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tofi_15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Rape, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Suicide, and Physical abuse
ashs_ephemera's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Body horror, and Suicide
Moderate: Blood and Mental illness
Minor: Vomit
corvuscorax's review against another edition
3.5
And it struck me that death was the sole outcome of my erection, and if Simone and I were killed, then the universe of our unbearable personal vision was certain to be replaced by the pure stars, fully unrelated to any external hazes and realizing in a cold state, without human delays or detours, something that strikes me as the goal of my sexual licentiousness: a geometric incandescence (among other things, the coinciding point of life and death, being and nothingness), perfectly fulgurating.
This was one of the books that push you to reconsider your interpretation of art, vulgarity and how the two can (or can't?) combine. It was a tough read to be sure, but there was a certain aspect of playfulness generated by the sheer absurdity of the scenarios that were being presented. The essay at the end felt like a breath of fresh air, but then the almost mathematical correspondence that Bataille wanted to establish between details of his biography and elements of the metaphorical chains in the book made me feel uneasy, because they so contradicted my aversion to authorial "implication", especially when it comes to such intense and almost grotesquely exaggerated scenarios. It felt as though putting a real, living, breathing author next to the text would've been an insult to both.
Sontag's essay was interesting, but I found Barthes's takes to be more substantive and truly add to my experience of the book. This is one to chew on for a while, I think.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Suicide
christianpunk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The first half is intriguing and I genuinely enjoyed it. The relationship between the Narrator and Simone shows a deep look into how hedonistic relationships can make us not love eachother for the person but only for the body and fetishes, most of the time in vain. In Isolation. Their actions of pursuing these nasty ventures also get other people evolved, most of it non-consensual as they put them in an orgy, and start raping people like Marcelle. They get in trouble because of these acts with the Narrator leaving home before he's parents get to see him again. Attempting to commit suicide. But then decides to start living with Simone. They start however getting attached by Marcelle as they only want her to fill the gap in their relationship. Marcelle - after being tainted and ruined - commits suicide after mistaking the Narrator for a Cardinal Priest (Which I assume is probably because she started liking being hedonistic with her innocence turning from tainted to Bi-polor trauma). The Narrator and Simone Leave France after pursue their endeavours of lust in Spain.
The second half honestly made me sick and uneasy. If you have read the book you would know what I'm talking about. I was shocked not only by them doing the nasty and raping a priest but also because this felt incredibly out of place for me. Throughout the whole novella I felt like it was going to go somewhere interesting. But the last two chapters felt like an ugly deadend of foul nothingness. I do know the author was a catholic who converted to an atheist, but is that truly the point of the novella? To show you hate Catholicism by putting rampant smut and sex? Obviously I'm a little biased because I am catholic but was the second half already planned, and the first half was only the build for those last two chapters? I could go but Georges Bataille was clearly going through some demons during his life. Despite his renouncment of Catholicism I know God would have judged him well, rather he be going to hell or heaven. Thanks for reading and may God bless you.
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Murder, Rape, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Torture, and Toxic relationship
tcgarback's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Critical Score: B
Personal Score: C+
Reading Experience: 📘📘📘(3/5)
Grabbed my attention at the start and the end, lost me in the middle. Altogether too involved in its own symbolism and musings on agony and pleasure. But this is still a bomb of immorality that is as courageous as it is sleazy—as it’s meant to be, so really, they’re the same thing here.
This is fascinating to me as a piece of transgressive literature, but it’s not something that at all moved me or, given the stuff I’ve read in recent years, shocked me.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Rape, Torture, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Death, Violence, Vomit, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
halflight's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Death, Gore, Murder, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Sexism
Minor: Racism and Vomit
The book is entirely about sex. Lots of urine. Several instances of rape. Two instances of fairly graphic necrophilia. Things are put into certain holes that should NOT be put into those holesurlocalsleepparalysisdemon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
I hate every single person who's given this four or five stars because I think they're annoying and probably don't get invited to parties. Fuck you.
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Suicide, Vomit, Death, Gore, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Addiction, Child death, and Cursing
erissa_lestrange's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Excrement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Incest and Violence
sbsin's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Excrement, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Vomit