120 Days of Sodom (Arena Books) [Paperback]

Marquis de Sade (Author)

Book Description

Series: Arena Books | Publication Date: September 7, 1989

The 120 Days of Sodom is Sade's masterpiece. A still unsurpassed catalogue of sexual abberrations and the first systematic exploration of the psychopathology of sex, it was written during Sade's imprisonment and then lost after the storming of the Bastille in 1789. Later rediscovered , the manuscript remained unpublished until 1936 and is now introduced by Simone de Beauvoir's landmark essay, 'Must We Burn Sade?' Unique in its enduring capacity to shock and provoke, The 120 days of Sodom must stand as one of the most controversial books ever written

Editorial Reviews

Review

“...this astonishing new version renders the previous translation null-and-void...” -- Professor Stephen Barber, CalArts

“The book that dominates all books.” -- Georges Bataille --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Donatien Alphonse-François de Sade (1740 – 1814) was a French aristocrat and writer of philosophy-laden and often violent pornography. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books (September 7, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099629607
• ISBN-13: 978-0099629603
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1.8 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,942,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A translation for people who don't actually want to read Sade., July 10, 2009

By 

keuner & niemand - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 120 Days Of Sodom (Paperback)

From the translator's note: "In making this new translation, the aim was to present the book in something more resembling a completed state. With some minimal editing and restructuring, and by wherever possible correcting mistakes and filling in important gaps - mainly by following Sade's working notes and later reflections, but occasionally by extrapolating from the existing text - it is hoped that this monumental masterwork, one of the cornerstones of modern literature, has now been restored to a version more appropriate for a 21st century readership."

I will leave it up to you to decide whether this is the kind of translation that you want to pay money for, but I would rather not be presented with a book that has been "restructured", "corrected", and "filled in", in order to make it more "appropriate" for my reading. Some of these points may be valid considering that Sade lost the manuscript, but as there are no notes anywhere in the book to say where the editorial corrections and extrapolations have been introduced, it is literally impossible to say what it is that you are reading: Take any randomly chosen sentence and ask yourself, is this from Sade's text or is it the translator's corrected version?

Nor is any information given about the nature of Sade's supposed "working notes and later reflections", where have these come from? Although Sade wrote the manuscript quickly he had been preparing it for some time and he had a further three and a half years to check it before it was finally lost to him, so the need to correct mistakes and fill in gaps seems unwarranted, especially as it has not occurred to any other editor, English or French, to take on such a responsibility. Furthermore, checking the text against the French reveals that it has hardly undergone "minimal editing and restructuring", as the crucial Introduction has been reduced by half and completely reorganised, removing the extensive background details about the characters and their agreements prior to establishing their retreat.

Contrary to what Stephen Barber and Lady Jane Orgasmo have said, this version in no way supersedes the earlier edition and is very far from being "unexpurgated". Simply translating "décharge" as "cock juice" does not make the text more accurate, as décharge just means "discharge", and if that is what Sade wrote why replace his terms with something that only sounds adolescent?

It seems as though Solar Books have decided that they want a more reader-friendly version to market, one that is less challenging and more streamlined, easier to consume, which is of course hardly what Sade would have wanted.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Retains Ability to Shock, February 17, 2010

By 

S. Pactor "reader" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The 120 Days Of Sodom (Paperback)

Sounds like there are passionate feelings about whether this book is a good translation or not. It is def. a contemporary translation- as one reviewer noted "descharge" is frequently translated into "cock juice." I can't comment on the editing issues because I haven't read other translations of 120 days of sodom and I doubt I will because man, that Marquis was one sick twist. Certainly more vile then any contemporary pornography, the best thing you can say about the content of 120 Days of Sodom is that it is a Swiftian satire of contemporary society.
Sade's "Lords of Sodom' are recognizable as characters which occur in the fiction of William S. Burroughs or the reportage of Hunter Thompson. It's tough sledding though, I can see where someone might want to read a more tastefully translated version- the text is, at times, very hard to take.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Note, this is not a literal translation., November 25, 2008

By 

Lorenzo "Lorenzo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 120 Days Of Sodom (Paperback)

If you click the "Look Inside" for this book, it gives you the Wainhouse translation. This is more a retelling. If you are interested in Sade's version of the book, ignore this edition.

I only gave it one star until I have read more.