Story of the Eye (Penguin Modern Classics)

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I can’t think of a single piece of writing which uses “cunt” as profusely as this one. The author explains early on why. However, I think that Bataille found a source of innocence, wonder, amazement and exaltation in something as simple as the sex between the narrator and Simone (no matter how depraved it became as these minors ventured further into the adult institutions of society). This is an extremely un-sexy story to read and it fascinated and disturbed me in equal measure. *swallows*

Yes, in Georges’ world sexuality involves blood, suffocation, sudden terror, and crime. Also many many raw eggs (never poached or fried or boiled). Now that we’ve got that out of the way: is this novella or collection of vignettes worth reading for any other reason? Not that there needs to be one, but…What is erotic to me in books, be it literature or trash, has always been the anticipation, the desire for the act, not the technical description of the act itself.

Original Wraps. Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. | A very fresh copy with the faintest touch of edgewear else fine -- colour photogr. wraps. Excellent condition, no fading and virtually no wear. [64 pp.] Promotional brochure/magazine excerpting early Olympia publications -- at least three seem to have been issued in 1953-1954. This issue -- apparently the first -- excerpts five Olympia books, including Bataille (writing as 'Pierre Angelique')'s TALE OF SATISFIED DESIRE (i.e. STORY OF THE EYE); Henry Miller's PLEXUS; Cleland's FANNY HILL; Sade's BEDROOM PHILOSOPHY and JUSTINE. Text is liberally interspersed with b&w pin-up photos of naked ladies. The cat isn’t mentioned in the chapter. However, symbolically, at least for the Egyptians, cats’ eyes refer to birth, love, life and immortality. There is also a link with the moon, the womb, menstruation and pregnancy. Similarly, for the Romans, cats’ eyes are associated with Venus, love, femininity and fertility. These are contemptible, loathsome people engaging in the most depraved acts. The perversity here can only lead to insanity, imprisonment, or death.

This book has lots of disgusting sex scenes and they are desensitizing and in a way, liberating. First, Bataille showed sex as nothing different from our other usual daily activities. Then the narrator and his lover Simone do the act in the presence of Simone's mother. Then they do it with eggs and get stimulated with body fluids, then they do it with their friends, then they do it in the presence of their friend's corpse, then they do it at a bullfight stadium, then they do it with a Catholic priest, they just do it without care. They just pleasure themselves in total abandon and without any inhibitions. Well, η Σιμόν η πρωταγωνίστρια προς το τέλος της ιστορίας ήθελε να της σερβίρουν ωμά αρχίδια ταύρου ενώ παρακολουθούσε ταυρομαχίες, τις θύμιζαν αυγά. Και μένα τα τέτοια του σκύλου μου, αυγά ορτυκιού μου θύμισαν. Though a narrator briefly intones a few sentences about Bataille and his work, there is no dialogue among the principals. Words have been banished from this privileged space, where, true to the work’s title, the eye is the protagonist. We look, but we also look away, and Mr. McElhinney wants to make us aware of our conflicting impulses. Every spectator will have his or her own limits, and when we instinctively glance away, we learn where those limits are. Only Georges Bataille could write, of an eyeball removed from a corpse, that "the caress of the eye over the skin is so utterly, so extraordinarily gentle, and the sensation is so bizarre that it has something of a rooster's horrible crowing." Bataille has been called a "metaphysician of evil," specializing in blasphemy, profanation, and horror. While mildly amusing at times for its sheer outrageousness, this comes across as a rather pointless exercise, painfully juvenile even. Not much there in terms of substance. It feels more of a prelude to a larger work, ending doesn’t satisfy at all. Of all literary genres, surely you’d not be unreasonable in expecting a piece of pornography to at the very least furnish a big finish.”