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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
you have the eyes of a martyr
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sacher-Masoch does go a long way towards exploring the co-occurrence of submission, dominance, mutual respect, and mutual love but fails I think to see the possibility that these are tendencies of all people and that submission is not the same thing as subordination. that said, this seems written by someone gripped with an overwhelming idea and as a first thrust at sub/domme dynamics I think it is a good conversation starter. the respect that Wanda has for Severin's submission is truly touching.
I can see how this could fascinate people who would then go on to improve on its worldview and explore the philosophy of dominance and submission in ways that are less "battle of the sexes." I do wonder if the man v. woman idea that Sacher-Masoch ends with isn't just his writing about continual brushes with dom/sub dynamics in his relationships with others and the lack of language to describe what he was experiencing.
I hope to read this again in a different translation. the e-book version that was available through my library was the 1921 Fernanda Savage translation, and that's a fucking cool name but I'm pretty sure that she translated "ass" as "donkey" so I'm not sure what else got left out. even in spite of this the aesthetics are badass throughout.
I can see how this could fascinate people who would then go on to improve on its worldview and explore the philosophy of dominance and submission in ways that are less "battle of the sexes." I do wonder if the man v. woman idea that Sacher-Masoch ends with isn't just his writing about continual brushes with dom/sub dynamics in his relationships with others and the lack of language to describe what he was experiencing.
I hope to read this again in a different translation. the e-book version that was available through my library was the 1921 Fernanda Savage translation, and that's a fucking cool name but I'm pretty sure that she translated "ass" as "donkey" so I'm not sure what else got left out. even in spite of this the aesthetics are badass throughout.
ցածր գնահատականի պատճառը ոչ թէ նկարագրութիւններն ու պատկերներն էին, այլ սեռերի մասին ընդհանրացումները։ իսկ ձեւական առումով գեղեցիկ էր գրուած։
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's hard to rate this book. I loved everything until the end but I do understand why Leopold von Sacher-Masoch ended it this way. SPOILERS!!! He had to distance himself from the subject of the book and pretend like he was really judging it and the people with in it. That this was after all a lesson in what not to do. And yes it is a dated version of what BDSM is all about but still this is quite revolutionary and beautiful. I especially loved the part with the painter. It made me giggle with delight.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is not a book about BDSM.
Well, it is a little bit, but that's not what it is about at all.
It's also only a bit about the age-old inability of man to get beyond his desires and become what he needs to become.
People quote "Man even when he is selfish or evil always follows principles, woman never follows anything but impulses." not understanding that our protagonist is doing nothing but following his impulses, or thinking only that this makes him a hypocrite.
this is the satire at the core of this book, and it is what elevates it and means it is still read 150 years later. All pronouncements get turned on their heads, and in what on the surface is a straightforward erotic fantasy, turns out to be a subversion of its own tropes.
Well, it is a little bit, but that's not what it is about at all.
It's also only a bit about the age-old inability of man to get beyond his desires and become what he needs to become.
People quote "Man even when he is selfish or evil always follows principles, woman never follows anything but impulses." not understanding that our protagonist is doing nothing but following his impulses, or thinking only that this makes him a hypocrite.
this is the satire at the core of this book, and it is what elevates it and means it is still read 150 years later. All pronouncements get turned on their heads, and in what on the surface is a straightforward erotic fantasy, turns out to be a subversion of its own tropes.
All of the characters were so annoying and indecisive and unlikable. The message of the story was also not great.
“Don’t you know me by now? Yes, I am cruel—since you take so much pleasure in that word—and am I not entitled to be cruel? Man desires, woman is desired. That is woman’s entire but decisive advantage. Nature has put man at woman’s mercy through his passion, and woman is misguided if she fails to make him her subject, her slave, no, her toy and ultimately fails to laugh and betray him.”