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A review by atropos1789
Story of O by Pauline Réage
5.0
I decided to revisit this book because I recently watched the 1975 film adaptation. I had strong feelings about the movie (extreme distaste) and complained about it pretty extensively on letterboxd, but my overall sentiment was that the movie turned a deeply sensual and thoughtful work into something purely superficial and aesthetic. I was not at all surprised when I learned the director was a man.
This book is a giant in the history of sexuality and sexual liberation, especially because it is one of the first examples of a woman achieving widespread recognition for S&M erotica. This alone makes it worth a read to anyone who is interested in sexual liberation and feminism (this book has been criticized for having anti-feminist themes; these criticisms are dishonest and reflect a faction of the "feminist" movement that still wants to control women, just in a different manner).
My interest runs deeper than that, because this book is a core part of the culture of BDSM in several ways. I know many kinksters (usually on the older side) who were first introduced to the idea of S&M through this boom. Many contemporary elements of BDSM are present in this book as well, including leather restraints and the use of horse-whips for sadomasochist scenes. This book isn't an instruction in how to wield these tools, but it has clearly influenced the people who do.
I can't personally comment on the quality of this book as erotica because it is written from the perspective of a submissive woman in a high protocol setting, which is a completely different perspective than anything I'm interested in. That being said, many of my friends for whom that perspective is enticing speak highly of Réage's execution in this book.
BDSM has clearly evolved a lot, and we as a culture are a lot more prominent in the world than we were decades ago. This means that there have been all sorts of other influences on the culture (Japanese Shibari being the most obvious example), but this book is an old and persistent influence on BDSM, and I would recommend it (and have done so!) to anyone who participates in any sort of play.
This book is a giant in the history of sexuality and sexual liberation, especially because it is one of the first examples of a woman achieving widespread recognition for S&M erotica. This alone makes it worth a read to anyone who is interested in sexual liberation and feminism (this book has been criticized for having anti-feminist themes; these criticisms are dishonest and reflect a faction of the "feminist" movement that still wants to control women, just in a different manner).
My interest runs deeper than that, because this book is a core part of the culture of BDSM in several ways. I know many kinksters (usually on the older side) who were first introduced to the idea of S&M through this boom. Many contemporary elements of BDSM are present in this book as well, including leather restraints and the use of horse-whips for sadomasochist scenes. This book isn't an instruction in how to wield these tools, but it has clearly influenced the people who do.
I can't personally comment on the quality of this book as erotica because it is written from the perspective of a submissive woman in a high protocol setting, which is a completely different perspective than anything I'm interested in. That being said, many of my friends for whom that perspective is enticing speak highly of Réage's execution in this book.
BDSM has clearly evolved a lot, and we as a culture are a lot more prominent in the world than we were decades ago. This means that there have been all sorts of other influences on the culture (Japanese Shibari being the most obvious example), but this book is an old and persistent influence on BDSM, and I would recommend it (and have done so!) to anyone who participates in any sort of play.