Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Story of the Eye
Book Review: If you like blood and pee
Summary: 1 Stars
When I bought this book I thought it was going to be wildly erotic. I think a lot of amazon book reviews are misleading. But, I guess it's different strokes for different folks. If you think blood,gore, people urinating on each other and people mutilating a priest and an animal and driving an innocent insane is sexy then this book is for you. I would give it minus 10 stars if it was possible.Book Review: If your curiosity is piqued one iota, get this book.
Summary: 5 Stars
Here is a masterfully rendered piece of erotica. Manifold psycological implications, however at first read there is a draw in his style that I've not discovered in any other erotic writer. Picture yourself reading along, builing in anticipation and excitement, and, whammo, it hits you: you've just been turned on by an eyeball removed from its socket. And then, here's the trick, you keep reading.Book Review: Interesting & Intriguing
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is so small that it is definitely an easy one night treat for a seasoned reader. I enjoyed it and found it completely interesting and definitely before it's time. I had to keep reminding myself when it was written! It was sometimes hard to understand the language and context, but the further you read along, the more clear it became. There were a couple of pretty disturbing chapters and is not for the faint of heart. I am a die-hard Stephen King fan and found it delicious. It definitely has lots of shock value! ENJOY!!Book Review: Interesting erotica; written from a place of rebellion
Summary: 3 Stars
I wasn't sure what to make of The Story of an Eye when I first read it as an undergraduate in college twelve years ago. Recently rereading the book, I now have a clearer interpretation. I think the most interesting aspect of this book comes in Bataille's linking of his own "sexual perversions" to his childhood experiences with his father's eyes, urination, and the whole association of these experiences with eggs. It is facinating that Bataille apparently wrote this novella without the knowledge that he was dealing with parts of his childhood, but that all of this psychological material came through anyway. It made me contemplate my own childhood experiences and associations they have with my conceptions of sexuality as an adult. Another interpretation I have of this novella is that it is just a better-written version of de Sade. The Story of an Eye seeks to shock and offend in way that breaks down the repression of shame-based morality. In many respects, The Story of an Eye is just a listing of morally crude/violent sexual experiences. It's giving the finger to perceived patriarchal institutions such as the Catholic Church, mental hospitals, the government, parents, etc. by means of graphically describing perceived sexual "aberrations" in the eyes (no pun intended) of these institutions. The problem I have with this "sexual extremism = destruction of patriachy" philosophy is that this type of rebellion only creates the same type of violence and shame that it seeks to liberate people from. In my mind, the characters in The Story of the Eye become that which they rebel against. Still, this novella is well worth a read if you're a fan of rebellious sexual literature in the de Sade vein. It's also funny to think that The Story of the Eye was written around the same time of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.Book Review: Make sure your seat belt is fastened
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not a book for the faint of heart. But it is a book for one who enjoys exploring the darker side of life. Georges Bataille, in this, his first novel, sets the stage for his works to come where he explores sexuality and death. Pornography (although I hate to use that term because of today's association) is presented in "The Story of the Eye" as a true art form.