On The 120 Days of Sodom, Erotica, and the enduring mystery of Marquis De Sade.

While doing some organizing in my bookshelf, I came across one of my most prized possesions: My copy of The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis De Sade. That is not because my physical copy is some limited or collector's edition or something like that, it is simply because the fact that at the time that I read it, many years ago, the book was a truly apocalyptical reading experience for me. I still view it that way, but now that time has distanced me from the initial waves of shock and awe the novel visits upon its reader, I think I'll be more capable to articulate the reasons why I think such a book is worth reading, explain how it can have the appeal it has, at least to me but also have a better understanding of why it's not for everyone.

On first encounter, what really struck me about De Sade as a writer is that in his writings I discovered a profane subverter of order, of whatever order, whether social, moral, political etc. Apart from a monument of total human depravity, The 120 Days Of Sodom is also (primarily I would say) a literary monument to the language of the age of enlightenment. In between the truly shocking acts of sexual and physical violence, the four libertines discuss the philosophical aspect and the magnificence of libertarianism, the deception of religion, the hypocrisy of the clergy, the desecration of the sacred symbols, the freedom of the individual and etc. I found that the definitive purpose of the presence of the four friends was to demonstrate the extremism of their class and above all to denounce its hypocrisy. In retrospect I'm far from sure about that and this somehow only adds up to the overall appeal of the novel. But more one that later. Also, re-reading some passeges in retropsect, while still appreciating the aspect of the novel mentioned above very much, I found my intigue caused by the novel to be leaning heavily on it being a hallucinatory diversion of erotic fantasy related to the surrealist perception of the world and art. Being confined in a state of feverish paroxysm, De Sade's admittedly twisted yet crative, crafted imagery that is violent beyond measure, vuglar, extreme, yet extremely poetic in a surrealistic kind of way. After all it's not a coincedence that De Sade's work was highly regarded with esteem among the surrelists (Eluard, Apollinaire, Bataille, etc). I feel like this aspect of their novel was where their point of views on human life and art came to align. I also found the presence of the four storytellers fascinating, and a very post-modern element which perhaps could be interpreted as commentery on the force and impact of narrative art in general. In the four women share those experiences having clear goal in mind. To intrigue the libertines, to tickle their fancy, to shock them perhaps, to get them hard (literally). And this also De Sade's goal while writing the novel (I mean, I highly doubt anyone has ever gotten hard while reading the novel, maybe except for its authors but I think you get by point). There's a very 'meta' sense of self consciousness and purpose playing out behind the narrations of the four women in terms of the larger picture of the text. And I found that genuinely genius. Having talked about the novel's appeal, I need to say that some people hate on the novel just because they are too close minded or unwilling to look beyong the violence and sex and process the actual ideas of it. But I think there are some people who don't see the appeal of the novel who don't fall into the same category as the ones mentioned. Who have perfectly valid reasoning about it. But what would that be? What repels (and should repel) the reader on the 120 Days Of Sodom, not only the modern one, but the timeless reader, is the transformation of the individual into an object, the non-recognition of his autonomy and the claim of freedom exclusively for the four libertines (the text is characterized by a brutal sense of hierarchy). And this is where the the term erotica/eroticism comes in and is put to doubt. The term comes from ancient greek word 'ἔρως' (Heros), meaning love. And what is love? To give my own personal philosophical interpretation, that would be: the reflection of one person's psyche in the otherness of another. In Sade's text, however, the other does not exist. Consequently, the Sade's novel is a description of an orgy of absolute lonelines featuring the four livertines. Also it essentially is a sexul intercourse of them with death, not only because they inflict death upon others but mainly because they are themselves dead within, and this is the reason why they turn to the horror and pain of others so that they can extract, even some nuggets of pleasure. This sentiment alone is and should be to the reader far more repulsive than the acts of violence featured on the novel themselves. All in all, I consider Sade to be one of the most groundbreaking and libertarian philosophers to ever walk on planet earth, but also there's undoubtedly fascistic in his work. But maybe this is the reason why I don't think that discourse about him, his life and his work will come to a conclusion anytime soon. The fact that we will probab;y never be able to know whether he endorses or condemns fascism though his work. Many artists all across mediums (famously Pasolini), psychologists and philosophers have offered and their perspective on the matter. But it's ultimately up to every reader to make up their mind. What do I think? At this point in my life, I really don't know. What I know is that Sade's work is intiguing and thought provoking one way or another, and this one of the most valuable virtues (I really hope The Divine Marquis will forgive me for the usage of this word he so much contempted when he was alive) when it comes to literary works of such nature.