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Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings
No other writer has so scandalized proper society as the Marquis de Sade, but despite the deliberate destruction of over three-quarters of his work, Sade remains a major figure in the history of ideas. His influence on some of the greatest minds of the last century -- from Baudelaire and Swinburne to Nietzsche, Dostoyevksy, and Kafka -- is indisputable. This volume conta...more
Paperback, 784 pages
Published
January 11th 1994
by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
(first published 1791)
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*yawn* I don't own this book anymore. It found a good home on a church pew.
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As one of the introductory authors mentioned "that those who read know of Sade, but very few ever actually read Sade." I was this person until I finally read this book. My one complaint is that prior to this I had never read Sade, so reading the introduction was a bit daunting. I didn't fully understand their references, those from his literature or historical. So if this is actually your first book of Sade's, or any of the others from this publisher, skip the introduction and read it ...more
/Justine/ is little more than a prurient joyride unless you've read Rousseau. That is, it's a direct rebuttal of Rouseeau's notions of the noble savage and the social contract. De Sade presents man's unfettered urges as being driven by the pleasure of the moment, regardless of the cost to others. You either happen to be in a position to impose your desires, or you are the object of the desires of others, or both. The savage is not noble in any sense that we might recognize; he is merely a bundle...more
The Marquis De Sade is definitely a required taste. Not many can sit and read his vulgar words, but I could enjoy them daily. Justine is one of his greatest works, and this book comes with many other little haunting tales to keep you on the edge of your seat.
W.
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I am not certain quite what has been done here. As pornography in and of itself, little that de sade wrote is likely to impress the fetishist; his work has been endlessly imitated and is likely to have been seen before. As enduring fiction, de Sade seems to me correct yet disconnected by time and space, far less immediate and illuminative than, I dunno, Goethe or Shakespeare or someone who really wrote.
As philosophy, however, de Sade is, and should be, considered among the great th...more
As philosophy, however, de Sade is, and should be, considered among the great th...more
This is weird, but at times I wondered if de sade was an early feminist. His athiestic tirades were dead on, but his rants on women's inferiority were so ridiculous that I wondered if he were "pulling a Jonathan Swift." Folks who have read 120 days of Sadom say not, but I still wonder. I did enjoy it for the philosophy, assinine and not so much, and the kinkiness was not that extreme, except the bleeding one. I loved how he killed her off at the end and by the end he was calling he...more
Sade's spittle and bile for polite society is never on better display than here. As he probably would have predicted, we've become worse and more hypocritical than ever before. Progress is a myth; we like to pretend we've become transgressive, but in fact we've only turned sex and violence into cartoons - in fact we're scandalized more than ever by the real. This is particularly true among the progressives, leftists, and liberal priests who like to walk around and prattle about liberty while ...more
I only read the story Justine, which is just one of the few stories in this huge novel. I've never read a story like this before. Marquis de Sade used to get arrested for his writings because they were considered greatly perversive in his time. They are even considered perversive today but they are actually allowed to be published which is great for us.
This story is astounding in a crazy but great way. I can honestly say I've never read a thing like it. There is a lesson i...more
what a sick bastard...I couldn't put it down.
What a load of dribbling moronic crap! No really, why would a man in prison for more than 40 years equate sex with death and pain and a pathological fear, loathing and desire to subjugate women? Please! The fact that people worship him as a genius is pathetic. I read this book originally as research for something I thought I wanted to write at the time to "rescue" the Justine character.
I changed my mind after I read this ludicrous, infantile treatise. No redeeming qualities, ...more
I changed my mind after I read this ludicrous, infantile treatise. No redeeming qualities, ...more
De Sade, the pervert. De Sade, the (sometimes uninentional) humorist. De Sade, the provocacateur. Perhaps what shines through most in reading Justine and some of the other works in this book is De Sade, the philosopher. Of course, all of the above traits also characterize de Sade, but clearly he writes not merely to arouse or scandalize or provoke, but is something of an Any Rand, laying forth in novel form a philosophy best understood as a philosophy of life with obvious political ramifications...more
This collection of writings by the Marquis de Sade was an interesting read to say the least. This book is broken down into three parts. The first part contains some essays on Sade, a chronology of Sade's life, and some letters he wrote. I found the chronology to be particularly fascinating because I knew very little about Sade's life.
The second part of this book consists of two of Sade's philosophical works: "A Dialogue between a Priest and a Dying Man" and "Philosoph...more
The second part of this book consists of two of Sade's philosophical works: "A Dialogue between a Priest and a Dying Man" and "Philosoph...more
"Philosophy in the Bedroom", the one short story, and "Justine" all feature the same basic ingredients, which is brutal sex acts (featuring a lot of anal sex) followed by harangues about the virtues of Nature. These harangues generally say that men are animals and in countries all over the world throughout time men have been animals, so why not be an animal too? I suppose that's fine so long as you don't aspire to be anything more than an animal, whatever your faith in a hi...more
Is this the naughtiest book ever written? Perhaps. Regardless, it's a fascinating read. Whether you're titilated or reviled by Sade's metaphorically graphic depiction of sexuality, this story will make you question the very nature of humanity.
