This article was originally posted on 7 May 2015 and was updated on 5 December 2017.
With its very explicit scenes of sadomasochistic violence and aggressive penetrative sex, The Story of O was about as hardcore as mainstream novels got in 1954, let alone within the genre of BDSM literature. The author used a pen name and was generally considered to be a man until around ten years ago, when her true identity was revealed. The book is very intense with an almost dreamlike style. Because it deals with the kinkiest of scenes in the third person, it feels slightly detached.
The sadomasochistic mood is set from the start, as O, a glamorous photographer, is ordered by her dominant lover, Rene, to get into his car and strip. She’s taken to a nearby chateau and introduced to the members of a secret society. Here, eye contact is banned and O is soon dressed in bondage clothing that includes a leather collar and cuffs. Like a good sub, O is happy to prove her love to Rene by getting into a multitude of hot and steamy situations.
The submissive star of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s book is Severin, a man with an almost clinical desire to be mistreated by cold, cruel women in killer heels and red lipstick. The story is largely told through conversations between characters. During a sexually charged chat, Severin’s friend mentions a dream about a statuesque woman swathed in furs.
Severin elaborates on his desire to kneel at the feet of a powerful woman. Moreover, he understands that his role is to be an object that is trampled underfoot. However, Severin's real-life experience with women is limited. Consequently, he falls madly in love with a statue of the goddess Venus, which he begins to visit regularly and worship. The author's name was subsequently used by psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing to describe certain bondage activities, hence the term ‘masochism’.
Anais Nin was the husband of fellow writer Henry Miller. Nin realised that there was a disparity between the Miller wrote about his sexual experiences and her own attitude to sexuality. Consequently, she decided to explore desire, lust and fantasies through BDSM literature from a female perspective.
The bondage element in this book pretty low level. However, with artist models dry humping a wooden horse, serial killer lovers and tight fitting cock rings, the emphasis is definitely on the kinky side of sexual pleasure. This BDSM Literature kinky classic is made up of fifteen short stories, each one of which is a wild ride and totally hedonistic.
Nin touches on the Nazi occupation of France, sexually frustrated priests, underage sex, necrophilia and promiscuity. Forbidden love is a major factor in most of the fetishes. However, the dominant theme throughout Delta of Venus is sexual freedom.
De Sade was a French aristocrat and dedicated libertine who wrote Justine while imprisoned for various sexual indiscretions. It’s another historical piece of BDSM literature that contains plenty of jaw-dropping material, not least because the central character, Therese, starts off her quest for virtue as a twelve year old child.
Therese recounts the story of her life to Madame de Lorsagne, (who turns out to be Justine’s long-lost sister). Moreover, she explains that while searching for a home and employment, she ended up as the sexual plaything of numerous kinky perverts. This signalled her initiation into the raunchy world of sadomasochistic sex.
This BDSM literature kinky classic includes themes of torture, humiliation and imprisonment. However, these are artfully blended with passages in which De Sade explores his feelings on vice as opposed to virtue. Additionally, other fetish based philosophies were still developing in his mind at the time.
With a surreal edge and a sadomasochistic sexually charged plot, the Story of the Eye is not the kind of book to flick through on the bus. If you love deviance, it’s a cracking read. Within the pages, you'll find everything from murder at the point of orgasm, to voyeurism and necrophilia.
The unnamed hero and his girlfriend, Simone, explore their passions obsessively and without inhibitions. She gets off on using boiled eggs as a rudimentary dildo. Furthermore, she loves being peed on and inflicts a humiliation on the corpse of a priest that’s not for the squeamish.
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Image credit: Venus in Furs, Wikipedia.
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