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Story Of O (Story of O #1)

3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 · rating details · 6,832 ratings · 685 reviews

“The free publication of Story of O in this country is an event of considerable importance… it is a significant measure of how far we have come in lifting the restrictions on art and our responses to it…

In brief, Story of O relates the progressive willful debasement of a young and beautiful Parisian fashion photographer, O, who wants nothing more than to be a slave to her...more

Paperback, 287 pages

Published April 28th 1988 by Transworld Publishers Ltd (first published 1954)

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Mar 08, 2009 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, no-redeeming-social-importance, if-research-were-romance

The most useful piece of advice on literary criticism that I've ever come across is Nabokov's dictum to identify with the author, not the characters. This book is a perfect example. If you make the mistake of identifying with O, it's all a bit bewildering. Why exactly is she interested in being blindfolded, tied up, whipped, and fucked from all angles by a bunch of people she doesn't even know? It seems bizarre and rather distasteful.

The rest of this review is in my book If Research Were Romance...more

49 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2012 Ceridwen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: capital-m-modern, gothic, incest-is-best, lgbt, rbrs, we-re-from-france, capital-r-romantic, reviewed

Cross-posted on Readerling

"Who I am finally, if not the long silent part of someone, the secret and nocturnal part which has never betrayed itself in public by any thought, word, or deed, but communicates through subterranean depths of the imaginary with dreams as old as the world itself?"
-Dominique Aury (All quotes attributed to Aury were pulled from this article

In her late 40s, worried about her lover's devotion, Dominique Aury, whom I have seen described as "nun-like" in more than one place (...more

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May 12, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Elizabeth by: RBRS

Shelves: reviewed, 2012, french-francophone, rbrs

I was all set to drunk-book-review this. I'd been out for a great dinner with friends. We were out for a long time and when I finally got home I was almost looking forward to the evisceration, with poor spelling and incomplete sentences, that would follow. I sat down at the keyboard with my glass of water, took a breath, and I realized that the only way to write about this book is sober, very sober.

Also, this isn't going to be an angry feminist rant. I can do it, as I'm sure you all know. I can...more I was all set to drunk-book-review this. I'd been out for a great dinner with friends. We were out for a long time and when I finally got home I was almost looking forward to the evisceration, with poor spelling and incomplete sentences, that would follow. I sat down at the keyboard with my glass of water, took a breath, and I realized that the only way to write about this book is sober, very sober.

Also, this isn't going to be an angry feminist rant. I can do it, as I'm sure you all know. I can bring out decades of legal and political theorists on the nature of consent, on what violence against women means and why its representation contributes to its increase. We can talk about the nature of "fantasy" and the statistics showing how that bleeds over into real life. I think that's all been done before. I'm going to pass, this time.

I'm going to talk about how I can't read a book dispassionately. Somewhere, out there, in the wide wide world are people who can read books about any subject. They can read history books about conditions in US Civil War field hospitals. They can read books like American Psycho. They can put enough distance between themselves and the text that they can get through it. I'm not discounting that they are or are not moved or changed by this experience, only that they can read the book from enough distance to the text that they're not waking up with nightmares during the period they're reading it. They can stop thinking about it.

It's a form of disassociation and Pauline Réage or Dominique Aury or Anne Desclos has got to be the queen of it. She buried herself in persona and pseudonyms, both for the writing of this book and in her real life, taking her real self, which I can't hope to know based on the surprisingly little available on the web about her for the casual googler. It isn't just that her authorship was distanced from her professional life which was distanced from her childhood through the name changes and secrecy of her authorship. It is also how the story is told. The narrator of this story is as far away from this story as it's possible to get and still be in it. Immediately, I noticed the "I" in this. Very early on the I of the narrator comes out. I think she did it to ensure, to stress, that this was a story about someone else, a young girl, that didn't have anything to do with the narrator, who may or may not have anything to do with the author. The narrator appeared (in the 50% of the book that I read) only three times, very early on, and we learn nothing about him/her/it other than that the narrator and the person who is living through this book is someone else. The narrator is only an observer, like the reader, and the one for whom the book was written.