The debacles in which Justine becomes ensnared seem almost too fantastical to be true, and I was left wondering how it was she never learned her lesson. What I mean is: Justine holds steadfastly to her devotion to virtue, and this is what cause...more
The debacles in which Justine becomes ensnared seem almost too fantastical to be true, and I was left wondering how it was she never learned her lesson. What I mean is: Justine holds steadfastly to her devotion to virtue, and this is what cause...more
Erik Graff
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
students of sado-masochism
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
literature
Dad obtained this book in paperback right after Grove Press put it out in '65. For a while it sat in the bookshelf in the living room, then it disappeared into the parental bedroom where, of course, I quickly rediscovered it. Being about thirteen at the time, I found Philosophy in the Bedroom to be stimulating in its earlier parts, but its conclusion and its companion book, Justine, were off-putting.
Later, after I'd entered high school, I actually sat down and read the introduction...more
Later, after I'd entered high school, I actually sat down and read the introduction...more
This is a book that Richie gave me for Christmas. In the book, there is a Chronology of Sade's life; several letters that he wrote while in prison; a copy of his will; A Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man; Philosophy of the Bedroom; Eugenie de Franval; and Justine. None of the stories were longer than 300 pages. Dialogue was pretty much what the title suggests: a priest and a dying man discuss God. Philosophy was a play in which four adults defile a fifteen year old girl, who happily goes...more
A very interesting philosophy that lies beneath the smut and is also the reason behind it. Of course I don't subscribe to de Sade's philosophy that women are made for pleasure and should give in to men whenever they desire. The characters argue their philosophy quite well even though I don't agree with it. Some of the smut was laughably ridiculous. It could get a bit tiring when the characters would talk for pages on end about their philosophy.
this book has a very good chance of being rated as the grossest book ever. I wonder how a guy in the 1700's could come up with such ideas. He was definitely sick. The ideas of debauchery are explained in such a logical way that you sometimes feel that maybe the author has a point.
Don't touch this book with a 10-foot pole.
Don't touch this book with a 10-foot pole.
It was a worthwhile read more than an enjoyable one--the thought of saying "I really liked De Sade's Justine" is just uncomfortable. It is certainly intriguing when compared with, at the very least, Venus in Furs or any other studies of deviance (in this case both the act of writing as well as the stories themselves).
I read this last year as a junior in high school. Somehow I'm fond of de Sade's work (the fact frightens me a little), just I wish he wouldn't have his characters go on speeches that last forty-something pages. They get a tad dull after about the second page.
This book opened my mind to a whole new world of sexual intrigue. I personally think much of what is appealing to those who are sadists or masochists or sadomasochists stems from abuse of some kind.
marquis de sade's books..i might say very erotic and full of sodomy in the author's life,yet the book is not only filled with sex fantasies but it is filled with anti-christening and gay lesbianism.
Bumper edition, good on the bedside table, he does go on a bit. Persy fave is Philosophy in the bedroom - it's got a big political bit in the middle of all the fucking.
Something that one reads once and then again. Makes one think of what is moral, what boundaries should or should not be tested.
Scary to some, thrilling to others.
Scary to some, thrilling to others.
Fiction raped by non-fiction or a forced "message" sex before humanity, exploit or be exploited.
Justine is a well-bred girl who finds herself parentless and pennyless at a very early age. She is an innocent virgin with high values, but these values don't earn her anything but bad luck. She is forced to take a part in a crime, then forced to get naked and be played with, and so on. She also witnesses various types of sexual intercourses. Most characters she meets talk a lot as the...more
Justine is a well-bred girl who finds herself parentless and pennyless at a very early age. She is an innocent virgin with high values, but these values don't earn her anything but bad luck. She is forced to take a part in a crime, then forced to get naked and be played with, and so on. She also witnesses various types of sexual intercourses. Most characters she meets talk a lot as the...more
Zwei Sterne für: "Wir nehmen die Aufklärung und stellen sie auf den Kopf"
Ein Stern dafür, das zwischen dem Ficken noch was anderes kam.
Ein Stern dafür, das zwischen dem Ficken noch was anderes kam.
I liked Justine as a novel to be compared with Candide, but all the other works were trash verging on cheap philosophical pornography.
I just finished re-reading this book for my lit class at U C Berkley. The first time I read it was several years ago. I missed so much the first time through. I know it is strange to say, but I really love this book. It is heavy philosophical arguments alternated with graphic sexual violence and framed in a moralistic possible parody. The thing is that the novel gives you the choice of interpretations and I think that is what the novel is really all about. It is about examining the the options,...more
Creo que hay que leer a Sade...ofrece una visión intereante acerca del comportamiento humano y sus perversiones.
Uno de los libros que mas me impacto, y aun sigo releyendo. La critica mordaz de Sade en todo su esplendor.
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Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts; in his lifetime some were published under his own name, while others appeared anonymously and Sade denied being their author. He is best known for his...more
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“What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of you, care only for you...every man wants to be a tyrant when he fornicates.”
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“Nature has endowed each of us with a capacity for kindly feelings: let us not squander them on others.”
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