Juliette

Rating:
Summary: Evil Genius.
Review: Almost 1200 pages of evil, gore and every imaginable vice and yet a well deserved five stars; where do I begin?

How about a dialectical approach?

In his seminal paper "Idiotypic Networks and Other Preconceived Ideas" (Immunological Reviews 1984, 74:5-24) 1985 Nobel Laureate Niels Jerne wrote: I have always believed that a fundamental insight is most likely to emerge if we assume the exact opposite of what seems to be true.

Ever since Plato poured the fundament of Western thinking, we have come to believe that striving for virtue is man's highest mission. The torah expanded this notion with the central dogma "don't do to others what is hateful to yourself". Christianity took this notion a step further with the turn the other cheek philosophy.

Superficial scrutiny seems to justify the assessment that we are living in a society based on Judeo-Christian morals. However, just going beneath the shiny surface of our current society makes you scream and shout at the stupidity/hypocrisy of this notion.

In Juliette, de Sade states the opposite of what seems to be true: do evil without any bounds or scruples and good things will happen to you. On top of that, he goes a few light years beyond the blasphemic to ridicule the notion of a supreme being and the meaning of religion. Furthermore, he dismisses the notion of an afterlife and describes a method to gradually paralyze the last remnants of conscience. Within this theoretical framework, which is reiterated ad nauseum by thieves, prostitutes, French nobility and even the Holy Father himself, the imprisoned author lets all his inhibitions go in one of literature's ultimate sick fantasies. In a clinical fashion every imaginable perversity gets its place in the writer's sun. If you cannot deal with plain porn, rape, sadomasochism, lust murdering, bestiality, uroloagny, coprophagy , etc. etc. etc. better leave this book alone.

That said, I must add that de Sade's imagination is so far over the top that the results are often more grotesque than alarming. In despite of close to 600 pages of gore, nothing in them could even bring me close to the terror that "the skinning scene" in Haruki Murakami's Wind-up Bird Chronicles caused.

The recent movie Quills, which portrayed a highly sanitized version of de Sade, used him in a passionate plea for freedom of speech was made. Reading the introduction to Juliette, I was struck that this book had been banned until the late fifties of this century. Despite all the disgusting gore contained in these 1200 pages, this banning is both unjust and stupid.

Unjust, because this elaborate musing on evil is a very important antithesis from the age of enlightment to its embrace of reason. Before Nietsche, Schopenhauer, Darwin and Freud, de Sade has done his own original exploration of the dark side that justifies a status of missing, or more correctly, suppressed link in Western philosophy. While both our current ideas on the importance of "virtuous collaboration for survival" in human evolution and on the importance of elementary family units in raising stable and well-rounded human beings fly in the face of de Sade's own twisted brand of cultural anthropology, his exploration of mankind's animal side contains many elementary truths.

Thus, I consider it plain stupid to ban, ignore or ridicule books like this one. Before the rise of Sadam, Osama, Stalin, Hitler and even Napoleon, de Sade has very accurately described how thin and weak the varnish of civilization can be, before revealing how mankind's intelligence can be used to commit atrocities unmatched by any member of the animal kingdom.

In addition, I consider many of de Sade's observations on morals, law and religion as diamonds in the surrounding dirt.

So currently jobless and pensionless former Enron employees, in case you still wonder how the "Miracle Ken" and his fellow cronies "can still live with themselves" in their palaces while you have to find a way through the rubble: stop your torment! Pick up de Sade to learn that in all likelihood they not only fail to feel bad about your fate; they probably get a huge kick out of it.

If only we all had known before!

Rating:
Summary: A Dark Masterpiece
Review: Amidst the gratuitous sex and abhorrent violence, this book contains a philosophy of pure libertinage that should not be ignored. The 10% of this work that is not pornography details a unique, startling, frighteningly base school of thought that I have not encountered before or since reading this (rightfully) immortal tome. Man, as protrayed in Juliette, is a self-serving, solitary beast that will commit acts of the most extreme depravity on a mere bout of caprice. Life is meaningless, God is dead, and no one matters save for yourself. This extreme nihilism is said to be the "right" way to live by Sade's characters, for nature allows their every "misdeed." Many would deem this mindset insane, but I ask them "why is it insane?" Is it not true? In the book, and in reality, it is only the subjectively chosen morality of other men that prevents us from acting on our most insidious desires. There is no right and wrong, because everything is permitted by nature. The adamant atheism, blasphemy, violence and selfishness entailed in the book is what makes me respect it so. I reccomend this work to every free thinker that can sit throught 1100+ pages of scatology. It is worth weeding through the shocking, occasionally repetitive porn to feast on the juicy nuggets of philosophy within.

