Story of the Eye / The Dangers of Entertaining Dark Fantasies
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Check out @BetterThanFoodBookReviews Story of the Eye review:
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I love watching her videos.
She gives *me* dark fantasies of being a sort of English professor that finally teaches my ignorant and bullheaded ass how to read as deep as she does, all while I try to impress her with my own writing leading to an illicit romance destined to end tragically for both of us.
This sounds like the seedling of a story I’d love to read, without myself in it, and maybe you’re the one to write it. You can do it!
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize Unironically, I would need to steal takes from your reviews and such to do so. I wasn't joking when I said I'm too ignorant and bullheaded to read as deep as others like yourself. Just not the way my brain is wired.
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize wow! That turned into something wholesome. I wasn’t expecting that. You write that story, man. You can do it.
You too????
Aww, that was perfectly strangely cute and funny. But seriously, you could write a story like that with a black comedic and surrealist tone just like this novel, also with horrifying existentialism, that is a must! I have to get on my pulpit, put some sociopolitical critique in there, we need it most in these dreadful and oppressive times.
You definitely provided some much needed analysis that I was looking for. Please make that second video.
Lazy beggar.
I just realized that this was your first experience with Transgressive literature. You literally just jumped right into the deep end.
Hahaha! Welcome to amateur hour!
That ain't nothing, 120 Days of Sodom blinds people!
About fifty years ago, at a certain Midwestern Uni... During a seminar on 20th Century (you have to hand it to that 20th century!) European Philosophy, Georges Bataille would often come up up in discussion. I still have my notebooks, just not organized in any useful way, but I remember there was an intersection with someone I was struggling to read at the time, a Russian philosopher (who's name I will dredge up as soon as I press SEND) (screw it, went to Wiki... I was thinking of Lev Shestov) and in that intersection I found an area that was anti-philosophy, and existential (nihilist?) which at the time I was fascinated by. Shestov, beside being influential (friend) to Bataille, was a Nietzsche scholar and critic, which earned the place on the reading list. Anyway, our group would adjourn to an all night pancake house that sold coffee by the carafe, we would talk too loud, order a large order of french fries, annoy all the other customers, and use our plates as ash trays (ah, the good old days) and then leave a mess and a miserly tip. One of the women in that class had, to me, a frightening sexual persona that left me paralyzed (not quite wetting my self, which I think she would appreciate :o). She made me promise to read, Story Of The Eye, and then we could talk about it at her place, with her roommate. I never read the book, or saw the inside of her apartment, but many a time I imagined.... always ended the same way. Now I will have to read the book, and I might get to know her a little better, even after all these years...... or not.
BTW thanks for this excellent review
Ooof! Sounds like you dodged the succubus yourself. 😉 If you do read it, please let me know your thoughts here.
That’s interesting: a philosophy against philosophy. I haven’t gotten into much philosophy yet. Is there anywhere you recommend to start?
I found a copy on Book Finders. I excavated a few boxes and found some notebooks. I may have to take a closer look at Bataille. The man had some unusual interests, and did extensive writing.... My library system can access University Libraries, and others, so I will go in search of his human sacrifice stuff. BTW, he said, with cynicism, "All Philosophy is against Philosophy". I will get you some ISBN for soft cover, and affordable, Philosophy Encyclopedia type references, good for looking up the players and the themes. But it is a rabbit hole@@ItsTooLatetoApologize
This is from Gunther Anders, maybe a little younger than Bataille, he was Hannah Arendt's first husband:
"No depersonalisation, no degradation of man is more effective than the one that seems to preserve the freedom of the personality and the rights of that individual. Each separately undergoes the ‘conditioning’ process, which works just as well in the cages where individuals are now confined, despite their loneliness, in their millions of isolated units. This treatment is inconspicuous since it is presented as fun, since it conceals from its victim the sacrifices it demands of her and leaves her with the illusion of a private life or at least of a private space. We will fill people’s minds with what is futile and fun. It is good to prevent the mind from thinking through incessant music and chatter. Sexuality will be placed at the forefront of human interests. As a social tranquilliser, there is nothing better …"
There is a Wikipedia page for him, better than nothing. Basically he thought the 20th century was a cascade of catastrophe (war and politics) . Arendt, reportedly left him because he was depressing. Notably, he claimed NOT to be a Philosopher, never taught, no peer review. He just.....thought
Please see a Therapist. This is not a recommendation.
You might check out Better than Food Book Reviews since he loves the book so much that he actually bought the rights to it.
Thanks, Stella-this review was well worth the wait! (I’d much rather listen to you than to my erstwhile English Department professoriate pals.)
Yes, Part Deux, please and thank you.
Awe, thank you for your kind words. I only needed one person to ask for that video #2. I’m so easily enabled. Lol!!
Yay, you are back !!