I think one needs to disassociate from this story to be able to read it (and if you don't, please don't tell me; I don't want to know). It's a safety mechanism, a survival skill that we learn early on. It enables us to get through difficult experiences. But it failed me here. What I felt and heard and saw in reading this book was every time O was described as crying or screaming, how another girl paled in fear, the pleading, more screaming. The screaming was almost constant in this book. Even if it wasn't, that's what I was hearing the whole time.

For a little while, one could think about how interesting the story behind this book is. How successfully Aury met the challenge raised by her lover. One can think about what one would do for love. What it would take to write this book or what it would take to be in this book. One can think about how one becomes a human monster or slips away from ones humanity in other ways.

One can think about the influence that the book has had on some of my favorite authors in particular and on French literature in general. One can even think about its influence beyond France. Babel Tower lurked in my consciousness while reading this, leading to thinking about obscenity and the great books that have been condemned for it (and the poor or mediocre books that have also been condemned *cough* Fifty Shades of Grey *cough*). But that's another form of disassociation, cheating in a way, and, for me, it was unsuccessful.

So I'm done. I don't need any more of this book in my life. I don't need to go any further with it to know what I think of it or how it affects me. Reading more will not change my opinion of its literary merit or its place in literary and political history, so I don't need to keep torturing myself with it. That's my exercise of free will today and I feel good about it.(less)

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May 12, 2012 karen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bore-rotica, for-that-bodice-ripper-group, distant-lands

i am not going to write a serious review of this book. if you want to talk about why bondage erotica is bad for women or how negation porn makes its readers complicit in the victimization of women halfway across the globe or to sip tea and talk about depersonalization or dehumanization or anything even remotely intelligent - more power to you, but this book bored me so much i don't even care to elevate it or grant it any sort of intellectual discussion. i am really only interested in talking abo...more

83 likes · like · see review

Mar 08, 2013 Petra X rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sex, popculture-anthropology

The original ending of this book was suppressed because it supposedly objectified women. However, I think the book is very empowering for women. It makes very clear the difference between being submissive as a person and being submissive as a sexual preference. O is a successful career woman who gets her freak on as a sexual slave. We are all hedonists at heart! The prudish, Protestant roots of society plus the pc attitudes for which feminism is responsible in part, make this a very shocking boo...more

54 likes · like · see review

Jul 31, 2011 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: in search of self, bored at work, like to wear black, is your name rene?

Recommended to Emily by: kim k.

Shelves: contemporary, sexilicious

This is what I remember about this book:

I found it when I was fifteen at a Half Priced Books store and liked the cover due its simplicity. You see, I was reading a lot of Emerson at the time and had just turned my hair orange, so a novel titled, "O" (as if to say to the world at large "screw you and your 25 other alphabet letters!!!!!) was right up my pre-pubescent alley. A good friend happened to be with me--(the type of friend who wears a cool, spiky haircut and actually KNOWS literature beca...more

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May 25, 2007 Marielle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, translated

This book is a classic, although people have been a bit slow at recognizing it. When it was written, it was shocking. Today it may still be for some. It's the story of a woman and her lover. It's a story of pain, and an unusual sort- deliberately inflicted and, in some capacity, enjoyed. The book has erotic moments, but it is not fundementally erotica. The author Pauline- a woman- claims she is not a sexual masochist nor interested it, in particular. Rather, the unusual setting is a tool to show...more

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May 07, 2012 ♥Xeni♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to ♥Xeni♥ by: Sagi

Shelves: erotica, ebook, fiction, adult, bdsm, classic, french, romance

Thank you to my friend to recommend this to me. I can't believe that I hadn't found this book before! I must have stumbled across it somewhere... probably...

Whilst reading, I had to keep two things in mind. First and foremost that this was a classic. Secondly, that it was French.

The fact that it's a classic bit of literature is pretty relevant. Mostly because when a book like this was written in earlier times, it was incredibly scandalous. Which meant that it would be banned and all other such...more Thank you to my friend to recommend this to me. I can't believe that I hadn't found this book before! I must have stumbled across it somewhere... probably...

Whilst reading, I had to keep two things in mind. First and foremost that this was a classic. Secondly, that it was French.

The fact that it's a classic bit of literature is pretty relevant. Mostly because when a book like this was written in earlier times, it was incredibly scandalous. Which meant that it would be banned and all other such horrible things would occur. I tend to consider the Marquis de Sade's works to also be in this vein.

