Berättelsen om O

by Pauline Réage

Other authorsBengt Söderbergh
Paper Book, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

843

Publication

Stockholm : Vertigo, 2005

Description

Erotic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:The notorious novel of dark obsession   How far will a woman go to express her love? In this exquisite novel of passion and desire, the answer emerges through a daring exploration of the deepest bonds of sensual domination. �??O�?� is a beautiful Parisian fashion photographer, determined to understand and prove her consuming devotion to her lover, René, through complete submission to his every whim, his every desire.   It is a journey of forbidden, dangerous choices that sweeps her through the secret gardens of the sexual underground. From the inner sanctum of a private club where willing women are schooled in the art of subjugation to the excruciating embraces of René�??s friend Sir Stephen, O tests the outermost limits of pleasure. For as O discovers, true freedom lies in her pure and complete willingness to do anyth… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
Story of O is certainly a seminal novel of its type, supposedly the first book to be written by a woman in emulation of de Sade's novels. Despite the subjugated female protagonist (typical of de Sade), the focus has more in common with Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs, where there is no
Show More
sadistic sermonizing from the dominating characters, just unembroidered imperatives. The sense of contract and continually rising stakes are vivid. De Sade never lets the reader lose sight of his ideological preoccupations, but I found any such message here to be ambivalent at best. Reage does little to manage the reactions of the reader, who may be titillated, engrossed, or horrified by the sequence of events.

Other readers seem to have made more of the character Rene than I was able to find here. He is important in that O's affection for him serves as a principal motivation in the first parts of the book. But she does indeed transcend that affection through her experience of her "condition." And it's hard for me to imagine any reader being seriously sympathetic to O's initial devotion to Rene. He is drawn sparsely and unflatteringly.

There is little in the way of graphic detail regarding the many sexual acts in the story, so that the reader's imagination is enlisted in the erotic effects. What particulars of sex acts there are mostly fall in the early parts of the book. Reviewers often accordingly judge the middle and end to have become "slow." And yet I found that they tended to accelerate in terms of the shifting of personal relationships and the psychological transformation of O. Few readers seem to remark the somewhat predatory lesbianism of O, which is so pivotal to the central sections of the book, although hardly any fail to react to the body modifications of corseting, piercing, and branding.

The end of the book is abrupt and unconventional. A metafictional epilogue glosses two versions of a "suppressed" (unwritten, I surmise) concluding chapter which would have completed the plot. But "The Owl" which serves as the actual last section is unconcerned to resolve any of the tensions developed in the book. Instead, it sets them on a pedestal for a final appreciation.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Karen_Wells
The great, enduring classic of submissive erotica, written long before the kink even had a name. Gender issues are not explored, nor are feminism or political correctness. None of these existed either. The writing is simple, detached, emotionless. No attempt is made to turn the reader on through
Show More
graphic descriptions or overheated prose. If you have the kink, either latent or fully self-aware, the cool and elegant words will take you into a living dream - or nightmare.

Modern erotica cannot get away with the toy-like absolute submission depicted in Story of O. Perhaps this is why Blue: The Color of Desire and Journey Round a Darker Sun are the only modern works which have had such a powerful effect on me. They both offer greater emotional depth than O, but for that same reason lack the purity, the almost hallucinatory quality, of Reage's timeless masterpiece. Her follow-on, by the way, is a potboiler that has none of the class or style of the original and should be avoided.
Show Less
LibraryThing member quixotic-creator
At the time of its initial publication and lasting to this day, this novel has sparked great controversy. Classified as erotica, this is a story of one woman's complete submission, not only physically and sexually, but emotionally and spiritually as well, to her lover. Interestingly enough I find
Show More
this much more than an erotic novel which just happens to feature sadomasochism and bondage etc. On a much deeper level, and here is where I think the "truth and beauty" of this work lies, it explores sexuality and the psychology of it, in perhaps ways never examined before. If one can read beyond the literal and can get beyond the sexual rites and rituals here, one finds some very interesting and "darker" truths that may very well be quite "Universal." A powerful novel, not because of the graphic sex, but for what is clearly revealed.
Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
I have had this book to read forever. I originally got it because it was on a list of books you have to read kind of thing. It ended up being a well written and engaging story, that did have some slow points.

This is a French erotic story about a woman named O who seeks to become the slave of a man
Show More
named Rene. In her quest to be owned she undergoes a number of both sexual and psychological trials and training.

The translation I read was well done and easy to read. The story is engaging if a bit incomplete. At times there is so much sexual debasement in this book that those parts start to become a boring and repetitive. Apparently O's masters don't have a ton of imagination. That being said if scenes with whipping, restraint, or multiple sex partners are offensive to you...don’t read this book.

