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2.61 AVERAGE
2.61 AVERAGE
I- .... wtf ... ik weet zelfs niet hoe ik dit moet reviewen of raten ...
de sade had a dark twisted and sick mind and it shows so much here. obscene, shocking and gore at some points. can’t believe it was published then.
3.5. Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately, depending on your view) ‘Salo’ is unfinished in a way. It is true the story is complete, but Part One takes up almost 300 pages of the 400 page manuscript. The following three parts are more of a litany of tortures/pleasures written primarily as an outline and much more condensed than in the first part. I am unaware if Sade ran out of time to complete the story of the final three parts or if this was by design. It seemed to me he intended to go back through in order to embellish and flesh out the narrative between the final 450 pleasures. If he would have, the book probably would have been well over 1000 pages long, but would have been much more intriguing and less repetitious to read. In Part One, Sade writes with such lasciviousness and meticulous detail, in both the narrative of the storytellers as well as the tortures, that it is both engaging and paralyzing to read one page after the next. The final three parts, you are forced to read one explanation after the next in rapidity and it becomes monotonous and fatiguing as there is no story taking place between the tortures. I felt the first part (300 pages) went by much quicker than the final three (100 pages) and due to this ‘120 Days of Sodom’ suffers more from its incompleteness than any of its vulgarity and wicked chronicles.
Part One: 4.5 out of 5
Parts Two-Four: 2 out of 5
Part One: 4.5 out of 5
Parts Two-Four: 2 out of 5
Esta novela nos narra los acontecimientos que transcurren durante las 120 jornadas dentro de un castillo recóndito al norte de Italia, donde 4 amigos organizan la ejecución de sus más profundas fantasías. La introducción de estos personajes se da a través de un breve recuento de los acontecimientos destacables de su vida, así como una descripción de su carácter innato, que si existe algún común denominador entre ellos, es su afinidad desmesurada por todo lo que se considera atroz y desdeñable. Sus impulsos carnales rigen cada una de sus decisiones y su amistad nace de esta simpatía.
Durante los 4 meses en los que se recluyen los personajes principales, el personal del castillo y las criaturas destinadas a las más horribles venturas, se le da la tarea a 4 historiadoras de contar 150 relatos de su propia experiencia cada una de las noches, todos ellos teñidos de la misma índole voraz y voluptuosa, a fin de excitar los sentidos, asignándole un mes a cada una, así como un tema principal a abordar. El sentido de lubricidad que confiere cada relato corresponde a la filosofía por la que viven estos libertinos, donde todo rechazo voluntario hacia alguna inclinación sería una negación de la naturaleza misma, por lo que estos son meros cómplices de su capricho, donde el hastío temprano de sus sentidos por los placeres mediocres y sencillos ha dado pie a los extravíos bestiales de los que son presos, siendo esta la justificación principal de sus malvadas acciones.
Es esta clase de moral la que tiñe toda la novela, nos vemos enredados en la cumbre del libertinaje junto a sus fieles emisarios, donde la corrupción de la mente y la insaciable concupiscencia ha de tomar todas las formas necesarias para la culminación de una imaginación atroz de todo aquello que es violento.
Durante los 4 meses en los que se recluyen los personajes principales, el personal del castillo y las criaturas destinadas a las más horribles venturas, se le da la tarea a 4 historiadoras de contar 150 relatos de su propia experiencia cada una de las noches, todos ellos teñidos de la misma índole voraz y voluptuosa, a fin de excitar los sentidos, asignándole un mes a cada una, así como un tema principal a abordar. El sentido de lubricidad que confiere cada relato corresponde a la filosofía por la que viven estos libertinos, donde todo rechazo voluntario hacia alguna inclinación sería una negación de la naturaleza misma, por lo que estos son meros cómplices de su capricho, donde el hastío temprano de sus sentidos por los placeres mediocres y sencillos ha dado pie a los extravíos bestiales de los que son presos, siendo esta la justificación principal de sus malvadas acciones.
Es esta clase de moral la que tiñe toda la novela, nos vemos enredados en la cumbre del libertinaje junto a sus fieles emisarios, donde la corrupción de la mente y la insaciable concupiscencia ha de tomar todas las formas necesarias para la culminación de una imaginación atroz de todo aquello que es violento.
"If the book we reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it? So that it shall make us happy? Good God, we would also be happy if we had no books, and such books as make us happy we could, if need be, write ourselves. But what we must have are those books which come upon us like ill-fortune, and distress us deeply, like the death of one we love better than ourselves, like suicide. A book must be an ice-axe to break the sea froze inside us." - Franz Kafka
"Sad drained to the dregs the moment of selfishness, injustice, misery, and he insisted upon its truth. The supreme value of his testimony lies in his ability to disturb us. It forces us to re-exame thoroughly the basic problem which haunts our age in different forms: the true relation between man and man." - Simone de Beauvoir
DISTURBING TOPICS AHEAD:
Well Kafka and de Beauvoir can fuck off into the sun with these quotes, because I will not finish this bullshit. This is gross. This is depraved, this involves incest (like dudes will sire daughters, start sexually and physically abusing them as children, and then marry them off to their friends, knowing they will be sexually and physically abused, and they don't care).