I am!!! Life got really friggin’ busy for several months there.
"Story of the Eye" was hilarious, bizarre, and erotic. Mostly hilarious, though. I so want someone to film this in some graphic, surreal way that pays attention to how funny and sexy it is. I so want to hear the first few lines of the novel read as a voice-over introduction.
Wow! The book may be brief but it sounds like you got a lot out of it! :D I've debated reading this book since it's Cliff's favorite but I read the Amazon sample and was all like, "Nah; maybe not." XD I didn't know he had the film rights though; I can only imagine what this would be like as a movie. :o Really great analysis though; you went *deep* into this one. And I think "vulgar, unrestrained porta-potty of sexual transgression" is gonna stick with me. XD
Bah hahahaa! Yeah, I can’t say that I would recommend this book. My initial read of it actually left me feeling pretty angry about it, but there is a lot there if one wants to dig for it. Thank you for watching.
Me again-after reading Story of the Eye (yikes!)…and talking of squirm-lit, I’d love to hear your full consideration of Nabokov's Lolita (-a relish+repulsion kind of 'bi-focals' reading experience for me.)
I want to read Lolita one day so it’s in the cards. But this type of lit definitely needs a name. I see your squirm-lit and I raise you an ick-lit. 😂 what did you think of story of the eye? Did you see anything I missed as I’m sure I missed lots?
Frankly I'm not a huge fan of this book. The best "transgressive" works do not need the descriptor. It would be beneath them. I feel Bataille ends up sacrificing much meaning to folly and foolishness digging through the profane. Was the insight worth it? For me it wasn't.
I did enjoy your review though, as always. Thank you!
It is not a book I would recommend to anyone, but if one can get by the crass language and profanity, there are some interesting things to digest. Thank you for watching.
I really enjoyed this review. I might wat h it again but ill never read Story of the Eye again.
Thank you for your kind words. I can’t say this is a book I would recommend to others but I don’t like telling people what they should or shouldn’t read, I’d rather attempt to discuss it to the best of my abilities and then hopefully the reader will know if it’s for them or not.
Based on your review, I am a new subscriber!! Wow, just wow!!
This review makes me want to look at all the books I read this way.
I’ve not read this book, but I’m inclined to pick it up due to the themes you have mentioned.
@@kamidsjournee thank you, and welcome to my channel. If you do read it let me know what you think.
My copy arrived a couple weeks ago, maybe a little more. He jumps right in doesn't he? When I finished it my first thought was, remember, this is a guy who was in a human sacrifice club... After a couple days, my brain peculated, sifted, or cyphered a bit, and I decided to read it again as a possible proto- existentialist novel. Not sure I liked it any more than I did the first time through, but I think I could see a purpose in the narrative (if I squinted). I have decided to take another look at his scholarly writing, but that would be at the end of a long line of other tasks, and after another hand surgery.
I read about that human sacrifice club after finishing my write up. Yikes. Funny how those “types” who start those “clubs” never offer themselves up as the sacrifice. Oh, the irony. If only such nobility were present among the psychopathic, humanity would be in a much different place, eh?
I hope your surgery goes well. Thank you for being here.
I think Camus borrowed some plot devices from The Story Of The Eye for The Stranger. I wonder what their conversation over brandy and cigars might have been.
Thanks for the well wishes. Rescheduled for Nov 29. I will be dressed in sweat pants and zip up hoodies, accessorized with bedroom slippers for the winter. My left thumb was rebuilt 3 yrs ago. This year will be the right. I was not quite as good at road racing motorcycles as I had hoped. :0 @@ItsTooLatetoApologize
@@geraldchristensen2826 Oh gosh. I wish you a speedy recovery, Gerald, and safe road racing!
No more road racing for this old geezer. I thoroughly enjoyed Across The Wire! 2 ?'s: Why no major publisher? And, more importantly, when do I get the next installment?@@ItsTooLatetoApologize
I just read this book after seeing Cliff Sargent raving about it, too.
It's quite the read alright.
On the one hand it reads like a journal of two serial-killer/psychopathic teens who up the stakes every time to be able to come to get their rocks off and end up including murder in their routines.
On the other hand it reads like deep look at human nature that finally is 100%, brutally honest with itself as a whole and its potential.
On the third hand (chernobyl gang), it's a disjointed, completely unbelievable story that reads like a slasher version of Californication (the series) mixed with Camus' The Stranger.
Personally, I'm not sure it's all that. You only need a drop of empathy to understand the full extend of human nature. Especially having lived through 2 world wars, it is very easy to see how writers like Bataille and Camus saw how mankind, at points, can be reduced to meat bags mangled through nothingness. And it seemed like highly empathetic peeps, when faced with such realities, dissociate and create Nihilism/Absurdism as a means of giving up trying to make sense.
