alexlikesclassics's profile picture

alexlikesclassics 's review for:

The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade
challenging dark sad 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: No

I saw another review that started with "What the fuck did I just read?" and I think that about sums it up.

Yes, there's a philosophical aspect behind it, but if you want that, you can get the same lesson out of any of De Sade's other works, or honestly just read his wikipedia page. I came here because De Sade was mentioned in The Rebel, and there was more philosophical discussion in the couple paragraphs about 120 Days than there is in the actual book.

I liked the storytellers as characters, and it was interesting to see that even despite them appearing to have agency in their stories, they still ended up in these terrible situations.