Product Description

The classic erotic novel, THE STORY OF O relates the love of a beautiful Parisian fashion photographer for Rene. As part of that intense love, she demands debasement and severe sexual and pychological tests. It is a unique work not to be missed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20656 in Books
• Published on: 1992-01-01
• Released on: 1981-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 204 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780345301116
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From the Inside Flap
The classic erotic novel, THE STORY OF O relates the love of a beautiful Parisian fashion photographer for Rene. As part of that intense love, she demands debasement and severe sexual and pychological tests. It is a unique work not to be missed.

Customer Reviews

A classic erotic tale of complete submission.
This is a classic for a reason and the reason is because this thing is intense. And I don't throw that word around a lot. The Story of O begins with O meeting and falling for Sir Stephen. Well, at the chateau, that is. The story really draws the reader in with this romantic setting, but the end result is far from romantic, in my own opinion. This isn't neceassrily a love story, so if that's what you're looking for, I don't think you will find it here. Instead, it's about totally giving yourself over to another. And that's intense. If you want a darker story, stick with this home. However, if you are looking for lighter fare, try Breaking the Girl and Eager to Please: Two Erotic Novels of Submission, which is also about bdsm.

Powerful Eroticism That Is Timeless.
This is a unique and fascinating story of the unadulterated surrender of ones body mind and soul. That one, is a woman who is mysteriously named "O". .............. "O"s lover Rene, submits her to a strange house in which women are bound, blindfolded, and required to obediently do whatever they're told, for whomever tells them. The story is beautifully written, and really conjures up powerful mental images as you lose yourself in the story. I read this cover to cover on a three hour car ride, and it made the time pass far more quickly.Many debate over the authors true identity. Some think Pauline Reage is a man, but I can't understand why. There are so many details in this book that are clearly feelings of a woman, and the entire book is seemingly written from a womans point of view. I don't think a writer can fake that, especially in sexual matters.Of all the books I've read in the classic erotica realm, this is among my top favorites. It ranks up there with "Erotica" from Anais Nin, and the more humorous "Tropic..." classics of Henry Miller. However, "The Story Of O" is far more powerful than the aforementioned due to the bizarre deviance of the ... content. It's certainly not for everyone, but for those of us with an open mind, and a penchant for something wild and extraordinary, here's a story that will definitely satisfy in more ways than one.

More than pornography
Few books survive translation well, but fortunately for English-speaking readers the original translation was fairly faithful to the style of the original French version and even today reads well despite the intentional mannerisms. This work follows somewhat in the footsteps of de Sade's Justine, insofar as it is as much psychological exploration as perversity.

O is a young woman whose lover Rene elects to hand her over to the fraternity at Roissy - a fraternity whose purpose is to humiliate and subdue young women of a certain predisposition. O is subjected to various trials and torments, whipped, debased, violated repeatedly, and through it all submits willingly because of her love for her boyfriend Rene. So far, so predictable aside from the fact that the literary style is head and shoulders above corner-shop pornography. What makes the book interesting is that O is essentially more than complicit in her violation; when her boyfriend hands her over to Sir Stephen, who is a more demanding and exacting man, she follows her unvoiced desire and submits to him because he - better than Rene - can truly master her.

The author describes costumes, locations, and interactions with such precision that it is easy to visualize most of O's trials. The repetition of perversity coupled to such faithful depictions leads the reader to accept such behavior as normal (at least in the context of this story). It would be very easy to take a simplistic Politically Correct view and decry the novel for its focus on O's humiliations and violations, but the novel really demands a more intelligent reaction. It's power - it has seduced men and women for half a decade, across a wide variety of cultures - tells us that it reflects something important and basic in human nature. That is not to say that all women will resonate with O's adventures, nor that all men yearn to be either Rene or Sir Stephen; but it is to say that there is a true world revealed in these pages.

The Story of O has probably launched a million Dominant/submissive relationships, most of which will have fallen quickly apart because real life is more complex and difficult than fiction; nevertheless this fiction is highly nuanced and offers real insight into a particular cast of mind. I suspect that when we are young we are captivated by the lavish graphic descriptions of sexual perversity; when we are old we are captivated by the subtlety and variety of the writing and the psychological insights it offers.

For anyone interested in sexuality this book deserves a place on the shelf. For anyone who can read French, the original is just a little more lush and entertaining than the excellent English translation.