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The 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings
The Marquis de Sade, vilified by respectable society from his own time through ours, apotheosized by Apollinaire as "the freest spirit tht has yet existed," wrote The 120 Days of Sodom while imprisoned in the Bastille. An exhaustive catalogue of sexual aberrations and the first systematic exploration -- a hundred years before Krafft-Ebing and Freud -- of the psy...more
Paperback, 799 pages
Published
January 10th 1994
by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
(first published November 28th 1785)
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A long disgusting book. Granted that this is well-written and the author wrote this for patriotic reason, I still don't like this book.
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) wrote 120 Days of Sodom to disgust the French people against the corruption in the government of King Louis XIV. Sade was an French aristocrat, revolutionary, writer and a libertine, i.e., one that devoid of moral restraints. This book, 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings is an erotic book with ...more
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) wrote 120 Days of Sodom to disgust the French people against the corruption in the government of King Louis XIV. Sade was an French aristocrat, revolutionary, writer and a libertine, i.e., one that devoid of moral restraints. This book, 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings is an erotic book with ...more
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Read as the result of being downloaded online with two giggling friends. Oh, the youth of today! Nothing good was on telly. The giggling didn't last long, however; this is the fastest way to desensitise yourself in the most boring way ever. This is the setup: A group of people listen to some old slag relating tales of her misspent youth, then they go off and have some jolly japes reenacting her sage wisdom. Rinse and repeat. It's dull after a few pages. You'd think for someone locked in the Bast...more
The Marquis de Sade was an extraordinarily interesting historical figure, but as far as I can tell, he wasn't actually a very good writer. Admittedly, this is the only one of his books I've read, so maybe I'm missing out on something, but if this is how he always writes, he makes Stephenie Meyer look like Shakespeare. I managed to get through the entire thing, but only because I made myself. I was probably unconsciously punishing myself for something, because NO ONE should ever do that. Not ...more
yes i know that de sade was all about freedom of the spirit and the power of the mind to free itself from all fetters, and that those are the underlying themes of all of his works....argh, who cares? too much genital mutilation and too much shit-eating does not make me want to embrace freedom, it makes me want to lock people up! eh? eh! bark less, wag more! at least just a little.
however the peter brook film of The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the ...more
however the peter brook film of The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the ...more
After Watching Quills I was engulfed in the character Geoffry Rush played, the character being the Marquis De Sade. After some quick IMDB research I learned the Marquis De Sade was in fact real and wrote many stories. I knew I had to read them. I ran to the library and picked up 120 Days of Sodom. First, I read a few essays preceding the story, all focusing on the Marquis from different angles, one being biographical and psychological, another focusing on him from a religious perspective ano...more
I found this at a used bookstore for a dollar and since it is on the 1001 book list I picked it up. YES, I knew what it was when I got it. I don't live under a rock. This is quite possibly the most vile and disgusting book I have ever touched. I knew it was going to be bad but it surpassed every pre-supposition I had about it. Maybe because I have young daughters that were the same age of the girls that were being used in this book. I could not even get through it, it made me so sick. I am ...more
The "other writings" referred to in the title of this collection include some novellas that stand with some of the best literature of its period. The cruel ironies of "Florville and Courval" would have inspired O Henry, and "Ernestine" offers some extremely well drawn, complicated characters in a short work, the same basic premise of the play "Oxtiern," also included.
As for the title work, we can only imagine what its weight and merit would have...more
As for the title work, we can only imagine what its weight and merit would have...more
The book presents one of the many ways men imagine heaven to be.
Four wealthy men (the "heroes") assemble a cast of former prostitutes (who'll serve as their storytellers and supervisors to their sex slaves), cooks (to prepare their meals), servants (to attend their other needs), beautiful boys/men and girls/women (some of them their very own daughters/wives, a majority kidnapped from various places), for the sole purpose of giving themselves pleasure.
Heaven for ...more
Four wealthy men (the "heroes") assemble a cast of former prostitutes (who'll serve as their storytellers and supervisors to their sex slaves), cooks (to prepare their meals), servants (to attend their other needs), beautiful boys/men and girls/women (some of them their very own daughters/wives, a majority kidnapped from various places), for the sole purpose of giving themselves pleasure.
Heaven for ...more
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This is not one for everyone. I am not sure if it is intended for ANYONE actually.
Here are the ravings of a lunatic. Explicit, alluring, majestic--a bunch of adjectives that contradict each other. A man imprisoned does his damn hardest to escape his jail by writing about what he knows and likes best: sex. There is just soo much detail upon detail that you know that in the 36 days it took the Marquis de Sade to concoct such a phantasmagoria of gore he rested not much. This is marathon...more
Here are the ravings of a lunatic. Explicit, alluring, majestic--a bunch of adjectives that contradict each other. A man imprisoned does his damn hardest to escape his jail by writing about what he knows and likes best: sex. There is just soo much detail upon detail that you know that in the 36 days it took the Marquis de Sade to concoct such a phantasmagoria of gore he rested not much. This is marathon...more
This was a class assignment (again for Lit. History). I don't believe I would have ever deliberately sought out this book otherwise (curiosity killed the cat, you know). The Marquis de Sade is disgusting, evil, grody, and....highly detailed. BUT it is quite brilliant. Sade justifies all of the make-the-reader-gag-and-throw-up-a-bit-in-her-mouth bits in his own world. It is not titilating (sorry boys). It is written as if it were an excerpt in an encyclopedia, and it explores ALL of the deepest d...more
A party trick I play with this book is to give it to some unsuspecting person, and have them turn to any random page and read an excerpt out loud to the room. Every page is filled with vile and disgusting images of sexuality and violence.