Rating:
Summary: a woman's pursuit of the libertine lifestyle
Review: As a work of pornography, "Juliette" can certainly hold its own. But as literature, it doesn't compare to "Justine" which is a much better written novel. Regardless, people looking for Sadeian erotica will find it here, as well as Sade's philosophy. I was surprised and pleased by the amount of lesbianism in this book, something one would not expect from an author who has always been described as a bisexual interested in male sodomy. But in late works like "Juliette" he seems to have acquired a taste for lesbian sex, or at least an understanding of it's popular appeal as erotica, and this is evident in this book as well as surviving notes from his "The Days of Florville", a mammoth pornographic work and perhaps Sade's masterpiece, which he wrote in his last days at the asylum in Charenton and which was ordered to be burned by his son after Sade's death.

"Juliette" is a long novel, covering the story and fate of Juliette, the virtuous Justine's libertine sister, and her sexual and criminal adventures out in the real world.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Rating:
Summary: An interesting dissertation on the philosophy of libertinage
Review: Being a college student forced to study the humanist philosophers, de Sade's "Juliette" was a refreshing change from the love thy neighbor philosophies I've read before. In no way do I condone the actions of dear Juliette, but it's a good book for the philosophy and historical porn. Some of the long speeches I could have done without, but i enjoyed in none the less. Warning- this book gave me strange dreams, so read at your own risk.

Rating:
Summary: For those with Spare time.
Review: Do you know why De Sade made this book so long? I've listened too long to people talking about how De Sade is some misunderstood genius who was trying to get out everything he was thinking. The man was in Prison! It was either write or stare at the wall! Of course he made it so long. the plot of this book fills less than a sixth of the books length. The rest is filled with a list of sexual events that go past what even the most depraved minds would find arousing. It becomes disgusting to the point of giving you a bad taste in your mouth. Some times, the hideous acts don't even have anything to do with sex! they're simply hideous! And my words have nothing to do with morality. De Sade's sexual discribtions are like seeing road kill while jogging. No difference in it's ability to make one sick! Only the depraved could like this book.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful and mysterious masterpiece!
Review: First of all, this book is not for puritans and religious fanatics. This is a profound philosophical work which explores the "real" side of human nature, its inherent longing to lust and crime. The truth is we are all predators who live to survive and enjoy as much pleasure in life as we can. The shocking pictures of evil presented by De Sade reveal this naked and painful human nature.

Explicit sexual scenes and disturbing acts of unspeakable evil are everywhere in this book interlaced with philosophy. Please read this book and you will never be the same!

Rating:
Summary: Ewwww!
Review: First of all, this is a well-written book with some very provocative ideas. The philosophy is as over the top as the violence, so I think the Marquis must have intended "Juliette" as a pipe bomb in the gullet of conventional morality. Even so, some of his human-centered views are right on target. For instance, he vehemently argues for a woman's right to have an abortion and denies men any voice in that decision.

Overall though, I don't think the ideas are seriously proposed. I think perhaps the Marquis intended "Juliette" to provoke in the reader an internal discussion of issues by presenting an extreme position and making the reader respond to it.

However, I simply could not stomach the violence in the book and didn't make it to the third section. I just didn't want to read it anymore, and I'm no dainty parlour gentleman. Be warned that the Marquis' reputation is well-deserved. This is not sex or pornography. It is base violence and depravity which the characters commit, revel in, and congratulate themselves for perpetrating.

The novel also becomes really repetitive and this also made me tire of the book. I saw a bit of a plot with Juliette rising in society in direct proportion to how evil she became. However, this thin plot couldn't sustain the endless discourses and violence.

Glad I read what I did read so that at least I have some first hand knowledge of what this man is about. I was very surprised that ideas compose the majority of this work, rather than sadism. Absolutely not for the faint-hearted, though, or for even many strong-hearted people.

Rating:
Summary: Ewwww!
Review: First of all, this is a well-written book with some very provocative ideas. The philosophy is as over the top as the violence, so I think the Marquis must have intended "Juliette" as a pipe bomb in the gullet of conventional morality. Even so, some of his human-centered views are right on target. For instance, he vehemently argues for a woman's right to have an abortion and denies men any voice in that decision.

Overall though, I don't think the ideas are seriously proposed. I think perhaps the Marquis intended "Juliette" to provoke in the reader an internal discussion of issues by presenting an extreme position and making the reader respond to it.

However, I simply could not stomach the violence in the book and didn't make it to the third section. I just didn't want to read it anymore, and I'm no dainty parlour gentleman. Be warned that the Marquis' reputation is well-deserved. This is not sex or pornography. It is base violence and depravity which the characters commit, revel in, and congratulate themselves for perpetrating.

