The Story of O

[extern76]

 Where can an expurgated edition be found ? Has it ever been proven to have been written by a woman ?

[ann_h]

I would be surprised if there were any such thing as an expurgated edition. It would be pointless. This is because the impact of the story depends utterly upon the detail. 

I think it is a very misunderstood book.  It is not "sexy", it is not a celebration of fetishism/S&M, it is the tale of the utter physical and emotional destruction of a woman by the man she loves, a man to whom she is nothing but a chattel. At the end, he has no more use for her, but she is additionally judged, vilified and rejected by everyone else around her.

 It is in my opinion one of the saddest, cruelest things I have ever read. I have no reason to believe it wasn't written by a woman. Why would it not have been?

[extern76]

Sorry the word should have been unexpurgated. I was advised to read it by a female friend who described it as the most liberating book she had ever read. Concluding that not only did survive but proved the mistress of her own destiny

[ann_h]

 

I would have checked it for you, but when I re-read it last year I was so distressed that I destroyed the book. I felt poisoned by it.

In my recollection it was neither liberating nor did she survive and become mistress of her own fate, she became scorned by her town who knew her as a degenerate ***** or whatever, and lived and died alone.

It's really strange that your friend and I should have such different experiences, and for that reason alone I am sorry I did not keep the book.

[jno]

It's available through Amazon - I shouldn't think it's expurgated, nothing is these days. I hated it, but then I'm not into dominance/submission. Pauline Reage was really Dominique Aury (I don't know that there's any secret about this now, though it was anonymous at the time). For details see:

www.storyofo.co.uk/Origins.html

(sorry, this seems to be halfway to being a porn site; but then so is the book).