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2.6 AVERAGE


This is a truly monstrous study/inventory of man's sexual perversions. And the systematic way in which Sade executed the narrative has itself an air of monstrosity about it.
Here law is employed in the service of madness, for to give absolute free reign to one's libertinage (to commit the most unspeakable atrocities that would prompt God to kill himself out of shame) on the onset would be to deny oneself the utmost pleasure of unleashing the excess after a period of accumulation.
Freedom, as Kant would declare, is far from succumbing to the anarchy of desire but precisely "acting according to laws that one imposes on oneself".
Our libertines thusly limited themselves in order that they could enjoy at all.
The so called "Pleasures" start out simple and seemingly mild and before long the readers find themselves being treated to a voyeuristic theater in which scenes of abject carnage and horror appear one after another in a dizzying succession, culminating the brutal torture and sacrifice of [omitted].
So one could argue that there is an intrinsic logic to the unfolding of the wicked tableau since it cannot be unfolded at once in its totality, hence the necessity of a "plot" or "chronology".
Ultimately, the searing lesson of 120 Days of Sodom may be that sexual mania has little or nothing to do with the biological drive to procreate.
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

there wasn’t anything interesting. it was just sex, sex, and more sex. there’s no substance, nothing to work on with the story. 

to my knowledge, this is an incomplete story(?) because he died before finishing it. even then, it still had nothing going for it. i should’ve known though. it IS called the 120 days of sodom.

i guess i was expecting something more? now i just feel like i wasted my time listening to this “infamous” marquis de sade story. 

Written secrecy, while imprisoned in the Bastille, on a 12 meter long roll of paper, and hidden in the prison wall. First published in 1904. Sade has a fixation on anal and shit. The first part is tedious, the second (unfinished) part is just an enumeration of disgusting and appalling depravities. Sick and immoral. I would say zero stars but a ½ star bonus due to its origins.
challenging dark funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Good grief.

18th century Epstein party. As a critique of people drawn to power I found it hilarious. I thought I had an iron stomach able to make it through it but boy how wrong I was. It started off with priests committing pedophilia... and then got progressively worse until it’s bestiality mixed with pouring molten lead in peoples ears and leaving them to die in pits of feces. I read about 60 pages, got bored of the repetition and disgusted by the contents, and then skipped ahead to get a taste of what was going on in each part and uhh... yeah not for me. I laughed over the idea of this book existing repeatedly and at the reviews but I can’t fucking take anymore of it. Somehow I don't think I'm missing anything by not reading more. I got more than a few demented laughs out of it but it's absolutely awful. Yuck.

a book with this many depravities its biggest crime shouldn't be how boring it is
dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

It's hard to imagine anyone being proud of having read this book unless it's because you are proud of simply having been able to stick with it through all of the extreme, revolting, brutality...and I guess that is no small feat considering the depths this book sinks to.

If you haven't read it, I'm sure you have a general idea of what it is so you won't be entirely caught off guard if you do read it. Also, if you haven't read it, I am absolutely certain that you are not nearly as prepared for it as you may think.

I would never recommend this book to anyone, but that being said, if you are looking for something that pushes boundaries, perversity, taboo, violence, and poor taste, to an extreme, you probably will enjoy this book and should consider reading it. There is a very thin plot here, but the plot really doesn't matter. The book is fairly competently written, but that almost doesn't matter either. In essence, this book is a series of escalating events that is meant to shock, disgust, and excite you. I would say that it accomplishes it's goals better than almost any book you will read, whether this is a good or bad thing, is probably up for debate.

You may occasionally hear people try to claim that this book has some real merit or that it is in someway a misunderstood commentary on society. Don't believe them. Read this book because you want to wallow in the depravity or catch a glimpse of things that are beyond taboo, perhaps as a way to satiate certain itches that need to be scratched. Don't read it looking for anything deeper than that or try to kid yourself. You may enjoy the book. You may be glad you read it. One thing is certain, however, when the experience is over, you won't feel better about yourself.