The read through the eye of the legends and folklore tales makes much more sense. If this was an effort to establish a new, more modern myth of Gods with no names, then it almost comes together beautifully with the connections you made, despite its lacking features. Perhaps the protagonist is Death, Simone is Lust, and Marcelle is spoiled Innocence that dies an ugly death (point of no return) after stumbling upon adult acts. (much like all kids discover that, oh, sex exists). After Marcelle's death, in comes the rich lord Edmond who may be adult corruption that sadistically and silently watches from a distance while enabling those vices through wealth and for his own distanced pleasure?
Maybe.
Makes you think and feel a whole lot of different things and ask a lot of questions. That's why I think at the end, it's good work, just like the Stranger. Even though I loathed both books like I loathed a very good, annoying, and utter evil villain in a series. (and that's a testament to the actor's skill)
Beautiful review. Yes to the part 2!
Hello, and welcome to my channel. I have the Stranger on my shelf waiting for me to read. I haven’t read any Camus yet so that should be interesting by the sounds of what you’re saying. I’ll have to go into that one mentally ready, because I didn’t go into The Story of the Eye ready and it was quite the unexpected whiplash. 🤣 it’s kind of hilarious to think about now. I was not prepared.
My work life has been ridiculous but I wanted to take another look at your comments here about SOTE when I had a moment. These are some interesting contemplations. I always find it fascinating to see from how many different angles one can see a story. I agree with you about the perspective of those writing after such difficult war torn times. One can see how “sensitive” individuals come to see the purposelessness of life. I think it’s important to realize that the universe is far too complex for even the geniuses among us to understand and a lot of solace (at least for myself) can be found in realizing we are all just stumbling through life trying to interpret our environments in the best way we can and that a lot of us, through no fault of our own, are trapped in the cave looking at the shadows cast on the walls.
Yes, I also believe that Marcelle is spoiled innocence, and that she would rather end herself than be like the narrator and Simone says a lot. Granero would rather die in the arena fighting the animal nature of the world and we admire his bravery because we know the narrator has none of these qualities as he cannot even face his own father let alone the chaos and beasts of the world as Granero did.
And I agree, it does make one think about and feel a whole bunch of different things, and that is what makes it a good work at the end of the day for me also.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This is exactly what I enjoy about reading; the discussion with other curious people. Thank you for being here.
I hope to get video #2 out after my next video which will be my The Passenger analysis. I hope. 🤞🏼 My work schedule is kicking my @$$ right now and I can’t wait until 2024 for it to return to normal. Are we there yet? lol!! 🤣🥃🤦🏻♀️
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize Thanks for the reply! Pleasure to be here hahah.
Yes, I think lending some symbolism can help elevate this particular work. That's why I tried to add the context of WW2 and I think that's why I found brilliant your observation about deities and this perhaps being a possible allegory or a folk tale disguised as a nihilist novel. Otherwise some might find it difficult to stomach or they might wonder "why does this even exist".
Perhaps it makes much more sense in today's context where porn and hedonism is so rampant as you noticed too. As a cautionary tale, I think it really outlines excruciatingly well how the "normal" sex stuff doesn't cut it after a while and once you keep going down this slippery slope of pure hedonism, you keep upping the ante until...well, you need to kill a priest and put his eye up his ass to climax. :D And an English lord watches.. (I think the lord is what the protagonist would eventually become if he lived long enough. Almost like saying, he's the real problem, the silent, able, well off, unseen adult that condones, enables, and gets off on this sickness -- and then asks "did y'all even notice him"?)
I've only recently started really getting into reading and I've got a whole lotta catching up to do. (ok, I'm listening to the audiobooks as I struggle against an actual book. Pls don't hate, I was traumatized by the education system that forced me to read a metric sh*t ton of academic works)
That being said, reading something and watching channels like yours to see how others felt about the book is really my favorite part. So I'll hunt down videos and see what smart peeps like you read and make videos about, save em, go "read", then come back for to watch the reviews 😃
This is awesome, I just read my first Cormac novel as well. It was the Road, and now I'm reading the Blood Meridian. (that's a hard one too hah)
I'll add the Passenger to my list and watch your review after 😁
Thanks again for the reply! Also, I feel ya about the work, just got my first 2-week vacay in like 2.5 years.
Hang in there! 💪
Love the book btw discovered it through the lovely Juan of Plagued by Visions🥰🥰🥰
The lovely Juan indeed! I saw his review of this novel. I need to watch some more of his videos because I remember this one being good.
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize Juan's videos are amazing 🔥🔥🔥
Lot of great reccos✨✨✨
I read this book when I was about 19 years old but for me it was like a one-and-done deal. I had no more interest in reading it after that. The books of philosophy by the professional philosopher Georges Bataille are much more interesting than this little novel. When it comes to better than food I only trust that channel as far as a few books go because Sargent, after reading Black Spring, includes Henry Miller among the beats and Kerouac, and that could not be further from where Miller came from. Miller's work is only seen for what it is when it is looked at as a complete oeuvre. Although Black Spring is his first great book. Sargent favors Hemingway. He also denigrated Master and Margarita, a masterpiece.