This is a story about 4 nasty old dudes who are bored with their regular torture and murders, so they decide to have people kidnap a bunch of kids, ages 12-15, and recruit some adults as well (men, based on the size of their junk), pick the best looking, and hold them hostage in a castle while they abuse them at their leisure.
I don't want to read about violence and depravity inflicted onto a kidnapped child. It's just not something I need in my life.
To top it off, you get to read stories told by prostitutes about their sexual experiences, some starting at age 7.
There is literally NO hint of empathy, sympathy, or compassion in this book. These men are bored, they have money, and they do what they want. They have absolutely no feelings. This is a book about what a person can do when he has absolutely no limits, and that's something I don't need in my life. This goes beyond feeling "uncomfortable," - I want to scream and cry and throw up, and I didn't even get past 100 pages. I kept thinking they would show some feelings, some kind of compassion towards these children, but instead, they refuse to let them use the bathroom or clean themselves.
Honestly, I may read a summary of the book just to find out if the sex slaves rise against them in the end and fucking burn down the castle with the men in it (fingers crossed!).
FUCK THIS BOOK.
"Sad drained to the dregs the moment of selfishness, injustice, misery, and he insisted upon its truth. The supreme value of his testimony lies in his ability to disturb us. It forces us to re-exame thoroughly the basic problem which haunts our age in different forms: the true relation between man and man." - Simone de Beauvoir
DISTURBING TOPICS AHEAD:
Well Kafka and de Beauvoir can fuck off into the sun with these quotes, because I will not finish this bullshit. This is gross. This is depraved, this involves incest (like dudes will sire daughters, start sexually and physically abusing them as children, and then marry them off to their friends, knowing they will be sexually and physically abused, and they don't care).
This is a story about 4 nasty old dudes who are bored with their regular torture and murders, so they decide to have people kidnap a bunch of kids, ages 12-15, and recruit some adults as well (men, based on the size of their junk), pick the best looking, and hold them hostage in a castle while they abuse them at their leisure.
I don't want to read about violence and depravity inflicted onto a kidnapped child. It's just not something I need in my life.
To top it off, you get to read stories told by prostitutes about their sexual experiences, some starting at age 7.
There is literally NO hint of empathy, sympathy, or compassion in this book. These men are bored, they have money, and they do what they want. They have absolutely no feelings. This is a book about what a person can do when he has absolutely no limits, and that's something I don't need in my life. This goes beyond feeling "uncomfortable," - I want to scream and cry and throw up, and I didn't even get past 100 pages. I kept thinking they would show some feelings, some kind of compassion towards these children, but instead, they refuse to let them use the bathroom or clean themselves.
Honestly, I may read a summary of the book just to find out if the sex slaves rise against them in the end and fucking burn down the castle with the men in it (fingers crossed!).
FUCK THIS BOOK.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Excrement, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation
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 actual writing is not bad but really it's one of those morbid curiosity reads. You won't be missing much if you read a synopsis versus actually reading the book.
Ya well Um this was nasty. I watched the movie before and heard the book was more interesting. I don’t regret reading this since I really just skimmed it so I didn’t use much brain power. The writing is so confusing with all the characters, and was just generally confusing.
Διαβάστε τις 3εις κριτικές σε μία για τα βιβλία σε μετάφραση στο μπλογκ μου βιβλιοαλχημείες
In the last two weeks of November I read three books in translation; another chapter in my journey of reading the world. The drawbacks of this journey is that most of the time I'm drawn by the nationality of the author and not the book's story.
Especially when I haven't read from said country before.
Why a drawback? Because most of the time I encounter mediocre books, or to be less offensive, books that didn't work for me.
All of these three books with the exception of de Sade's carbuncle, were just good, not amazing, but not mediocre either.
The books
The Yacoubian Building
Happy Days of the Grump
The 12o days of Sodom
This Book
Les 120 journées de Sodome
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
A book I always wanted to read. I was so curious because when a book is controversial I'm always curious to see what's all the fuss by myself.
So I was lucky to receive it as a present from a very good friend. We were planning for a readalong but the book was too graphic -too much for her, so I eventually continued on my own.
It was the only book that made me really uncomfortable. . .
The more I was reading the more graphic the scenes were becoming and the more uncomfortable I was feeling.
I read a few parts while riding the bus but since in Cyprus people are illiterate (in terms of reading books) nobody paid any attention to me, let alone to its title.
A lot of people insist on seeing de Sade's philosophy(;) behind the endless scenes of blowjobs, fuckings, coprophilia, pedophilia, urolagnia, violence and dozens of other kinds of paraphilias.
Paul Éluard said that de Sade believed that by giving to the civilised man the power of his primitive instincts he would eventually give birth to real equality.
Georges Bataille said that you have to study de Sade in order to know the meaning of being human.
All these for me don't say anything.
Empty words, puffy and colourful but empty and tasteless like a marshmallow.
I don't need to read about someone eating shit right from its source (arse) to know the meaning of being human.
I don't need to read about a middle-aged man fucking a young pubescent boy to feel more human.
All the praise for this book is elitist mambo-jumbo.
Yes de Sade was ahead of his time, BUT let's not make him look like a philosopher of Nietzsche's and Plato's range.