Rating: 
Summary: It's fantastic!
Review: I am very new to the world of S/M, but certainly in for it. I read this book to help me see what it is that goes on inside of me, though the book appear really hard and scary at times, there is so much truth in it. There is a certain amount of greatness and joy in submitting totally to other's will and to find yourself - at last! - freed from the weight of your own lusts, interests and complexes! I strongly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: "O" is definitely different
Review: This was my first experience with S&M literature and it was quite an experience. First, to see how this lifestyle can indeed BE a lifestyle and how far one can be drawn into it. The second amazing fact was that this book was written in the 1950's. I imagine that there was, and still is quite an underground following for this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh look, she's getting gang raped - *again*
Review: My fantasies tend to be of the very perverse and violent nature, so I was looking forward to reading L'Histoire d'O. I had a long plane ride, and was hoping it would help me while away the house.Alas, O proved to be boring in the extreme. My thoughts were pretty much "Oh look, she's getting beaten again" and "Oh look, she's getting gang raped again" and "Oh look, she's being sodomized again." How boring. How dull. There was no tension at all in the book, because there was no conflict. O just accepts everything that happens to her. In order for a story to be interesting, there must be some sort of conflict that needs to be resolved. There is none in this novel. It seems to me that the author tried to get by on the shock value alone, which is not enough in and of itself to make a book worth reading. Plot helps, too.
Rating:
Summary: change of views
Review: When I first bought "O" I was unsure about reading it. I was brought up to be a liberated woman and not to be submissive to anyone. But upon my first hesitant glance at it's contents I was hooked. As O found power through surrender so did I and as O suffered I thrived. This erotic masterpiece has forever changed my life and brought a new perspective to my sexual desires. It opened my eyes to a wonderful new world and I will forever praise Pauline Reage for creating a world of desire that I envy.
Rating:
Summary: WOWEE ZOWEE
Review: I just wanted to inform everyone that has ever been involved in BDSM to read this exciting and erotic literature. I was most pleased by the information and material presented to me. As a woman living the life of a submissive I believe that this book is an exciting read, I couldn't put the darn thing down. If anyone dares to venture into this completely erotic dark literature I grantee that you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: DeGrading
Review: I originally purchased the book to read on a plane. I found the entire book poorly written and not at all interesting. It is a perverse look at S & M and slavery, which by the way is no longer legal. It made me embarressed to be a female. I feel sorry for people who enjoy such books, as I thought our generation had at least some intellegence. I found the book overall humiliating and intellectually boring.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This story is well-written from a technical point of view. The language is colorful and alive. It has a nice mixture of drama and psychological revelations about a woman becoming more and more involved in slavery. I use the word "slavery" because this story really is about slavery. It's not a love story and anyone looking for some semblance of love in this story will be very disappointed. Although there were declarations of love by several of the characters in this story, I feel that none of them really felt love. They were tied up in the trimmings of a master/slave relationship, but I feel that they really didn't know or appreciate the meaning of such a relationship. My guess is that this is because the author had not experienced such a relationship and didn't fully understand it herself. As someone who has been honored by a woman who has given herself to me as my slave, I was upset with the portrayal of the lifestyle in the book. In my view, there was no love and no closeness in any of the relationships in this story. It was more a story of abuse and debasement more than anything else. The physical acts were not intrinsically debasing, but it was the separation of the acts from any sense of love and affection that caused them to be debasing and abusive. The acts of S&M were not used to bring people closer or to let them feel a deeper intimacy. The acts were simply to fulfill some deep need that the characters had for giving and receiving pain and humiliation. I felt as though something which can be beautiful was turned into something ugly. When someone gives their self completely to another as a slave, it's something to be treasured, not something to be thrown away or loaned out to others. I can't imagine that any master who loved and treasured his slave would allow another to do the things to her that were done in this story. People are not like this. If you treasure something, perhaps you want to show it off, but you certainly wouldn't let someone else defile it. I ended up not liking any of the characters and I feel that this author's talent for writing was wasted on an unrealistic and debasing storyline. This story is much more about slavery than about what most people would think of as a Master/slave or D/s relationship.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is a psychological erotic treat.
Review: I highly reccomend this book to anyone remotely interested in S & M. It is a compelling look at the submissive lifestyle. I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Would "O" Ever Pick Cotton?
Review: I wonder how much one would have to hate themselves, in order to hurt another human. Never mind how much they hate life and how they choose self-indulgence to that extreem as way of expressing that. I do believe that this book was a very good depiction of how one would become a slave...and i did not pity O as she had the right to leave if she chose...but truly i wonder how anybody (without ever having violence introduced to them) could ever hate themselves so much to think that true love, power, control and honour can come from an external source. In past wars, civil and international, people were victimized by fear and violence. Whole nations/ethnic groups lost their identity. "Your this religion now", "Your people have no rights." Was it in those situations a different kind of power that was sought?.. I suppose without these examples before us...new ways of living cannot be invented. I learned a lot from this book. And i only reccomend it, if you understand the kind of hatred you may have for yourself. If you think power is external...then you might as well be whipping yourself.
Rating:
Summary: A true classic.
Review: The Story of O is a guidline for all dicipline minded erotica. However, I felt the moments of passion could hve included a more involved description of O's own feelings. I know it's supposed to be a classic but I felt too much time was spent describing the actions and not enough on the emotions.
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