There is a lot I could say about this book. As for the sexual content there isn't much in here that I haven't seen in some adult epic fantasies where characters are enslaved or tortured...the main difference in this story is that O is willing and eager to be enslaved and debased. I think those who are bitching about how this book demeans women are kind of missing the point. This same story could have had a male as the main character just as easily; it’s just meant to be a representation of the BDSM scene and give readers a glimpse into the mind of someone who wants to be enslaved.

O is many times asked by her male masters to give her permission for her initial contracts, which she always does eagerly. O despite being owned and passed around by a number of men and being totally at their beck and call has a different sort of power. This is more apparent towards the end of the book than the beginning.

I have also read that too much time is spent discussing clothing. I actually thought that the discussion the occurs around clothing was pretty necessary to the story. Part of O’s obedience involves her being available to her master at his every whim. In the age of bulky bras and garter belts to hold up stockings; this involves O having to completely modify her wardrobe...which she does eagerly to prove her love and obedience to her master.

The ending was a bit disappointing since the book kind of ends in the middle of everything. There is a note that the last chapter has been suppressed from modern day publications, this is disappointing because I hate to see a story broken apart like that.

Overall I thought this was an interesting and engaging look into BDSM culture. There are parts where the sex/debasement gets a bit repetitive; I wish O’s masters had been a bit more creative. I was also disappointed in how abruptly the story ended. Again, people be smart, if BDSM completely offends you don’t read this book.

If you are interested in other media that looks into the psychology of BDSM (but from a purely entertainment lighter side) I would also recommend the movie The Secretary. This movie does a wonderful job of showing how a woman who likes punishment and a man who likes to dominate can have a balanced and loving relationship. If you are interested in a fantasy series that deals with this (again in a slightly different and fantastical way) I would recommend the Kushiel’s Dart series by Jacqueline Carey.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kakadoo202
after reading the 50 shades of grey whichni found rather boring and badly written, i was curious about well written books in this genre. i think i found one. not sure that i desire to be like O but the story was intersting and in some parts arousing. and you might even get a few ideas here and
Show More
there. i did not bother me that it went not too deep into O's mind. i geuss it would be rather difficult to put this kind of life choice in words and make is ndestandable for an outsider.
i will be looking for similar books.
Show Less
LibraryThing member wendyrey
Well written if somewhat overlong erotic novel with a lot of sado- masochism. I have read this before but I wonder if it was in a different translation. This is into American English and I am quite content with a bit of on the fly translation for example I know a phonograph is a gramophone but
Show More
somethings come over as decidedly odd. I find the use of the word 'panties' for womens underwear both unutterably twee and faintly risible (but that is my problem) . However I think that the use of 'belly' for the female genitalia extraordinarily prudish in a near pornographic novel. Sorry but a ring in the belly is a navel piercing to me and most definitely not a piercing of the labia. I am sure there must be a better way of expressing this in printable American English. ( I think the other version used the C word)
Show Less
LibraryThing member selfcallednowhere
I have a lot of history with this book. I first read it when I was 15 or so and I was just starting to figure out what I was into sexually, and it really hit a chord with me, but I hadn't read it since. I have to say, a lot of it did live up to my memory and was *incredibly* hot, but there were
Show More
also chunks in the middle that I honestly thought were, well, kinda boring. Still, it articulated a lot of the sorts of things I fantasize about very well, and I enjoyed revisiting it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bbbart
A truly wonderful read. I finished it in almost one go and was very intrigued about the psychological journey the main character makes throughout the story. I would have liked to get some more details about the motives of the other characters however, but then again, it's the Story of O, not of
Show More
anybody else.

Truly recommended to everyone who's interested to see how pornographic content can be laid out in such a classic and non-vulgar manner!
Show Less
LibraryThing member mlsimmons
I really liked this book. I think it should definitely be labeled as a classic, though I think too many people are hung up on the sex and BDSM aspect to really consider it. I think we should open up more about sex. It is not a bad thing to take pleasure in sex or pain.
LibraryThing member BeeQuiet
I knew from first hearing of it that I should read Story of O, as I am a submissive myself and felt I would get a lot from it. In spite of its flaws, I did indeed find it fascinating, engaging, and I found myself thinking "Oh what a perfect way to describe it". This is a story of a young woman
Show More
being shown her true self by her lover. O is slowly drawn into a secret world where she is used by many different men as a tool for their pleasure. She is bound and whipped, and forced to show her obedience and her submissiveness in many other ways besides. In spite of the obviously questionable nature of someone being tied and hurt beyond the stage when they are begging for it to stop, the point in this book is that O can leave when she wishes, however she must lose her lover. As opposed to being a story of domestic abuse, this is a story of O conversely finding freedom through having her freedom taken away. When O is bound, she is free to behave as though she does not want this treatment, whereas really, she finds the state of submission deeply calming on a fundamental level. When not bound, O is forced to request certain treatment. She wants this, yet her tongue is tied, she longs for control to be taken out of her hands - to let go completely. This is something that resonated with me, as for me being submissive is about freedom from having to think for a time.