On that note, I definitely had to keep in mind that this was a French book. I am not drawn to French literature or culture and indont care much for France, but very often when I have picked up a novel by a French author, I have loved it. It amazes me anew each time. Also, I had to keep in mind that France was always a bit more open and less prudish when it came to sexuality.

Read this book pretty much in 2.5 sittings. It was that... Interesting. I won't say 'good' because it is too unique for such an average word. The writing style was both dry and yet very detailed. Often things were left to the readers imagination, while one sentence later mundane events would be described in elaborate detail. This swinging between very mundane details and superficial coverage of the interesting parts *wink wink* probably also stems from the fact that it was written in a different era. But, I kept reminding myself that this is all relevant to the story and plowed ahead.

The part I always find most interesting in books that deal with the BDSM lifestyle is the psychological aspect. I found myself wishing for more details of O's mind. Often she would react in a situation in such a way that I felt I didn't really know her. And in that way this was less a story about O and more a fictionalized work of what happened to this character. The aloofness of the character at most times bespoke of her actual treatment, I suppose.

My favorite quote from the book: But she had finally come to accept as an undeniable and important verity, this constant and contradictory jumble of her emotions: she liked the idea of torture, but when she was being tortured herself she would have betrayed the whole world to escape it, and yet when it was over she was happy to have gone through it, happier still if it had been especially cruel and prolonged.

This quote really speaks to me on a level of the human brain. If O was real, she would certainly be a fascinating character to interview.

Other books that I figured are tied up with this one based on plot and characters and setting :

-----
I wrote this review in a tired mess... apologies for any non coherent thought processes that went on!(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2007 Don Rea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My parents had a pretty hands-off attitude to my compulsive reading, and so in my early adolescence I read a lot of stuff that probably did my developing sexuality no good. Finding this book at a garage sale (I picked it up because I had read of it in /Playboy/, another ungoverned input) and reading it at the age of 13 was likely not to my benefit.

Re-reading it as an adult, I found it interesting in many ways that my eighth grade self could not have, such as noticing the exploration of the bound...more

9 likes · like · see review

Aug 16, 2007 Casey Wilson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Since my child is currently one of my 2 friends, I will refrain from writing a real review of this book. Manon, when you're living far far away and are much older you should check this out. And when you do, please don't tell me about it.

38 likes · like · see review

Jul 11, 2012 L.C. added it · review of another edition

I must say that, while the actual story was interesting, I was disappointed with this particular book. It is a translation that doesn't include the multiple endings written, yet includes essays at the beginning which all take into account the specific alternate ending not included. That ending is when O asks for and submits to being killed by Sir Stephen. And, I believe, it is the only adequate ending for such a novel. O, essentially, insists upon the destruction of every other part of herself t...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 22, 2010 Kim rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, hawt, read-in-2010, classics, did-not-like-it

This book must have been really something when it first came out, but to me, this was just another one of those unintentionally funny chick flicks. I do realize I completely missed the point of this book, because it just completely flew by me.

I won't go into detail too much but the story begins when O and her lover Rene (I use an Allo Allo! accent here) are in the backseat of a taxi, and O is instructed to take her underwear etc off, walk into a building and let herself be abused and tortured, n...more

16 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2008 Anders rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From the Guardian 4 May 1998:
Dominique Aury, who has died aged 90, was for half a century a pillar of the French establishment. Yet she will be remembered less for her influence on modern French literature than as the key to one of the most celebrated literary mysteries of hte 20th century.
---
Yet in 1994, she admitted that to ... should be added one further title: the Histoire d'O, which caused a sensation when it appeared in 1954. ... The detail is graphic ...

