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j_ata 's review for:
Story of O
by Pauline Réage, Sigrid S. Tingvoll
The reputation of O's story as an erotic classic is both absolutely correct and deeply deceptive: it's not sexy per se; it's certainly not arousing. Rather, it's an unflinching, stylistically aloof, coldly elegant delineation of the erotics of power exchange. That O is not given much (any?) interiority clearly has a disquieting effect on many readers; frankly, I'm not sure how much someone not already familiar with the mental & emotional terrain of S&M dynamics—or at least not willing to inhabit the masochistic mindset as totally & completely as O does—would get out of this. Anyway, I certainly did.
Read #17 of "2021: My Year of (Mostly) Midcentury Women Writers"]
Read #17 of "2021: My Year of (Mostly) Midcentury Women Writers"]