Deconstructing O,

[chromedome11]

Coming to broad way andrew loyd webber Story of O the musical

Given all the not-too-subtle BDSM overtones in ALW's musicals, especially Phantom of the Opera, you may well see it, Moby.

[esclava]

I think the differing takes on O and Beauty are quite interesting. O (and the sequel) was probably my first "formal" introduction to BDSM, nearly 30 years ago. At the time, kinky as I thought I was, I recoiled from the absoluteness of it.

I read the first Beauty book about 4 years ago, and found it entirely too cute. Some of it was the writing style, which honestly irritated me more than anything else. Some of it was the over-formality (IMHO). I'm too casual for my own good.

One comment that got my attention was equating "abusive" with being marked. I'm not branded (yet) but have several intimate piercings from my Master, and definitely don't feel abused. Just very well used....and valued. Of course, we all have different standards.

Curiously, over the last many years, I find myself identifying more with O than I ever expected (or thought I wanted, for that matter). The deeper Master leads me, the further I seem to want to go. Funny how that works.

I must be doing something wrong, though. I feel like I'm living "happily ever after" instead of something disastrous or melancholy. There are moments when I'm certain I'm getting away with something, and the inevitable "other shoe" will drop, but mostly I'm just grinning like a fool. Yet, when I tell my story, nobody seems to be bored.

[Sir Lanceloth]

reading the story of O left me with a fealing of sadness. I simply cant understand why sir stephen would leave her after he made her perfect. In the text file i have there are given two possible endings:

in a final chapter, which has been suppressed, O returned to Roissy, where she was abandoned by Sir Stephen.

there exists a second ending to Story of O, according to which O, seeing that Sir Stephen was about to leave her, said she would prefer to die. Sir Stephen gave her his consent.

Both endings are sad, and neither works for me. Perhaps thats why it enthralls me so, perhaps i simply cant let O be treated that way. In other words I want to rescue O from that terrible fate, and therefore teh story lingers within me.

[Mad Lews]

there exists a second ending to Story of O, according to which O, seeing that Sir Stephen was about to leave her, said she would prefer to die. Sir Stephen gave her his consent.[/I]

Both endings are sad, and neither works for me. Perhaps thats why it enthralls me so, perhaps i simply cant let O be treated that way. In other words I want to rescue O from that terrible fate, and therefore teh story lingers within me.

O's story is indeed a sad one. She submits with a purity of purpose out of love for Rene and is given away to Sir Stephen. She submits to him with an even greater intensity and passion and is in the end abandoned by him. Was it simply O's chosen fate, a failure of her Masters ( and by extension Reage's belief in the shortcoming of males ), or perhaps its just an attempt by Pauline Reage to bring a moral ending to a tale of what would be considered debauchery in the 50s. The lack of an ending is the books flaw and also what makes it so intriguing to me. I dismiss the sequel as a fraud. It is too different in tone and composition to have been written by the same writer IMHO.

[Sir Lanceloth]

I dismiss the sequel as a fraud. It is too different in tone and composition to have been written by the same writer IMHO.

there is a sequel? and where is it

[Mad Lews]

there is a sequel? and where is it

Actually published 15 years later in1969 it's called Return to the Chateau
and is available on amazon. see if you think I'm right ....

[DomSadistMan]

Hello A/all... New to the forum, but drawn to the discussion as moth to flame.
I discovered my nature when I read the Story of O at a tender age... fortunately, I had found conventional porn prior to that, so I have never worried about whether or not I am a natural Dom or an example of those who would say BDSM literature can corrupt. (Well, maybe it can... lol)

In any case, my contribution to the discussion is information regarding the sequel and the relationship between the two. The original author, whose name escapes, me at the moment, wrote Story of O as a love-letter to her lover... who, we can presume, was at least somewhat Dom...

The publisher, who I believe was either the lover or a close associate, truncated the story. It is true there is a different tone to the remainder of the story, but that is not unusual, since if it is to be believed, the intro to the second part (titled "A Girl in Love"?) states the sections were penned and posted serially, with no editing.

The "endings" discussed above were inserted by the editor, not the author!

Without giving away the contents of the second tome, it is true the tone of the tome changes, but not enough to influence me to suspect it is not written by the same author.

There was also a completely unauthorized "part II" that turned O into a Dom! It did have some interesting scenes... but not my cup of tea.

The original cut of the 70s film was quite different from what is on DVD. If anyone is aware of that issue and is aware of where to find that cut, please contact me...

The ten part mini-series I found very nice, and that brings us to some of the reasons why Story of O has had such persistence... The competition, by comparison, is practically puerile portrayals of non-stop sex. Story of O has a story... not a great one, disjointed, but definitely a step above a blog.

Don't get me wrong, I get off on every other (heterosexual) chapter of Rice, etc., but with Rice the comparison is extreme... Beauty versus a conventional title such as Exit to Eden (not her best) or the Lasher series... shows the difference between porn and erotica.

Oh, and I put in my vote for Laura Reese, too. Anyone read her? Wow. My vote for a latter-day "Reage", even if she feels compelled to hide her proclivities in detective stories....

It has been a pleasure, glad to have discovered this spot.

Master Scott

[slave802120]

Everything you wanted to know about O but were afraid to ask can be found here:

http://www.storyofo.co.uk/

It's probably THE most complete site about her and her creator, Dominique Aury (aka Pauline Reage)

kinkabella

PS: Oops! I missed reading the previous post.

[slo18]

I did a book report on the story of O way back in highschool for the life of me I cant find it anywere. I remeber that when I read it I felt an odd combination of disgust and pitty and envy for O. disgust at the fact that she refused to put her safety as a priority pity that in the end ( my copy didnt include a fulltelling of the ending only an over view of one of the alternets) she is abadaned at the chatue(sp?) and envy that she had found her idealized Master. I also found that neither of the males int the story ( cant remeber either of there names maybe i ought to re read the story) to be at all likeable or to have any redeaming charicteristics. to abadon a slave after puting so much time and effort into makeing her into someone who at least to my mind could no longer fend for herself struck me as compleatly with out heart. half way though the story i was so disgusted with her treatment at there hands that I wanted I threw the book across the room and wanted to tear the pages out. but oddly couldent seem to stop reading. so in the end while I may of hated the story it did it its job and kept my attetion enthraled. sence then i have called it a story I hated to read but couldent stop myself. and thats most likely why i havent read it sence. I dont want to finish it and cry for her. and incase any of u are wondering my book repot got an F the teacher latter pulled me aside and explaned that report was fantatic worth an A but that the materal was to adult for someone of my age. :hairpull: thats what i get for being a precosis 17 year old.

[Sweep]

I'm an 'O' fanatic. I've got the original book and the (crummy) sequel and both the Just Jakelin movie and the 10 part serial.

I really love the story and more than anything else it got me into BDSM 30 years ago.

BUT - it suffers from the recurrent theme that BDSM leads to sadness and despair. That is a pity. This site attests the the fact that there are great many BDSM lovers (very likely the majority) who have been happily together for years.

It is almost impossible to get a story of BDSM involvement that has a happy ending. I tried to do it in my story "Karen and the Torture Club" in which I wanted all parties to enjoy the experience which is how it must be for the relationship to endure in the longer term.