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juushikaTitle: Venus in Furs
Author: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Translator: Joachim Neugroschel
Published: New York: Penguin Classics, 2000 (1870)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 126
Total Page Count: 52,544
Text Number: 153
Read For: personal enjoyment & reading books about BDSM, checked out from the library (complete text also available at Project Gutenberg)
Short review: Severin von Kusiemski is a European nobleman who has always fantasized about and found pleasure in pain and submission, a condition that he terms suprasensuality. In his memoir he recounts an affair with Wanda von Dunajew, a woman of voluptuous, cruel sexuality. He asks to become her slave and submits to increasingly degrading treatment—until Wanda meet a man to whom she wishes to submit. A classic text, Venus in Furs has a writing style that may not appeal to all readers: the narratives delves deeper into desires and relationships than action and sexual acts and has an airy, self-indulgent tone. This narrative voice, however, creates an intimate view of "suprasensuality"—a sort of masochism that predates (and originates) the term, and the ethereal style allows Sacher-Masoch to build up and break down the ideal of the cruel mistress. Worth reading for concept and significance alone, the text is softly seductive and swiftly readable. I recommend it.
To describe the sexual desire to receive pain, Krafft-Ebbing created the word "masochism" from Sacher-Masoch's name. Krafft-Ebbing's research is now out of date, but the word is still in use. Likewise a lot has changed since the book's publishing, but Venus in Furs remains an early exploration of masochistic desires and a sadomasochistic relationship, and is in some ways foundational and in some still relevant. Severin idealizes Wanda: replacing the statue of Venus, iconographed in a painting, she becomes the archetype of the merciless woman. Naming and describing his own suprasensuality, Severin creates an ideal also for the submissive man, who fetishizes the paraphernalia of powerful women, who falls in thrall at a women's feet, who submits to degradation and abuse—and finds pleasure in it all. The lovers often discuss the causes and boundaries of their relationship, and Severin's narrative pauses frequently for introspection and artistic descriptions. All told, Venus in Furs is both portrait and exploration of a sadomasochistic relationship. Some of these aspects are outdated and some may not ring true to the reader, but in Sacher-Masoch's text they are both archetypal and real, a strong fictional entrance into the topic which still readable, relevant, and thought-provoking today.
Two aspects, however, alter this view of the novel. First, the writing style sometimes glosses over the essential content of the relationship. Sacher-Masoch spends plenty of time on motivation and lead up, but little on actual action—sexual aspects, both intercourse and sadistic/masochistic scenes, are brief or absent. Although hardly surprising (especially given the content and publishing date), this deficiency restricts the text to the theoretical. The characters and desires—although well crafted—are rendered somewhat insubstantial. The writing becomes dreamlike, detouring often and only ghosting over action, and this style is somewhat inaccessible. Secondly, Wanda and Severin's relationship takes a dramatic turn in the second half of the book, changing the characters and also the sadomasochistic relationship. This change is more of a complication than a drawback. It muddies the idealized view of the characters and desires, but also creates a plot—granting the book a direction and purpose greater than simply illustrating ideals.
All of this in barely more than 100 pages: Venus in Furs moves swiftly through even its languorous introspection, and packs a lot into a very small space. The book is worth reading both for the early concept of masochism and a sadomasochistic relationship and for its characters, plot, and unusual narrative voice. The novel does read like a classic, but remains accessible to a modern audience. Personally, I wasn't blown away by this book but I was generally impressed and glad to return to one of the literary "sources," as it were, of the topic. On that basis I was pleased, and I recommend the book.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Translator: Joachim Neugroschel
Published: New York: Penguin Classics, 2000 (1870)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 126
Total Page Count: 52,544
Text Number: 153
Read For: personal enjoyment & reading books about BDSM, checked out from the library (complete text also available at Project Gutenberg)
Short review: Severin von Kusiemski is a European nobleman who has always fantasized about and found pleasure in pain and submission, a condition that he terms suprasensuality. In his memoir he recounts an affair with Wanda von Dunajew, a woman of voluptuous, cruel sexuality. He asks to become her slave and submits to increasingly degrading treatment—until Wanda meet a man to whom she wishes to submit. A classic text, Venus in Furs has a writing style that may not appeal to all readers: the narratives delves deeper into desires and relationships than action and sexual acts and has an airy, self-indulgent tone. This narrative voice, however, creates an intimate view of "suprasensuality"—a sort of masochism that predates (and originates) the term, and the ethereal style allows Sacher-Masoch to build up and break down the ideal of the cruel mistress. Worth reading for concept and significance alone, the text is softly seductive and swiftly readable. I recommend it.
To describe the sexual desire to receive pain, Krafft-Ebbing created the word "masochism" from Sacher-Masoch's name. Krafft-Ebbing's research is now out of date, but the word is still in use. Likewise a lot has changed since the book's publishing, but Venus in Furs remains an early exploration of masochistic desires and a sadomasochistic relationship, and is in some ways foundational and in some still relevant. Severin idealizes Wanda: replacing the statue of Venus, iconographed in a painting, she becomes the archetype of the merciless woman. Naming and describing his own suprasensuality, Severin creates an ideal also for the submissive man, who fetishizes the paraphernalia of powerful women, who falls in thrall at a women's feet, who submits to degradation and abuse—and finds pleasure in it all. The lovers often discuss the causes and boundaries of their relationship, and Severin's narrative pauses frequently for introspection and artistic descriptions. All told, Venus in Furs is both portrait and exploration of a sadomasochistic relationship. Some of these aspects are outdated and some may not ring true to the reader, but in Sacher-Masoch's text they are both archetypal and real, a strong fictional entrance into the topic which still readable, relevant, and thought-provoking today.
Two aspects, however, alter this view of the novel. First, the writing style sometimes glosses over the essential content of the relationship. Sacher-Masoch spends plenty of time on motivation and lead up, but little on actual action—sexual aspects, both intercourse and sadistic/masochistic scenes, are brief or absent. Although hardly surprising (especially given the content and publishing date), this deficiency restricts the text to the theoretical. The characters and desires—although well crafted—are rendered somewhat insubstantial. The writing becomes dreamlike, detouring often and only ghosting over action, and this style is somewhat inaccessible. Secondly, Wanda and Severin's relationship takes a dramatic turn in the second half of the book, changing the characters and also the sadomasochistic relationship. This change is more of a complication than a drawback. It muddies the idealized view of the characters and desires, but also creates a plot—granting the book a direction and purpose greater than simply illustrating ideals.
All of this in barely more than 100 pages: Venus in Furs moves swiftly through even its languorous introspection, and packs a lot into a very small space. The book is worth reading both for the early concept of masochism and a sadomasochistic relationship and for its characters, plot, and unusual narrative voice. The novel does read like a classic, but remains accessible to a modern audience. Personally, I wasn't blown away by this book but I was generally impressed and glad to return to one of the literary "sources," as it were, of the topic. On that basis I was pleased, and I recommend the book.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
