Scan barcode
A review by ionm
Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
An orgy of piss, semen, blood and vomit awaits the reader in "Story of the Eye" by Georges Bataille. The most erudite pornographic work of literary art is a graphic exploration of sexual desire in the absolute, rich in its obscenity and shock value. Its artistry is not in the raw depiction of sex, but rather in its hidden meaning, overtly described by the title. This is the story of the birth, development, transgression and ultimate death and rebirth of the Eye, a potent metaphor for existence, and possibly art itself.
Bataille narrates the story from the perspective of a male teenager discovering all aspects of sexuality with his friend Simone. Together they use sex as a narcotic to define their reason for being. Each experience takes them from innocence to murder and defilement, without ever bearing any consequences for their actions, for, ultimately, they are the gods in charge of their sexual universe, at the centre of which, through a sequence of metamorphoses, we find the everlasting Eye, ever perpetuating, ever changing, and forever the unspoken object of ultimate desire.
In his essay, "The Metaphor of the Eye" (included in this edition), Roland Barthes traces the circular trajectory of the different states of the eye and the plethora of human fluids, to conclude that Bataille's novel is about the development of literature. Whereas convincing, Barthes fails to see that the same circularity can be extended to the entire concept of the development of human civilisation. The sexual acts are a third metaphor that triggers the constant cycle of birth and death with all its pleasure, purity and violence.
"Story of the Eye", born out of similes from the author's own upbringing (as we learn from Bataille's essays accompanying the novella), through the gutter of fifth, elevates itself into a parable that describes our society in the most original form.
Few may find this book tolerable (based on private taste and prejudice). Nonetheless, this is a masterpiece of Western literature that must be compulsory reading. To negate its role based on its pornographic content would be a failure of intellect. A key essay elaborating this point can be found in this book also, namely Susan Sontag's "The Pornographic Imagination". Analysing a number of key works of pornographic literature, of which "Story of the Eye" is "the most accomplished artistically" according to her, Sontag puts foreword a powerful defence towards accepting these types of work equally as any other forms of knowledge. Refusing to do so would make any other defence of knowledge-building a hypocritical act.
Bataille narrates the story from the perspective of a male teenager discovering all aspects of sexuality with his friend Simone. Together they use sex as a narcotic to define their reason for being. Each experience takes them from innocence to murder and defilement, without ever bearing any consequences for their actions, for, ultimately, they are the gods in charge of their sexual universe, at the centre of which, through a sequence of metamorphoses, we find the everlasting Eye, ever perpetuating, ever changing, and forever the unspoken object of ultimate desire.
In his essay, "The Metaphor of the Eye" (included in this edition), Roland Barthes traces the circular trajectory of the different states of the eye and the plethora of human fluids, to conclude that Bataille's novel is about the development of literature. Whereas convincing, Barthes fails to see that the same circularity can be extended to the entire concept of the development of human civilisation. The sexual acts are a third metaphor that triggers the constant cycle of birth and death with all its pleasure, purity and violence.
"Story of the Eye", born out of similes from the author's own upbringing (as we learn from Bataille's essays accompanying the novella), through the gutter of fifth, elevates itself into a parable that describes our society in the most original form.
Few may find this book tolerable (based on private taste and prejudice). Nonetheless, this is a masterpiece of Western literature that must be compulsory reading. To negate its role based on its pornographic content would be a failure of intellect. A key essay elaborating this point can be found in this book also, namely Susan Sontag's "The Pornographic Imagination". Analysing a number of key works of pornographic literature, of which "Story of the Eye" is "the most accomplished artistically" according to her, Sontag puts foreword a powerful defence towards accepting these types of work equally as any other forms of knowledge. Refusing to do so would make any other defence of knowledge-building a hypocritical act.