до работы это слишком мало.
Повествование затягивает, не вызывает отвращения и даже наоборот - становится жутко любопытно - почему, зачем и чем все это кончится?

Да, мне нравятся книги о больных людях. Они обладают какой-то волшебной притягательностью мира, о котором я ничего не знаю. More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 17, 2011

Quetzal rated it:

I found this book to be a beautiful and chaotic journey which delves into the masochisim at its most fundamental. The characters are as interesting to the literary mind as to the psychological one. There is an overall degree of bi-polarity that keeps the reader wavering on complete sympathy and antipathy for poor, poor Severin who himself wavers between adoration and loathing for his Venus. As a result, we witness Severin's submission move from the realm of erotic innocence into an unhealthy More...

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