I have to say your knowledge here is greater than mine as I’ve yet to read any of these works. I’ve only read a few shorter works from Hemingway so far but Master and Margarita is sitting on my TBR waiting for me. I remember watching that review, but having not read it yet, I couldn’t really agree or disagree with Cliff. Taste aside, it’s always important to go into a book open minded. What did you love about The Master and the Margarita? I’d love to know.
Well I'd recommend Henry Miller before Bulgakov or anyone else. Especially Black Spring, (not Cancer) Tropic of Capricorn, The Rosy Crucixion V. 1-3, Colossus of Maroussi, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, Big Sur..., Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, Aller Retour New York, Sunday After the War, Wisdom of the Heart, The Cosmological Eye, The Time of the Assassins and anything else by Henry Miller from Broklyn, NY, 1891. Master and Margarita is fun and diabolical, how profound? I don't know, but the writing is mesmerizing as one would expect of a novel about Satan in St. Petersburg, 1920. Mephistophelean in extremis.
Is your name really Stella Telleria?👀👀👀That is so metal🥺🥺😍😍🔥🔥
Is it? I had no idea. Lol! 😉 welcome to my channel.
This book was probably the most disturbing piece of literature that I've ever read. That includes Blood Meridian. Have you ever read Les Chants de Maldoror/The Songs of Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont? Another disturbing read.
I have not read that one yet. The question of which book is more disturbing: Blood Meridian or Story of the Eye is an interesting one. I think Blood Meridian might be worse. 🤔 Blood Meridian has the sexual depravity and murder but on a much bigger scale. In that one the Judge has his own cult of enforcers which makes everything worse and it is not hidden or necessary to disguise it. Interesting to consider.
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize What got me to say that the SotE is worse than Blood Meridian was the scene where Simone strangles the priest during his "climax" and she plucks out his eyeball and uses it as a "toy" to... well, you know. Then they use his urine and semen in some blasphemous parody of the Eucharist, involving the desecration of the bread and wine. That really disturbed me when I first read it. Not necessarily just because he was a priest. But the eyeball thing grossed me out.
In my opinion, I truly think that there is a deeper meaning behind Blood Meridian than just senseless violence for the sake of violence. After a few reads, I feel like it was a commentary on where Nihilism can bring dangerous men who have abandoned decency for monetary gain and hold no constraining morality in their world-views. I feel like the epilogue in BM that details a man building a fence hints that indeed "Work is more noble than play." I feel like the worker in the epilogue has meaning and direction in his life, as he "strikes the fire out of the rocks which God has put there." Where the young men in the Glanton Gang had none, other than monetary gain, whiskey, and sex. They are wanderers led astray by the Judge, who is even quoted saying outright: "Any child will tell you that play is more noble than work." The Judge feels like a malevolent spirit moreso than a man, that is tempting and leading the Glanton Gang and other young men astray to give into their more primal urges without apprehension. He seems to enjoy the degradation of mankind and the cycle of death and destruction, as he smiles during battle. The very spirit that believes that "War is the truest form of divination. War is God." Maybe building something, anything, is more noble than just pulling a trigger.
Whereas, the Story of the Eye read like two teenage degenerate nymphomaniacs who were just in the pursuit of pleasure no matter who gets hurt. But this is only my opinion that is based on one read. Maybe I need to give it a second go around. I had heard that there were psychological metaphors in the Story of the Eye, which I more than likely missed. But when I read it, I was like 25. So that was a while ago.
Sorry for rambling. But I really love this channel and the books you read and suggest. It seems like you are not afraid to go past the line of sinister and read the darker pieces of literature that goes far beyond Bram Stoker's Dracula or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This is the closest thing to a book club that I have. I would love to join one, but the books that I want to read are a little more on the disturbing side.
I’m making my way through Cormac McCarthy’s works and when I get to the end I want to read Blood Meridian again. I’ve only read it once and it was early on in my book analysis journey. So, I’d love to see what I think of it after getting more familiar with his body of work.
I feel you in that book club department. I would love to join a book club but I would probably be pretty disinterested in most of the books picked by others and most people would hate my book recommendations. 🤣 I think that’s one of the reasons I like doing videos here. I can find others who like the small niche of books I want to talk about and find interesting. So, welcome to the book club!! 😉
Oh yeah that scene in SOTE was depraved. You just sort of close the book at the end and stare off into the distance in shell-shock.
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize Lmao. That's exactly what I did. I started questioning my entire life after reading that.
That's just my interpretation on BM. I'm probably wrong, though.
1:43 fart