The Story of O – Pauline Reage

You should know better than anyone that I’m an avid reader of erotic literature both for pleasure and academic reasons. For this reason I was compelled to read The Story Of O as it is mentioned in many other books and articles that I have come across so far.

I knew that it would not be graphic given the time at which it was published, but given its fame I was expecting something special. I was disappointed. The plot in itself is different, and at the beginning you get a real sense of how much O loves Rene, as she agrees to obey him, however, for me, the longer the tale went on, the more unrealistic it became.

I’m sure in Sub/Dom circles and relationships there is an understanding of this, but I just couldn’t get my head round it. I’m open minded, and my opinion is each to their own, but the idea that Rene ‘gives’ O to someone else and she doesn’t mind etc… it just got to a point where there was so much that didn’t make sense that I was just reading it to get to the end so I could say I’ve read it!!

The Story of O does give an insight into the world of bondage, and submission/domination but I found Anne Rice’s ‘Beauty’ trilogy a hundred times better!! It was much sexier and a hell of a lot more erotic.

This book failed to inspire any emotion in me, except relief when I’d finished it. I can only assume its fame comes from the taboo that existed when it was first published. Nobody had sex in those days, remember? Let alone kinky sex, hehe.

Order from Amazon.co.uk
Order from Amazon.com
Order from BookDepository.co.uk
Order from Waterstones.com