It is highly disturbing and extremely immoral. If the Marquis wasn't such a fine writer, I could imagine this book being banned.
The reason this book has stood the test of time is because it forces you to look inside yourself and see the...more
It is highly disturbing and extremely immoral. If the Marquis wasn't such a fine writer, I could imagine this book being banned.
The reason this book has stood the test of time is because it forces you to look inside yourself and see the...more
What's more shocking than the exploits of the novel's libertine protagonists is Sade's philosophy which precedes his time with musings to make Freud jealous long before his term. This book is not written for the casual reader, or many people at all, but rather the cancers on the face of the planet such as de Sade himself, who live Nietzsche's laws to the fullest, and expect nothing of life but to usurp it and its inhabitants of all pleasure. Although it is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed, it is...more
I imagine it was supposed to have been an epic survey of evil & debauchery but it's just petty and boring. There are a few noteworthy passages which sum up psychopathy and sadism, v. quotable, but the rest of it has an autistically catalogued texture e.g. Mr. A had sex with Mr. B in his anus while Mr. B frigged Ms. C.; the following night Mr. B had sex with Ms. C. in her anus while she frigged Mr. A.
I like framed narratives, and the framing here was promising, but the narratives of eac...more
I like framed narratives, and the framing here was promising, but the narratives of eac...more
Bit of a misnomer here. I'd more accurately call it "The 30 Days of PissingShittingandFarting Followed by 90 Days of Inquisition-era Torture Porn." Honestly, this just went from 0 to gross-as-hell in a few pages and stayed that way at the point of sheer and utter monotony. Wasn't even naughty, just boring, unrelenting, and annoying. If this were the only volume of de Sade's works that survived, I think the literary world would've been all, "Yeah, he's a real dirty birdie and not a...more
It is worthwhile to skim a few passages online to see what the fuss is about. But it is extremely repetitive, so there's no reason to buy the book and actually read it. His prose still has the ability to shock. Even the "Saw" movies owe a debt to him:
"He chains one of the girl's hands and secures the chain to the wall; he leaves her thus, without food. Near her is a large knife, and just beyond her reach sits an excellent meal: if she wishes to eat, she has but to cut ...more
"He chains one of the girl's hands and secures the chain to the wall; he leaves her thus, without food. Near her is a large knife, and just beyond her reach sits an excellent meal: if she wishes to eat, she has but to cut ...more
"The 120 Days of Sodom," boasts the broadest collection of disgusting sexual practices and perversions that I have ever read. However, that's exactly what de Sade set out to write, so that's hardly a damning statement. The gist is simple- four powerful, dissolute men abduct a group of beautiful children, hire various male and female prostitutes, and lock themselves and their daughters in a citadel where they, guided by the day's prostitute-storyteller, ritualistically perform as many o...more
After reading through such a phenomenal sequence of tales found in the Grove Press collection of "Justine" I was quite excited to read another book riddled with Sade's writings! Maybe my philosophical mind was set so afire that I was simply expecting far too much from Sade. Don't mistake me; I did like some of the tales, especially "The Crimes of Love". That story was simply superb. However, the main piece of this edition was not what I was expecting, so allow me to go over t...more
Suna
rated it
This is a radical socio-political tract. Sade explores the lack of morals, guilt, religious remorse and a social conscience through the eyes of narrators from the highest of the high to the lowest of the low.
Hence amidst scenes of the utmost degrading debauchery, executed with slavering zeal, we have long orations on human nature, God, politics, libertinage and how man is not created equal, polemic which is delivered to us via prostitutes, procuresses, a banker, a high ranking politician an...more
Hence amidst scenes of the utmost degrading debauchery, executed with slavering zeal, we have long orations on human nature, God, politics, libertinage and how man is not created equal, polemic which is delivered to us via prostitutes, procuresses, a banker, a high ranking politician an...more
Eww.
I bought this book a while ago, and a couple weeks ago I decided to pick it up and read it... I did, but with much skippage for sanity's sake.
Now, I will admit that I have a bit of a morbid fascination with someone who has a term for a deviant trait named after them. I picked up this book thinking that, yes, it would be unconventional and probably not exactly pleasant reading material, but also that it would be something of a look into the man himself, even if it is...more
I bought this book a while ago, and a couple weeks ago I decided to pick it up and read it... I did, but with much skippage for sanity's sake.
