Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Story of the Eye
Book Review: Dreamlike and darkly pornographic
Summary: 3 Stars
I decided to read this book after hearing it was Bjork's favorite (I'm a huge fan). Like most people, I found it shocking and disturbing (and I'm not someone who's easily shocked), but not without merit. It really reads like a dream ... the kind you want to forget as soon as you wake up, and the kind you would never, ever want to describe to anyone else. So there's a definite courageousness to this book. The author had the guts to put all his demons right out there for all the world to see (well, read), and so, as disturbing as the book is, you have to respect that.Book Review: Dull narrative earns this short novel 1 star
Summary: 1 Stars
I couldn't finish this book because I was bored, emphatically not because I was shocked.
The book is little more than a series of quick sexual encounters, one straight after another. There's nothing wrong with this in principle, but the author Bataille isn't a very creative writer, and you get very little in actual erotic description.
Which brings me to my next point. I don't consider this work to be "unashamedly Surreal", as the Amazon review declares, not in the sense of, say, André Breton - who was a genius at imagery - or Paul Éluard. It has a touch of the surrealist style, but just a dab. The sex scenes actually read more like anything one might read in a crappy porn mag.
As for the porn itself, I found it predictably misogynist. Pee fetish seems to be the central thrill, which is fine, but the guy was always peeing on the girl, never the other way round, which to me is ultimately pretty close-minded. Beyond this, Bataille is very interested in tying inanimate objects like eggs and disgusting food with sex, but the shock value was minimal, and the sex was pretty conventional by today's standards; or at least it was up until about the fifth sex scene, whereupon I yawned and closed the book.
Book Review: Eggs?
Summary: 5 Stars
Eggs? Who would of thought? Georges Bataille is an awesome writer! The conclusion of the book will shed light on the "why's". Georges has a vivid imagination and a sick mind, which makes this a very recommend book! Enjoy with the world dark and the candles lit.Book Review: Filth and philosophy as only the French can serve it up
Summary: 5 Stars
Published nearly 80 years ago, *Story of the Eye* may still be the wildest ((and weirdest)) pornographic novel ever written. Sadomasochism, underage orgies, golden showers, homicide, necrophilia, soft-boiled eggs--and all of it in a story less than one hundred pages in length. Outstanding!
Couched in a super-lucid prose of hyperbolic surreality, *Story of the Eye* is a record of the x-rated exploits of two young lovers--the narrator and the lovely Simone, who he meets on a family vacation. Equally inexperienced and perfectly matched in their precocious perversity, they set about discovering their sexuality through a series of escalating debaucheries, sucking into their erotic vortex a mentally fragile blonde, a rich English psychopath, and a priest. Bataille seems determined to out-Sade deSade and he largely succeeds in outdoing the divine Marquis, spicing up the lewd proceedings with liberal doses of libertine philosophy and poetically-fueled descriptions of the most ordinarily unpoetic and sordid of acts.
Still, when all is said and done, *Story of the Eye* is truly a work of literature. You can tell because you're never once tempted to read with one hand! Complete with what amounts to a short "making of *Story of the Eye*" author's note, which traces the autobiographical links between Bataille's early life and the events of the novel, here is a fascinating take on the perverse imagination by one of its greatest theorists.
Book Review: Great First Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
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.