Juliette [Paperback]

 

 

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It's not great literature, and were it not for the shock and humor value, it would fail to even be engaging literature. As a matter of fact, it does get painfully tedious after the first couple hundred pages, when you begin to realize that the book is not building towards anything in particular but is just going to be going on and on and on in the established fashion (stomach-turning sadistic sexual exploits told in fancy old-english prose interupted here and there by philosophical discourses.) Still, this is well worth reading (at least through to the end of Part 1 or so.) Most seriously philosophers and scholars dismiss De Sade's philosophy of evil, and while it is certainly not the end-all be-all in the realm of intellectual thought, I personally felt there were many moments of exceptional profundity in his philosophical diatribes, which efficiently and aptly tear apart the fallacy of "goodness" while offering a fresh way to look at morality in general. Essentially, the philosophical portions of the book elaborate a well-thought-out system which entirely justifies and applauds any act of Evil imaginable (the non-philosophical portions illustrate just how far the imagination can go, once let loose on this path), and furthermore encourages such acts, while condemning acts we would typically view as "moral" and "virtuous" as symptoms of a profound inner weakness. It may sound upsetting to some, and it is certainly every decent, church-going American's worst nightmare put down on paper, but one needn't except Evil as the ultimate Good in order to get something of value out of De Sade. Rather, this serves as a profound illustration of the fact that any actions one takes in life can, when it comes down to it, be logically and powerfully argued as virtuous -- and morality itself becomes little more than a flimsy whim of subjectivity; an entirely man-made self-defense mechanism that is the result of the ego's desire to convince itself that it is somehow noble and transcendant, or at least has an established "system" for how to become so. The fact that De Sade's "system" makes more sense than Christianity's definitely says something worth thinking about. And that isn't: "Go out and kill and torture young children before enacting all of your darkest fantasies on their corpses," which is where De Sade prefers to take it, being the sick puppy he is -- but rather: "Look at the beliefs you accept and the values you hold honestly, for they are a weak, contradictory, and ultimately meaningless attempt to understand your life in the simplest, easiest terms possible." Basically, the result of a very natural human need to compensate for everything that yet remains unknown to him/her.

So, all in all, fairly poor as a work of literature, but worth it for the sections that carefully and persuasively dissect all common notions of morality, and display both the fallacy of them as well as what they really say about the people who house them. You will not find these challenging and thought-provoking excursions in the more popular 120 Days of Sodom.

As a work of pornography, "Juliette" can certainly hold its own. But as literature, it doesn't compare to "Justine" which is a much better written novel. Regardless, people looking for Sadeian erotica will find it here, as well as Sade's philosophy. I was surprised and pleased by the amount of lesbianism in this book, something one would not expect from an author who has always been described as a bisexual interested in male sodomy. But in late works like "Juliette" he seems to have acquired a taste for lesbian sex, or at least an understanding of it's popular appeal as erotica, and this is evident in this book as well as surviving notes from his "The Days of Florville", a mammoth pornographic work and perhaps Sade's masterpiece, which he wrote in his last days at the asylum in Charenton and which was ordered to be burned by his son after Sade's death.

"Juliette" is a long novel, covering the story and fate of Juliette, the virtuous Justine's libertine sister, and her sexual and criminal adventures out in the real world.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Vicente Munoz Puelles's The Arch of Desire was an excellent referral to Marquis de Sade's work. This exquisitely dark novel about the workings of an evil genius's mind enthralled me. No sooner did I start reading this book than it consumed me until its final pages.

Various arresting matters are brought on in Juliette, and they all mix erotica with dark messages that somehow sound logical. Marquis de Sade states that doing evil leads to personal fulfillment. He relies upon the success of various political dictators and powerful people with no scruples to illustrate his opinion. Also, he assures the reader that acting upon the most taboo subjects - murder, atheism, incest, rape, hatred - will free you from all inhibitions. In other words, crime, not truth, shall set one free. He illustrates the aforementioned horrid details from a young woman's vantage point. Juliette is quite a character.

Marquis de Sade was one of the best, albeit underrated, literary authors out there. His work is just as, if not more, controversial than Nietzsche, and he possessed the same sort of disarming genius. This novel's content is not to be agreed upon, but for sheer intellectual stimulation it can't be beaten. I look forward to reading more of his work, especially Justine - the counterpoint of Juliette - with utmost anticipation.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Evil Genius.
Almost 1200 pages of evil, gore and every imaginable vice and yet a well deserved five stars; where do I begin?

How about a dialectical approach? Read more

Published on Mar 3 2003 by B. Gone

4.0 out of 5 stars An Advocate of Cruelty
I finished 'Juliette' a few weeks ago and it is difficult to deny its power to shock the reader, even now, two hundered years after the book was written. Read more

Published on July 31 2002 by A. Bhattacharya

4.0 out of 5 stars Monstrous To Da Max!
Yes, this one should have been to an editor, but it explores the mind of an amoral, psychotic female to perfection. Read more

Published on July 30 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars well
I give this four stars because though the ideas and philosophy are very insightful and something everyone should read, it does get very repetitious. Read more

Published on Nov 13 2001 by gnossos poppadopoulis

2.0 out of 5 stars Ewwww!
First of all, this is a well-written book with some very provocative ideas. The philosophy is as over the top as the violence, so I think the Marquis must have intended... Read more

Published on Sep 15 2001 by The Pete

5.0 out of 5 stars Mon cher Marquis, I am endebted to you...
What a magnificent book! This was the first work by the Divine Marquis that I ever read. And I must say, I am not the same person I was before I started it... Read more

Published on July 11 2001 by Christina Lincoln

5.0 out of 5 stars Crammed with fascinating episodes, and rich in thought.
The Marquis de Sade - Juliette. Translated by Austryn Wainhouse. First Complete American Edition. New York: Grove Press, 1998 (1968). 1205 pp. Read more

Published on Jun 24 2001 by tepi

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful and mysterious masterpiece!
First of all, this book is not for puritans and religious fanatics. This is a profound philosophical work which explores the "real" side of human nature, its inherent... Read more

Published on Jun 21 2001 by mike72-01

4.0 out of 5 stars don't bother lookin' for Romeo...
I just finished reading this mammoth of a book, and, I'm here to report, it lived up to the reputation it has acquired. Read more

Published on Jun 5 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark Masterpiece
Amidst the gratuitous sex and abhorrent violence, this book contains a philosophy of pure libertinage that should not be ignored. Read more

Published on Dec 19 2000 by Joseph "God" Jordan

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