“I address only those who can endure my words”. These were the words of Marquis de Sade, and to anyone the least bit in touch with his literary work, it is easy to understand why he said them. The 120 Days of Sodom, also known as The School of Libertinism, is a work not unlike that of this authors' shocking and controversial pattern. The book was written in 1735, during one of the Marquis' incarceration periods. During 35 days he composed this work in a continuous roll of parchment, which was later lost due to the French Revolution and only published by the XX century. This extensive painting of debauchery depicts four wealthy libertines’ ambition of experiencing the ultimate sexual pleasure through a series of orgies to take place in an isolated castle through a period of 4 months. During this period they have at their disposal a harem of forty six victims to torture as they please, taking inspiration from the life stories of four prostitutes hired specifically as story tellers to fuel the libertines’ depraved fantasies. Through his profoundly descriptive writing Sade depicts the events which occurred in this castle, and the way the orgies escalate to the criminal massacre of most of the victims. The author's writing, featuring detailed descriptions of these episodes, can be tiring for some readers but at the same time terribly captivating for others. The presence of shocking, repulsive and revolting elements are the very thing that make this work so fascinating through so many centuries, having resisted the test of time and coming to find its place in the editorial world despite all the censorship Sade's writing has faced for centuries.. |
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