Now, I will admit that I have a bit of a morbid fascination with someone who has a term for a deviant trait named after them. I picked up this book thinking that, yes, it would be unconventional and probably not exactly pleasant reading material, but also that it would be something of a look into the man himself, even if it is...more
This book is disgusting, perverted, horrific, and violent. I love it. Sadly, de Sade only completed the first few chapters, and the majority of the work is in note-form.
The plot overview is simple. For five months, from November till March, four wealthy perverts and a host of other characters, including eight boys and eight girls (aged 12 to 15), eight studs, who are chosen by the size of their genitalia, the daughters of the four main characters, and four old, ugly women.
...more
The plot overview is simple. For five months, from November till March, four wealthy perverts and a host of other characters, including eight boys and eight girls (aged 12 to 15), eight studs, who are chosen by the size of their genitalia, the daughters of the four main characters, and four old, ugly women.
...more
Chances are, if you own this book, you've never finished it. And the reason why isn't because you were disturbed or offended or shocked, but that by about Day 35, you had become so completely deadened, you just quit. Reading this book is a litmus test that proves how quickly you become inured to graphic violence and once you do, how tedious it becomes. The effect is kind of like watching a "A Clockwork Orange" backwards. Or listening to adolescent boys trying to one-up each other with...more
I was reading this for an art class that was challenging thoughts and perceptions of sexuality. I wrote a large essay on the topic years ago, but don't have the material with me anymore. Ultimately I recall this book being an onslaught of every form of sexual deviance you could imagine, that ended in the death of the characters. It was almost like an encyclopedia that eventually numbed you not even a quarter of the way through. It can spur a good convo, but ultimately it's a madman's ranting...more
Das Buch befasst sich mit genau einem Thema: Der Ordnung von Sex und Fäkalien in lange Listen. De Sade zeigt als Schreiber manchmal durchaus Esprite, aber leider kommt der Sammlungs- und Ordnungsaspekt hier dem Streben nach Schriftstellerischer Brillianz in den Weg.
De Sades gesamtes Werk wird wesentlich einsichtiger, wenn man entsprechendes Hintergrundwissen über die Liberine Bewegung und ihre Zusammenhänge mit der Aufklärung informiert ist.
De Sades gesamtes Werk wird wesentlich einsichtiger, wenn man entsprechendes Hintergrundwissen über die Liberine Bewegung und ihre Zusammenhänge mit der Aufklärung informiert ist.
I think everyone wants to read this for the pure shock and awe. I believe that most people can't get through the Marquis' writings, it's too much. Quite the opposite; the more revolting the more I was attracted. I wanted to see just how far he would go for the sake of story telling. What may have initially made my toes curl had me howling by the end of the scene. Another book that made me appreciate those living on the outside, much like the person I have always been. Although, I've been t...more
Please be ready for extreme sexual situations before you read this book...definitely not something that you can read constantly, you have to put it down, walk away from it and when you can feel your stomach settle, pick it up again.
Good read for psych. majors. Interesting, confusing read for those of us that just want to understand what could possibly drive someone to that level of deviance.
Good read for psych. majors. Interesting, confusing read for those of us that just want to understand what could possibly drive someone to that level of deviance.
This is such a terrible book. I read this years ago when I was young, because it was infamously offensive.
It wasn't interesting, I found no philosophical value to it, and it basically just degenerates into a literal list of every offensive sexual act possibly known to man.
120 Days of Sodom is a waste of time and paper. It is so over the top that it ceases to even be offensive anymore.
It wasn't interesting, I found no philosophical value to it, and it basically just degenerates into a literal list of every offensive sexual act possibly known to man.
120 Days of Sodom is a waste of time and paper. It is so over the top that it ceases to even be offensive anymore.
I don't know. Lots of sex and filth and violence. And a lot of filthy, violent sex. As I understand it, historically speaking, this little guy never actually DID any of the things he wrote about; it was enough that he just WANTED to do that stuff (and said so in writing) that was enough to get him thrown in jail. Such is life. Of course, I may be wrong.
But whether he wanted to and/or did actually have sex with shit-covered babies or whatever, this is still a very interesting boo...more
But whether he wanted to and/or did actually have sex with shit-covered babies or whatever, this is still a very interesting boo...more
some of the shit eating parts were hard to get through.
not because they were graphic, but, i mean, how many pages of old men eating the shit of kidnapped children can you read?
can you read a couple hundred? and it's the same shit eating fiasco type of deal over and over. so, that got boring.
other than that it was a great book.
not because they were graphic, but, i mean, how many pages of old men eating the shit of kidnapped children can you read?
can you read a couple hundred? and it's the same shit eating fiasco type of deal over and over. so, that got boring.
other than that it was a great book.
In a good/evil/either/or universe, the only way to be truly anti-god is to become the most vile and reprehensible creatures you can imagine. It almost an inviting challenge to these libertines, and a real gas to read. It's also a great catalogue of bizarre fetishes that could give liven up your love life if you're want for inspiration.
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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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“Sexual pleasure is, I agree, a passion to which all others are subordinate but in which they all unite.”
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“Beauty belongs to the sphere of the simple, the ordinary, whilst ugliness is something extraordinary, and there is no question but that every ardent imagination prefers in lubricity, the extraordinary to the commonplace”
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