In 1928, Georges Bataille published this first novel under a pseudonym, a legendary shocker that uncovers the dark side of the erotic by means of forbidden obsessive fantasies of excess and sexual extremes. A classic of pornographic literature, Story of the Eye finds the parallels in Sade and Nietzsche and in the investigations of contemporary psychology; it also forecasts Bataille's own theories of ecstasy, death and transgression which he developed in later work.
Amazon.com: Only Georges Bataille could write, of an eyeball removed from a corpse, that "the caress of the eye over the skin is so utterly, so extraordinarily gentle, and the sensation is so bizarre that it has something of a rooster's horrible crowing." Bataille has been called a "metaphysician of evil," specializing in blasphemy, profanation, and horror. Story of the Eye, written in 1928, is his best-known work; it is unashamedly surrealistic, both disgusting and fascinating, and packed with seemingly endless violations. It's something of an underground classic, rediscovered by each new generation. Most recently, the Icelandic pop singer Björk Guðdmundsdóttir cites Story of the Eye as a major inspiration: she made a music video that alludes to Bataille's erotic uses of eggs, and she plans to read an excerpt for an album. Warning: Story of the Eye is graphically sexual, and is only for adults who are not easily offended.
Great First Novel This was Bataille's first novel and it is the first novel by Bataille that I've read. It was recommended to me by a friend as well as Amazon.com after I informed them both that I had read Venus in Furs, which I love. Initially I found Bataille's open pornographic style a bit surprising and it took me while to adjust. Because of this I missed the literary significance in the first few chapters. However, once I adjusted I saw what wonderful modern scenes he was creating, and how complete they were. All I can do is offer a panegyric for this book, which I would recommend to anyone interested in sexual deviance.
Haunting Endeavor Plunging Across Literary Boundaries (featuring medicore storytelling) Well, chances are probably good that if you're reading this then you've heard of the classic erotic Story of the Eye. It's sheer outrageous absurdity in the form of sensation overload. Pornographic endeavors of the most grotesque, extraordinary, and perverse leads the narrative (i. e. bulls and eggs) and drives the main themes straight to the point. Mr. Bataille's work is mostly driven on his philosophy that, like de Sade, focuses on violence, death, isolation, irrationality versus rationality (the will to life of Schoepenhauer, and the spirit of Nietzsche) and of course passion (through sex and desire). At times the book was arousing, at times disgusting, but inevitably the story becomes so numbing that I lost sense of my own human characteristics. If that sounds like a stretch to you, read the book and see what you think. This book is a shocker that disables social and literary boundaries, though the form of the book (13(?) chapters, linear narrative) is only clouded over by some poor narration. For fans of Henry Miller, Marquis de Sade, Anais Nin's erotica, and the Story of O, check this out, but be weary that this book is more meta than you might care for.
Grotesque and Astonishing George Bataille's brief Sade-esque novella is a mordantly brilliant dip into the post-Nietzschen world modernity. The Story of the Eye is a pornographic disintegration of the Western ethical code. It is both magnificent and foul; a more daring and original work than his later philosophy/anthropology. A seminal piece of 20th century literature; although it was published well before the cultural abominations of our current nihilism, we are still not ready for this bleak and punkish work of literary debauchery.
Thought Provoking, Brilliant and Grotesque ... What causes a mind to embrace gross sexual abstractions? When does a moment of teenage reckless abandon turn into a debauched nightmare? What causes a young mind to lean towards fetishism?
Professionals have grappled with those questions for decades, and many of these and similar questions will forever remain unanswered in The Story of The Eye. And yet, even with its horrific and gruesome imagery, one cannot help but desire to know the answers. However, one must understand the human shadow with some semblance of clarity for those answers to make any sense. Georges Bataille is one philosopher who truly understands, and he does not leave us wanting. In part two of this edition, he offers some clarity as he mulls over a few of the aberrations of his own childhood - how he came to understand his own shadow and its relationship to events and images within the story itself.
While Story of The Eye chronicles the deviant sexual escapades of two young lovers, this is not what I would consider a pornographic novel, as it was originally labelled. Yes, the erotic scenes are quite intense - intense enough to make the faint of heart put the book down in order to vomit. But the erotica is not the true bite of the story. The deep emotional, psychological, and pathological attachment between the two main characters is what drives this story. Their disdain for the banal is apparent in everything they do.
The narration is surreal, slipping in an out of conscious thought and action so fluidly it's like sinking into quicksand - struggle against it and drown or remain still and experience this work as the true artistic endeavour that it is. If you dare to remain still, you certainly will not be disappointed.
Not for Kids! I found this book looking through my wife's "recently viewed" list and thought it would be an excellent gift for our 12 year old niece who loves R.L. Stein's "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" series. Boy, was I wrong! I thought the spooky cover, title, and foreign name of the author indicated a classic horror novel in the vein of Frankenstein or Dracula. I naturally assumed that my wife had found a book for our niece and I would handle the financial end. Unfortunately I found out I had misjudged the book a few weeks later when my sister-in-law called in hysterics, accusing me of sending their daughter pornography! I told her I did no such thing and suggested maybe there was a mix up in shipping as I had sent her a book and not a movie. She told me that they had indeed received the book and was certain it was porn as they owned the book. I apologized profusely and asked my wife about the book. She explained that her sister had recommended it as an inspirational tool for the bedroom. we eventually got around to reading the book and found that these kids are quite imaginative, insane maybe, but very imaginative! Five Stars.
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