I found many parts of this book difficult, as I could never go as far as O does, indeed the same would be true of a vast majority of submissives. However this is a story which shows the nature of the beast in a touching and beautiful way. I must admit I would have preferred clearer grammar at times, and I felt that the ending was neither an ending, nor an artistic statement. That said, I left it knowing that there are others that can feel the same feeling of release, in the same way. It's a softly delivered story of brutal emotions, one that I am very happy to have read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mickymalone
This book is an exceptional adventure. What does it feel like to have someone else in control of everything? where you live, what you do, what you wear. I was apprehensive at the start of the book but as I continued I was captivated by the degrading tasks O succumbs to.
LibraryThing member Yells
I was rather mixed with my reaction so I went on-line to see what others thought. I do understand how risqué this was coming out in 1950. It really was miles ahead of its time because really, who wrote about BDSM then? Fifty Shades (as horrible as it is) is just bringing that subject out of the
Show More
closet now! The writing style was great and the language used was actually rather subdued comparatively speaking so it really is less porn and more erotic literature.

My problem with it, and I guess my problem with BDSM in general, is about consent. I get that the premise is that submissive actually has the power in the relationship because they ultimately choose if and when they wish to stop. I suppose for the garden-variety part-time BDSM participant, this works. But in this case, this was an overall, all-consuming lifestyle choice. O, while being told she could say no at any time, was completely infatuated with Rene and went along with everything because she felt that that was the only way to keep him. Sure she has a choice but really, what kind of choice is it? My boss gives me projects all the time and I have the choice of whether to do them or not. But if I don't, I won't have a job much longer. Rene asks her if she is okay with things but since he has tremendous power over her to begin with, she goes along with it all for fear of losing him.

I also had a big problem with Rene. He continually says that he loves her but the whole time he seems to view her as a psychological experiment. He sells her to the highest bidder (Sir Stephen) because he claims that he isn't strong enough to handle her conversion but I think it was more that he wanted to be a passive observer. He was prominent in the beginning but by the end, he almost becomes part of the furniture as he watches from the sidelines.

O starts off the novel with no name and by the end, she doesn't even have a personality. It is presented as if she is okay with everything that occurs but really, does someone being brainwashed know that they are being brainwashed? How does one really know what she wanted until after she is removed from the situation and can verify things for herself? Apparently the author wrote this as a love story for her boyfriend and that makes me really sad.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Helenliz
Oh dear, what to say about this. One of those books I probably wont be telling my mum I've read! I am afraid I don't understand this as a manifestation of love, or how someone can view what amounts to complete abasement as enobling.



I thought it odd that when I reserved it at the library that both
Show More
the county's copies were in the prison libraries. They were then found to not to be in a condition to lend. Having read it I think I can see why - on both counts! One suspects that the jacket blurb about this book being erotic but not pornographic was rather too fine a distinction.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lycomayflower
Not sure what to do with this. As an exploration of submissive sexuality, it seems fairly lackluster, though (as is suggested in some of the prefatory material) I'm not sure it isn't meant to be less about inclinations and acts and more an exploration of soul and psyche. But in either case I would
Show More
expect strong characterization and specificity of experience and growth. But all of the characters here read strikingly blank to me--especially O, whose designation makes her seem almost a literal hole in the text which is inescapably associated with the bodily orifices she is forced to keep ready for use at all times. Even the sex acts depicted--wherein lies the most specificity of detail in the book--lack the kind of infusion of meaning that would justify the narrative time spent on them. I don't feel as if I've come to know a character, nor can I comfortably read O as a symbol for woman, or love, or slavery, or anything else which suggests itself as a possible subject of this novel. I am left utterly dumbfounded by the thing; perhaps it needs to percolate, perhaps the novel doesn't speak to my generation, perhaps it just doesn't speak to me.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Bettyb30
Very interesting book. You don't know if this person lived this life or was an observer. Very well written. ;)
LibraryThing member ChicGeekGirl21
This SM classic is not for everyone.
LibraryThing member heinous-eli
Kinky, strange, affecting, and horrifying all in one. Anyone who thinks that kink was born yesterday should check this one out.
LibraryThing member echomikeromeo
I cannot stress enough what a seminal work Story of O is in defining 20th-century erotica. Not only is it meant to have broken boundaries concerning BDSM and its mainstream acceptability, it's actually well-written, which is more than can be said for a great deal of erotica or pornography. In that
Show More
facet alone it is remarkable, and very riveting as a piece of writing. I read it largely in one sitting, something I do with very few books.
Show Less
LibraryThing member NativeRoses
See also:
'Carrie's Story' by Molly Weatherfield
'Beauty's Punishment' by Anne Rice
'Exit to Eden' by Anne Rice
'Miss Abernathy's Concise Slave Training Manual' by Christina Abernathy
'The Butcher: And Other Erotica'
'The Image'
LibraryThing member Zmrzlina
This is a much maligned book, at least in my experience. When I was reading it people, even strangers, would say things like "Why would you want to read something that glorifies violence against women?" but, I don't think it does at all. Women in abusive relationships never feel as if they can walk
Show More
out of the situation. O knows she can, but doesn't.