The book was banned and in the furo...more

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Sep 19, 2007 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shocking! Seriously shocking! And that, despite all the sex, drugs, violence, etc. that we are constantly barraged by. This book is seriously shocking. I mean it. Things are done in this book that even nihilist sadomasichists would be wide-eyed at.
The author cleverly first draws readers in with risque light trashy novel pornography. Then she turns it up a notch, and turns it up, and turns it up. In this way, she makes the reader complicit in what happens. You'll be unable to put the book down; y...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jun 07, 2012 M— rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

I know that this is the poster child work for censored reading and literary pornography, but I found it quite honestly overrated. And I shouldn't be shocked at finding such a scanty storyline in what amounts to a PWP, but the book is so fragmented it doesn't seem like it could be properly called a complete work at all. I felt like I was reading a three-chapter excerpt from the middle of a novel, a feeling only exacerbated by the two-sentence close to the book detailing later parts of O's story t...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 13, 2007 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teenage girls who'd like to read some rather racy french erotica....

Shelves: chicklits, love-and-other-indoor-sports

....preferably while eating bonbons, cutting class, and wearing snagged-up fishnet stockings and too much eye makeup.

I don't remember anything about this book except that I think it pretty much delivered on what I expected a slightly older, naughty, European sex novel would be like. It is rather ridiculous and actually pretty dirty, if I remember correctly. Plus more hardcore than the leading brand.

8 likes · like · see review

Oct 22, 2012 Heleri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, french-authors

This is not about sex.

It is about smooth prose that draws lines around your ankles which drag you to the woods. As sombre as that is, you get a feeling the trees are really props and somewhere there's a smoke machine. But you forget, hopefully.

You are O. You will think about love, ego, surrender, abandonment, jealousy, passion. Pain - not so much. Fear - not so much for the riding crop but of the self. You will stagger in your mules to the next leather couch in fear, lifting up your skirt, wond...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Eri-chan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not for the faint-hearted or the closed-minded, this novel is a strangely romantic tale of willing enslavement. I suspect anyone who has even a hint of Dom/sub tendencies would appreciate and enjoy this book - it may not be brilliantly written, but it is the most real published account (ie. not blogs) of female submission from the female perspective that I have ever read.

I do wish that the final chapter had not been lost, as the end leaves you hanging and a bit confused. However, I have read rev...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Justine Camacho-Tajonera rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I hear that this is much better written than Fifty Shades of Grey. I'm still trying to get started on the latter. Too many bad reviews. Story of O was fantastical and puzzling. It deals with a woman's total submission to her lover and, ultimately, to the superior of her lover. I took it as a fantasy and kept it at that. Because, as a real story, it is entirely disturbing.

*spoiler alert*

The end spells the total obliteration of the main character, O. Her being, her individuality, totally disappea...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 24, 2012 Геллее Авбакар rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: french-literature

Disclosure:
I come across this weird Erotic novel during a time when I was browsing for some French Erotic Novels. I have it in French in an Electronic form. with a nice quality of Writings. I have it in Kindle version too.

My Plot:
As I would like to begin, I say that this story is a sort of Psychological imagination of Ann Disclos the Original writer of the Book under the Pen name of Pauline Reage. The story begins with two lovers who were browsing in Park Monseau, In France. They saw a Taxi and...more Disclosure:
I come across this weird Erotic novel during a time when I was browsing for some French Erotic Novels. I have it in French in an Electronic form. with a nice quality of Writings. I have it in Kindle version too.

My Plot:
As I would like to begin, I say that this story is a sort of Psychological imagination of Ann Disclos the Original writer of the Book under the Pen name of Pauline Reage. The story begins with two lovers who were browsing in Park Monseau, In France. They saw a Taxi and they get to it. Inside the Taxi Rene the Lover of O, Start to make some abuse over his lover O. by stripping her naked inside the Taxi, He was preparing her for something outstanding. The day after Rene repeated the same scene but this time he send O to a Château where she was supposed to be trained for complete submission. Inside the Château they strip her naked again and opposing some rules over her that nothing in her body belongs to her, and that all she has belongs to the Masters inside the Château and to Sir Stephen the Owner of the Château. O get used to the rude rules that were imposed inside her journey inside the Château. She was supposed to be whipped every morning and she didn't have the right for privacy, She had to be sleep with hands tied and all these sort of weird Laws were imposed over her. The day of meeting Sir Stephen has come and O did all what she learned inside her training Period, She was the Ultimate submissive woman that Sir Stephen ever had. She fall in love with him and she Throws her Rene away. Sir Stephen was satisfied the nature of O. He decide to take her to his Mansion where she got to complete her lessons of submissiveness. Later come the day of exposure. During this day all the Personalities of the French society come together to witness the new promotion of Sir Stephen Lover. The Day of exposure pass normally and the End of the story was presented by O putting a hot sign in the shape of O in Sir Stephen hand.

