I was hoping for more criticism and less summarization, but I still admire Carter's thesis. ( )

Editions Henn Veyner

Fucked up and read the criticism first. I don't disagree with her but.. ehhhh ( )

I went into this work thinking that Carter might use De Sade as a framework for the reinvention of the pornographic imagination through the lens of sex positive feminism, but I was a bit off the mark. That said, what Carter is doing here is equally compelling: demonstrating how reading De Sade through a feminist lens can complicate Freudian notions of sexuality and De Sade himself, laying out a blueprint for a truly liberated heroine, in literature but also in the world.

She elegantly highlights De Sade's protofeminist ideas, allowing readers to discover how that is not as strange as it may sound, while also taking De Sade to task for his philosophical shortcomings to such a depth that it takes your breath away. If you have never read De Sade, fear not, because she summarizes his work throughout, which is necessary to properly examine female characters in his work. However, her summaries always arrive at the most wonderful and dazzling conclusions that any reader of De Sade, especially feminist scholars, will appreciate this text and see its echoes in everything, direct or indirect, from Linda Williams to Kathy Acker. This text invaluably recasts De Sade from the mold of a lascivious pornographer to that of an important thinker and philosopher valuable to behold through the eye of modern critical and theoretical traditions. ( )

The Marquis de Sade may well be more famous for misattributions of the terms ‘sadism’ and ‘sadomasochism’ than for what he actually wrote and thought. For many people who routinely involve an element of pain and/or humiliation in their erotic practices and fantasies, the bloody antics in Sade’s works are simply nauseating. Angela Carter here provides a much needed context for these works, showing that Sade’s view of the world was surprisingly egalitarian for his times, highlighting the gross inequities of class as well as gender. This is a scholarly book, containing much food for thought and contemplation. It provides a secure foundation stone for true feminism, in the sense of seeking true equality of humanity, and not simply a trivial glossy equality with overtones of revenge. Angela Carter was one of the most impressive writers of novels in the last century, and this deeply thinking work impressed me by its insight into what constitutes true equality. This book should interest anyone seeking enlightenment into the psychology that underlies so-called sadomasochistic activities, and indeed also the need for pain, inflicting or inflicted, in many common fantasies. ( )