The second half of the book is not as satisfying, thus the less than stellar rating.
Show Less
LibraryThing member spiritualcramp
I understand this to be a classic of BDSM and sex literature. However, I found myself disappointed by Story of O. I would have liked more of O's thoughts and feelings to be given to the reader in order to understand her submission and how she feels about it. As it is, it seemed to me that her
Show More
submission was with her body only and not her heart and mind. It was only in brief glimpses did O think on her submission and remark on its ease and her satisfaction. I also feel that the book played on the theme that submissives are sex slaves and sex toys to their Masters. I found this distasteful and out of my style of thought as far as D/s goes. The women were mindless sex toys. It was an empty book. Ultimately, while sexy, that was all it really was. Sex and violence.
Show Less
LibraryThing member fieldnotes
Most casual readers probably approach this book to see if they will be titillated, shocked or provoked; they probably come armed with the knowledge that it pushes the boundaries of BDSM. Potential readers should know that the titillation and sex-focused content is concentrated in the first third of
Show More
the book and gradually fades from detailed or lingering description as Pauline Reage (a pseudonym) becomes more concerned with advancing the inexorable, linear trajectory of her argument, and this amounts to a second warning or caution (from me): this book is more didactic than it is playful.

The gradual, consensual enslavement, and transformation--or rather erasure--of O, is certainly thought-provoking. The book could serve as a revealing conversation starter for people from all backgrounds, who, it is easy to imagine, will seize on different aspects of O's progression to justify and explain or judge and condemn the sexual attitudes of the characters (whatever mix of dominant and submissive they present). After the riveting "Traumnovelle" ("Eyes Wide Shut")/Sadeian first section of the novel that deals with O's induction into the secret community of her masters--according to a process and in the privacy of an institution that is well imagined and described--the book slows undeniably. I found myself tempted to skim the two middle sections that depict O's semi-hesitant embrace of what she is becoming; probably because the other characters in her drama who exert a significant amount of pressure and influence are rather two dimensional and unsympathetic--also because the outcome seemed obvious.

But, the actual ending (and my version suggests that the true last chapter has gone missing or is in dispute--which is too bad) is far more cryptic and somehow beautiful than I expected--at least in its symbolism. Something primal and magnetic about the aesthetic that governs the attraction of the dominant people in "The Story of O" makes an unforgettable visual impression. I would not read this book for the quality of the writing, which is somewhat hurried, often distractingly euphemistic with regards to action and artless with regards to the narration of internal thought processes. But, I would read this book for the story and for the opportunities that it offers a reader to inhabit a wide array of perspectives along a most unusual and controversial route.
Show Less
LibraryThing member alexyskwan
read it more out of curiosity and, well, it's exactly what it says it is, but it also helped prepare for the sexual revolution during the 1960s and the women's liberation of the 1970s. in that sense, the book is a lot more significant than what the author intended it to be.
LibraryThing member heidilove
the classic. no erotica collection is complete without it.
LibraryThing member codexcat
I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. While it wasn't particularly erotic to me (I'm not wired submissive), I appreciated Reage's obvious sympathy for all of her characters and their sexualities. It's a psychologically interesting read with lovely imagery and elegant prose. I wouldn't
Show More
recommend it to everyone, but for those inclined, I'd say it's worth the read.
Show Less

Language

Original publication date

1954

Physical description

174 p.; 19 cm

ISBN

918500006X / 9789185000067
Page: 0.1807 seconds