Positive and Negative Aspects:
I would like to say that Imagination is far more beautiful than Reality but here, Imagination is more arrogant in the Run. Being so rude to women is something unbearable, Blow-minded, that could not be put in the mind. It was really a bad depiction of the Aristocracy inside the French State. It was a massive attack over manhood but I wish not to generalize. Otherwise it was a good promotion of Female instinct, that say every woman is able to overcome all her obstacles by passion and time. The story criticize also those who sacrifice their love for the sake of material favor. Anyway I would say that it was all good, since all the aims of Pauline Reage were fulfilled inside this story. In fact the writer was suffering from some psychological obstacles that's why she was trying to get all her feeling inside this book. Concerning the negatives inside the story I point out the manners of the torture and the arrogant rules that were imposed over O during her residence inside the château. I state those manners as negatives because they degrade the woman as a human entity and they sought it as a sexual object.

My Personal Reaction:
Personally that was another argument to prove that France was not living in such a good circumstances concerning the Human Rights case. I negatively interfere with the story since the woman was exposed in humiliating way and the only thing that I am against it all the way. I hate people when they degrade women in such a way. Besides the story was some how criticizing the Human instinct toward domination and complete power, which is normally not quite right. Generally I confess that the story really makes me feel sorry about O.

Recommendations:
The book is full of Torture and Bad representation of the French aristocracy, though I do not recommend it to people under the 18 Years besides, In addition it would be recommended to French people themselves in order to discover the Traces of their nice history. The Book is a half realistic that's why there should be much attention when reading the book. (less)

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Sep 05, 2012 Bea rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I chose this book to read for several reasons: (1) I needed an erotic book for a challenge, (2) it was in my home library, and (3) I have heard a lot of references to this book as a seminal work in the BDSM world.

When I picked up the book to read, I found a preface 28 pages in length which was made up of the Translator's note and an article by Jean Paulhan which acted as preface to the original publication of the book. Both of these references spoke of the historical context of the book and of t...more I chose this book to read for several reasons: (1) I needed an erotic book for a challenge, (2) it was in my home library, and (3) I have heard a lot of references to this book as a seminal work in the BDSM world.

When I picked up the book to read, I found a preface 28 pages in length which was made up of the Translator's note and an article by Jean Paulhan which acted as preface to the original publication of the book. Both of these references spoke of the historical context of the book and of the speculation about the author. Both led me to expect more of the book than it delivered.

Yes, this is an erotic book in places. Yes, it describes a professional woman who seeks to become a slave of her lover and ends up a slave of another man (who admits to loving her). Yes, the character of O is described as a woman who submits willingly to her lover's decisions which are debasing of her as a person...or would appear to be looking in from the outside. And, yes, this book would have been scandalous when originally published in 1954 France (or anywhere for that matter).

But...I did not find myself scandalized nor upset. Perhaps it is because of my own life experiences (I am in my 6th decade). Perhaps it is because sex and submission and whips and chains have entered the vernacular of today's society. Perhaps it might even be because O is presented as a woman who consents and who allows her experiences to be what they are. She never quakes or bemoans what is happening. She only seeks to know that the one providing the experience to her loves her. I see her as a woman choosing. I do not see her as a victim. So...perhaps that is why this book did not live up to what I had heard. I saw and experienced O as a more complex woman. One whose choices may not be the same as most of society, but one who exercises the right to make her own choice.

My copy ended with two paragraphs describing two endings:
'In a final chapter, which has been suppressed, O returned to Roissy, where she was abandoned by Sir Stephen." and "There exists a second ending to the story of O, according to which O, seeing that Sir Stephen was about to leave her, said she would prefer to die. Sir Stephen gave her his consent."

