Philosophy in the Boudoir: Or, the Immoral Mentors (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

If you want to break the borders of your fantasies... if you want to hear the richest description of the sex and the pleasure it brings... if you are ready for something which might feel immoral... if you consider sex as an art... if you love sex... read it... feel it... do not judge... And if you want something similar but modern search for Michel Houellebecq...

I thought Incest was really well written (much like Lolita, where the content is filthy but you can't help but fall in love with the writer for how gifted he is with language), so I checked this one out next. Initially, Philosophy in the Boudoir came off as porn for the thinking man and nothing more - and really, everything has its place - but about halfway into the book there appeared some interesting philosophy that really completes some of what the Marquis got into with Incest. He further develops arguments on morality here, and if you're a Camus fan, a good deal of these arguments are actually pretty compatible with Camus, too. If you can get past (or enjoy?) all the anal sex bits, this is actually some pretty smart philosophy with what appears to be Marquis de Sade's characters debating either side of his own arguments.

While the repetition wears thin after a little while, the joyous nihilism of Sade's work is infectious. Dolmance, the purveyor of vice and hedonism, corruptor of youth and highly sexed being, argues eloquently (does anyone get this philosophical during an orgy?) for murder, incest, and a host of other actions civilization has put the ban on. Let's hope for the sake of things in general that everyone is not convinced, but watch as the master of debauchery tramples happily on all of our most tenaciously held ideals.

I loved Marquis de Sade's Juliette and I looked forward to reading another one of his mind-blowing, thought-provoking erotica novels. Philosophy in the Bedroom has a rather warped, ironic humor when describing the bedroom exploits. Oddly enough, the erotic occurrences in the book do seem rather philosophical. For instance, I love the passage that says, "Imagination is the spur of delights." This describes the novel's explicit exploits down to a tee. The dark humor is second to none. I can't believe I hadn't discovered Marquis de Sade before. I shall look forward to reading more of his memorable work.