The novel also becomes really repetitive and this also made me tire of the book. I saw a bit of a plot with Juliette rising in society in direct proportion to how evil she became. However, this thin plot couldn't sustain the endless discourses and violence.

Glad I read what I did read so that at least I have some first hand knowledge of what this man is about. I was very surprised that ideas compose the majority of this work, rather than sadism. Absolutely not for the faint-hearted, though, or for even many strong-hearted people.

Rating:
Summary: Ewwww!
Review: First of all, this is a well-written book with some very provocative ideas. The philosophy is as over the top as the violence, so I think the Marquis must have intended "Juliette" as a pipe bomb in the gullet of conventional morality. Even so, some of his human-centered views are right on target. For instance, he vehemently argues for a woman's right to have an abortion and denies men any voice in that decision.

Overall though, I don't think the ideas are seriously proposed. I think perhaps the Marquis intended "Juliette" to provoke in the reader an internal discussion of issues by presenting an extreme position and making the reader respond to it.

However, I simply could not stomach the violence in the book and didn't make it to the third section. I just didn't want to read it anymore, and I'm no dainty parlour gentleman. Be warned that the Marquis' reputation is well-deserved. This is not sex or pornography. It is base violence and depravity which the characters commit, revel in, and congratulate themselves for perpetrating.

The novel also becomes really repetitive and this also made me tire of the book. I saw a bit of a plot with Juliette rising in society in direct proportion to how evil she became. However, this thin plot couldn't sustain the endless discourses and violence.

Glad I read what I did read so that at least I have some first hand knowledge of what this man is about. I was very surprised that ideas compose the majority of this work, rather than sadism. Absolutely not for the faint-hearted, though, or for even many strong-hearted people.

Rating:
Summary: An Advocate of Cruelty
Review: I finished 'Juliette' a few weeks ago and it is difficult to deny its power to shock the reader, even now, two hundered years after the book was written.
Sade's philosophy, such as it is, is exceptionally reductionist in its view of 'Nature'. He throws out all morality as an arbitrary construct of human society and argues that as customs and practices differ from place to place, morality itself is totally relative and worth utterly nothing. Out goes God and instead of a divine being, Sade promotes his view of Nature- which is cruel, cares not a jot for human life and wants us to appease our appetites at any cost to other human beings. Any talk of love is so much sentimental cant-all traces of love in the human heart are to be wiped out so they do not take away from our enjoyment of physical pleasures. All criminal acts give us pleasure, this is our Nature (if we deny this we are just not able to break free of society's conditioning of us and are not keeping good faith with Nature) therefore they are to be committed at every opportunity. His characters are invariably wealthy, powerful, totally unscrupulous and get their sexual kicks in the most laborious ways .
Because of his refutation of morality and his recognition of the fact that without God, our moral system seems to lack an anchor, he might be regarded as a predecessor of Nietzsche. Sade is however a lesser thinker and his conclusions sometimes verge on the rather simplistic 'might is right' kind. In his view of 'Nature' he is simply, in my opinion, wrong.
If he had been a little more observant and a little less insane, he would have noted that altruistic behaviours are as much exhibited by Nature as self-serving or cruel ones. He would have noted the rabbit on watch stamping its hindleg in order to warn the warren of an approaching predator, usually at cost to itself as it makes the predator aware of the its own presence. He would have noted that drones will willingly give up their lives for the queen and the hive. Examples abound. However such observations would have ill-served the philosphy that he espoused, which in the end can only appeal to the warped, sick, decadent and over-privilaged.
I will however give him the fact that he can write. 'Justine' presents the virtuous woman as victim. 'Juliette' however shows her sister, a libertine not limited by her conscience, as a social success who aquires boundless wealth. For this reason, I was more intrigued by 'Juliette' than by 'Justine'-women as victims abound in literature, while the woman portrayed in 'Juliette' is a little more er...unusual. While he may indeed propose that a woman should have the right to do with her unborn child as she wishes, Sade is no feminist. His support for abortion comes about because of his hatred of procreation (as opposed to sex, which he enjoys in all its manidfestations). Rather Sade is a thoroughgoing misogynist who believes that the only good woman is one utterly subservient to the needs of men-a view espoused a number of times in this book.
A repulsive but quite fascinating tome.
A side note-those who have read this might also be interested in Michelle Houellbeque's 'The Elementary Particles'-a book I feel very much influenced by Sade. Houellbeque seems to view us as more or less already living in a world which would meet with Sade's approval...