If either of those chapter ending had been included in my copy as part of the story, it might have changed some of my impression of O...but maybe not. Both endings reflect the consequence of the choice she made all along.(less)

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Nov 19, 2012 Emma rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a strange book about BDSM which does not show any appreciation or understanding for the complex relationship between a Dominant and a submissive. Most good reviews of the book intimate that it is an excellent insight into the mind of obsessive love and the lengths people (read: woman) will go to in order to satisfy their need to love (i.e be submissive). This is of course utter bollocks. If all a book needed to be a classic was to show obsessive love then the wretched Twilght books would...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At first most people read this as erotica. However I read it for a psychology class. There is a much deeper story if you read it from a different perspective. Sad, definitely. This woman gives up everything. I don't mean everything in the passive way we use it today. I mean right down to her voice. She only speaks a few times, I can count the number of times on one hand. She gives away her core, her voice and her soul. Just to be loved. And what a silent psychological break she makes to remain a...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Bibi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would never read it - no interest in it, I keep hearing how poorly written it is!

However, if folks are going to read mass market stuff like shades of grey, well, one would imagine, this is where they should start - atleast "O" is well written.

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Apr 21, 2008 Kayleen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: not-for-young-reader, 1001, movies

I read this only because it was tagged 1001 to read before you die. I'm neither pro nor con on it. But BEWARE which version you buy. This is BS! My version, by Ballantine Books with the white dust jacket HAD NO LAST CHAPTER. It has TWENTY SEVEN pages of lead in "notes" and preamble, most of it written by someone else and contained spoilers. But when I got to the last page there were just three italicized lines that said, "In the last chapter which has been SUPPRESSED," [he did this. Or the alter...more

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Jan 06, 2008 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: greatest-books-ever

While this was one of the most original and mind blowing books I've ever read (and the history behind it is fascinating as well), it is definitely not for everyone, especially the sexually squeamish and the faint of heart. It deals with a sadomasochistic relationship in early 20th century France. It feels very reminiscent of Marquis de Sade's type of literary eroticism, but is a much easier read in terms of language and prose. This book stayed with me for months after I read it leaving me with t...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Duncan Howorth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: erotica

I like the history of this book most of all.
Composed by a member of the Academie Francaise, who created it in response to a challenge by her lover to write a "Marquis De Sade" novel and that he stated a woman could never create a book like that. It was written as a series of love letters.
The episodic nature of the tale supports this even though towards the end it runs out of steam.
Author Anne Desclos also known as Dominique Aury, novel addressed to her lover/employer Jean Paulhan.

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 31, 2012 Marie Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Makes 50 shades of Grey look like a child's fairy tale.

Given that this book was written sometime ago it took me a few pages to get use to the literacy style. However, once used to how the author writes I was hard placed to put this book down.

I did find the ending left me unfulfilled however and I found myself wanting more. Am pleased to find there is a second book and I hope it is as gripping as the first.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 25, 2012 Jo Payne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: erotica

This is an erotic classic way ahead of its time. O submits herself physically and mentally to the domination of her lover and subsequently Sir Stephen. Sad, no. Intellectually erotic and primal.

1 like · like · see review

Nov 06, 2012 Syahira Sharif added it · review of another edition

Story of O was the Fifty Shades of Gray trend in late 90s or early 00s and its quite popular enough that I do know of the book eventhough I never try reading it before. While I can't barely read the badly written Fifty Shades, my experience with reading Story of O was more problematic due to prose and the writing style of the author. I know this book is old - more like 60 years old- so the writing is something that I have to get used to. But I never did.
The story is about a Mary Sue-character c...more

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About Pauline Réage

Fifty years ago, an extraordinary pornographic novel appeared in Paris. Published simultaneously in French and English, Story of O portrayed explicit scenes of bondage and violent penetration in spare, elegant prose, the purity of the writing making the novel seem reticent even as it dealt with demonic desire, with whips, masks and chains.

Pauline Réage, the author, was a pseudonym, and many peopl...more

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Confessions of O: conversations with Pauline Réage

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Trivia About Story of O

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Quotes from Story of O

“As a matter of fact," the other voice went on, "if you do tie her up from time to time, or whip her just a little, and she begins to like it, that’s no good either. You have to get past the pleasure stage, until you reach the stage of tears.” — 9 people liked it

“And, what is more, we know how an all-consuming passion for freedom in the world never fails to lead to conflicts and wars which are no less consuming. ” — 2 people liked it

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Story Of O (Story of O #1)

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