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2.61 AVERAGE
2.61 AVERAGE
dark
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Culturally significant. I don't regret reading it, but would not recommend to read for joy
DNF'd @ 50%
I admit defeat. Not because it is too scandalous "oh my"! But because it is too boring!
It is senseless. Indulgence for shock value, except not very shocking. If someone is throttling you for several hours, it loses its oomph after about twenty seconds.
The debauchery is masked between utter minutiae. Lists of meals, of arseholes, of timetables, physical descriptions. It is less a novel and more the ramblings of someone attempting to think of all the horrible things he can imagine. It's monotonous and plain boring. I thought for a book of such a disgusting nature, surely it would be captivating, even in a horrifying way. But it's like listening to a methodical street freak. This book relies on shock value but torture repeated is not very shocking, interesting or captivating. Who cares? People are sexual weirdos. Whoopy freaking do. How tantalising? *gasp* *blergh* Give me plot you sick freak.
I admit defeat. Not because it is too scandalous "oh my"! But because it is too boring!
It is senseless. Indulgence for shock value, except not very shocking. If someone is throttling you for several hours, it loses its oomph after about twenty seconds.
The debauchery is masked between utter minutiae. Lists of meals, of arseholes, of timetables, physical descriptions. It is less a novel and more the ramblings of someone attempting to think of all the horrible things he can imagine. It's monotonous and plain boring. I thought for a book of such a disgusting nature, surely it would be captivating, even in a horrifying way. But it's like listening to a methodical street freak. This book relies on shock value but torture repeated is not very shocking, interesting or captivating. Who cares? People are sexual weirdos. Whoopy freaking do. How tantalising? *gasp* *blergh* Give me plot you sick freak.
The good news is, I'll never have to read this again. The other good news is that I'll be ever after able to see what bland, low-balling pikes the creators of things like "The Human Centipede" are.
The general idea: four rich dudes barricade themselves up in a castle with a bunch of sex slaves and other servants for 120 days. While a bunch of corrupt old women tell stories about the worst things they've every experienced/witnessed a la Arabian Nights, the four rich dudes abuse, rape, and murder their way through the staff.
Month 1: Non-penetrating acts.
Month 2: Penetrating acts.
Month 3: Minor (non-murder!) criminal acts.
Month 4: Murder.
In the end, the four guys walk out just fine, bringing with them 12 other survivors. Tra la, the happiest of all endings. I may need to mention that at least 16 of the original victims are 12 and under.
Only the first 1/4 of the book has actually been written out. The author was locked up in the Bastille on a lettre of cachet, or basically just "the king's say-so" on the request of his mom, on the basis that if the public found out just who de Sade had raped his way through at that point, it would damage the public trust. De Sade was released during the Revolution, and promptly sucked up to them for the rest of his life, which in no way kept him from raping exactly as much as he pleased. However, he had hidden the manuscript for 120 Days in the Bastille at the time it fell, and he despaired for the rest of his life that it had been destroyed. It was only discovered later--in an unfinished state. The other 3/4 of the "days" are just notes.
This book is torture porn written by a serial rapist.
And it gets repetitive and dull, which is possibly even worse once you think about it.
The general idea: four rich dudes barricade themselves up in a castle with a bunch of sex slaves and other servants for 120 days. While a bunch of corrupt old women tell stories about the worst things they've every experienced/witnessed a la Arabian Nights, the four rich dudes abuse, rape, and murder their way through the staff.
Month 1: Non-penetrating acts.
Month 2: Penetrating acts.
Month 3: Minor (non-murder!) criminal acts.
Month 4: Murder.
In the end, the four guys walk out just fine, bringing with them 12 other survivors. Tra la, the happiest of all endings. I may need to mention that at least 16 of the original victims are 12 and under.
Only the first 1/4 of the book has actually been written out. The author was locked up in the Bastille on a lettre of cachet, or basically just "the king's say-so" on the request of his mom, on the basis that if the public found out just who de Sade had raped his way through at that point, it would damage the public trust. De Sade was released during the Revolution, and promptly sucked up to them for the rest of his life, which in no way kept him from raping exactly as much as he pleased. However, he had hidden the manuscript for 120 Days in the Bastille at the time it fell, and he despaired for the rest of his life that it had been destroyed. It was only discovered later--in an unfinished state. The other 3/4 of the "days" are just notes.
This book is torture porn written by a serial rapist.
And it gets repetitive and dull, which is possibly even worse once you think about it.
This book was not made for rating. It is as disturbing as other reviewers have written, but its disturbances are made banal by their repetitiveness, which appears to be the point: to libertines, the extreme suffering of others is commonplace.
I read this book as a societal commentary, not only of de Sade's period. When someone is removed by class and morality from others, that person can act in terrible ways. They can view and treat people however they want and they will not suffer the consequences. Perhaps because I've been reading articles about Dartmouth fraternity hazing, where undergraduate boys allegedly forced each other to binge drink, vomit, urinate, and wallow in these fluids, and about secret service agents arguing with prostitutes about their charges, or perhaps because I've worked in the service industry, now work in a library that serves very wealthy undergraduates, am married to a waiter, and have seen how people who consider themselves better and removed from others poorly treat those who serve them, I associate the libertines in this book with the libertines of today. Different outfits, different circumstances, different behaviors, different extremes, but at heart, they're the same.
I didn't enjoy the book, bur I felt compelled to finish reading it. The message I garnered from it, despite perhaps de Sade's intentions, was very Catholic: when one engages in venial sins without cease, eventually one's transgressions become mortal sins. You start thinking of people as expendable and the next thing you know you've shot a bullet up their bum.
Should this book be banned? I don't believe in banning materials. It shouldn't be kept in a grade school library, but it belongs in an academic collection.
I read this book as a societal commentary, not only of de Sade's period. When someone is removed by class and morality from others, that person can act in terrible ways. They can view and treat people however they want and they will not suffer the consequences. Perhaps because I've been reading articles about Dartmouth fraternity hazing, where undergraduate boys allegedly forced each other to binge drink, vomit, urinate, and wallow in these fluids, and about secret service agents arguing with prostitutes about their charges, or perhaps because I've worked in the service industry, now work in a library that serves very wealthy undergraduates, am married to a waiter, and have seen how people who consider themselves better and removed from others poorly treat those who serve them, I associate the libertines in this book with the libertines of today. Different outfits, different circumstances, different behaviors, different extremes, but at heart, they're the same.
I didn't enjoy the book, bur I felt compelled to finish reading it. The message I garnered from it, despite perhaps de Sade's intentions, was very Catholic: when one engages in venial sins without cease, eventually one's transgressions become mortal sins. You start thinking of people as expendable and the next thing you know you've shot a bullet up their bum.
Should this book be banned? I don't believe in banning materials. It shouldn't be kept in a grade school library, but it belongs in an academic collection.
The ending of Salò left me wishing for brain bleach till this day, so I guess it was only fitting that I also pick up the book. But yeah, of course, this was mostly for bragging rights.
The definition of "libertinage" on the first page is pretty much a perfect TLDR. Glad that it's all uphill from here, because anything that's worse than this is already a hard pass.
The definition of "libertinage" on the first page is pretty much a perfect TLDR. Glad that it's all uphill from here, because anything that's worse than this is already a hard pass.
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've never gotten less from a book, I genuinely let out a sigh of relief when it ended. I had thought that it would at least be interesting from a psychological point of view (it is not). would not recommend this to anyone.
The movie is better, and actually say something about the senseless horrors going on.