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Product: Book
ISBN-10: 0-345-30111-0
ISBN-13: 9780345301116
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Country:
Year: January 1, 1992
Edition: 27th Printing
Size: 10.67 x 17.27 x 2.03cm
Number of pages: 204
Weight: 91gr
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN-10: 0-345-30111-0
ISBN-13: 9780345301116
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Country:
Year: January 1, 1992
Edition: 27th Printing
Size: 10.67 x 17.27 x 2.03cm
Number of pages: 204
Weight: 91gr
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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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.
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.
reviews
Story of O 
It took a long time to get to me. But the story is great. Which is more just a compliment to the writer not the distributer. Thank You
It took a long time to get to me. But the story is great. Which is more just a compliment to the writer not the distributer. Thank You
What about the ending?! 
I purchased the Story of O with great excitement and could not wait for it to come in and read it. It was everything I had heard and hoped it would be, HOWEVER, after you're reeled into the story and you want to know more the »FINAL CHAPTER HAS BEEN SUPPRESSED«. I was not happy. I still have no idea what happened! Before purchasing I suggest you contact the seller and see if it has a suppressed ending or if you are purchasing the full book. Good Luck!
I purchased the Story of O with great excitement and could not wait for it to come in and read it. It was everything I had heard and hoped it would be, HOWEVER, after you're reeled into the story and you want to know more the »FINAL CHAPTER HAS BEEN SUPPRESSED«. I was not happy. I still have no idea what happened! Before purchasing I suggest you contact the seller and see if it has a suppressed ending or if you are purchasing the full book. Good Luck!
Hmmm, lost in translation perhaps?
Okay, this is coming from someone who has read erotica at the age of 15, and some stuff such as A. N. Roquelaure's Sleeping Beauty series. Starters, the translation is just so so. Instead of O's »sex« it's »her belly.« I was a bit confused by that. I think this book, for those who are interested, is best read in it's original language … if you can read french like me. I'm going to order a copy as a matter of fact. I think some stories, look at Kafka's Metamorphosis, can get lost in translation and totally ruin it. This story, translated, is sort of empty in my opinion, like it's missing something. This book, from what I understand, was written by Pauline Réage aka Anne Desclos, due to a challenge that was made by her lover, stating that a woman couldn't possibly write a good erotic story. So she set out to do just that. I honestly think this story of O was written by Pauline to provoke and prove her lover wrong that's why I think there really isn't any rhyme or reason to it. If you've taken a women's studies class, this story will be extremely hard to digest due to its objectification of women.
Okay, this is coming from someone who has read erotica at the age of 15, and some stuff such as A. N. Roquelaure's Sleeping Beauty series. Starters, the translation is just so so. Instead of O's »sex« it's »her belly.« I was a bit confused by that. I think this book, for those who are interested, is best read in it's original language … if you can read french like me. I'm going to order a copy as a matter of fact. I think some stories, look at Kafka's Metamorphosis, can get lost in translation and totally ruin it. This story, translated, is sort of empty in my opinion, like it's missing something. This book, from what I understand, was written by Pauline Réage aka Anne Desclos, due to a challenge that was made by her lover, stating that a woman couldn't possibly write a good erotic story. So she set out to do just that. I honestly think this story of O was written by Pauline to provoke and prove her lover wrong that's why I think there really isn't any rhyme or reason to it. If you've taken a women's studies class, this story will be extremely hard to digest due to its objectification of women.
Whips up controversy
It's hard to decide of the book lives up to the considerable hype that surrounds it. Many people on here moan about the debasement that O subjects herself to, but this book is her story, and the interest lies in her motivation for undergoing such treatment for someone who ultimately appears to give her very little back in return, emotionally. O is an ostensibly successful independent woman and that persona is seemingly at odds with the one that she turns into at Roissy. Which is possibly one reason that many, I suspect women, critics perhaps feel that this book has been written by a man, they would not wish to think of an independent woman being, in their eyes, willingly reduced to a chattel. We know that people exist that enjoy the sort of behaviour but I think it is generally men who would allow women to treat them the way that O is treated in Roissy, rather than the other way around. That is why I think that many suspect Ms Réage of being a man. The detailed descriptions of the »activities« and »apparatus« that occur in the book are written very much in a style that »feels« like a man has written it. Which brings me to my biggest criticism of the book and one that others have made. That is the translation. This version seems unusually dry and un-imaginative in its language, and I don't know if this is because the translator has tried to inject strict translations to phrases that perhaps do not exactly match in English, where paraphrasing might have given the story more charge. Alas my French is not strong enough for me to read the book in its intended language and garner the true subtlety and impact the author must have intended. In summary, this is a powerful and important work of erotic fiction and should be regarded as such, whether it is actually erotic in this form is a more personal matter.
It's hard to decide of the book lives up to the considerable hype that surrounds it. Many people on here moan about the debasement that O subjects herself to, but this book is her story, and the interest lies in her motivation for undergoing such treatment for someone who ultimately appears to give her very little back in return, emotionally. O is an ostensibly successful independent woman and that persona is seemingly at odds with the one that she turns into at Roissy. Which is possibly one reason that many, I suspect women, critics perhaps feel that this book has been written by a man, they would not wish to think of an independent woman being, in their eyes, willingly reduced to a chattel. We know that people exist that enjoy the sort of behaviour but I think it is generally men who would allow women to treat them the way that O is treated in Roissy, rather than the other way around. That is why I think that many suspect Ms Réage of being a man. The detailed descriptions of the »activities« and »apparatus« that occur in the book are written very much in a style that »feels« like a man has written it. Which brings me to my biggest criticism of the book and one that others have made. That is the translation. This version seems unusually dry and un-imaginative in its language, and I don't know if this is because the translator has tried to inject strict translations to phrases that perhaps do not exactly match in English, where paraphrasing might have given the story more charge. Alas my French is not strong enough for me to read the book in its intended language and garner the true subtlety and impact the author must have intended. In summary, this is a powerful and important work of erotic fiction and should be regarded as such, whether it is actually erotic in this form is a more personal matter.
just couldn't get into it
I won't even bother to make an argument about this novel's disregarding the »safe, sane and consentual« credo of the BDSM community. Hopefully readers who haven't »dabbled« in the scene for real will still realize that this book is disturbing and unrealistic. My gripes: the style of writing is a little euphemistic for me, epsecially when it comes to descriptions of bodies. The clothing descriptions are long and tedious. I don't see why every single erotic tome in the world has to include lesbian scenes. And none of my five senses came alive as they did when I read 9 and 1/2 Weeks. The only thing I liked about »O« was the setting in France. There are far better novels about power play in relationships.
I won't even bother to make an argument about this novel's disregarding the »safe, sane and consentual« credo of the BDSM community. Hopefully readers who haven't »dabbled« in the scene for real will still realize that this book is disturbing and unrealistic. My gripes: the style of writing is a little euphemistic for me, epsecially when it comes to descriptions of bodies. The clothing descriptions are long and tedious. I don't see why every single erotic tome in the world has to include lesbian scenes. And none of my five senses came alive as they did when I read 9 and 1/2 Weeks. The only thing I liked about »O« was the setting in France. There are far better novels about power play in relationships.
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last update: 3/18/2010
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