Justine
3.5/5
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About this ebook
‘Justine’ was the Marquis de Sade's first novella, written in 1787, whilst imprisoned for two weeks in the Bastille. Although published anonymously, de Sade was eventually indicted for blasphemy and obscenity (without trial) for the authorship of ‘Justine’ at the behest of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Who suffers in the pursuit of desire?
The Countess de Lorsange reveals her history, in a tavern, to a young woman named Therese; where a young girl and her sister fight a battle of morality. Set in a period before the French Revolution, Justine shows the battle of virtue versus vice, where earning your keep takes on fresh connotations, and a titled lady holds a lifetime of illicit secrets.
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, was a French aristocrat and writer who was notorious for his immoral lifestyle, and whose name provided the basis for the modern terms “sadism” and “sadist”. Among de Sade’s best known works are the erotic novels Justine, or Good Conduct Well Chastised, Juliette, or Vice Amply Rewarded, and The 120 Days of Sodom. Although an elected delegate to the National Convention during the French Revolution, de Sade was regularly incarcerated because of his lasciviousness, spending approximately 32 years in prison or in an insane asylum. He died in the asylum at Charenton in 1814. De Sade’s life is depicted in the 2000 film Quills starting Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix.
Read more from Marquis De Sade
Justine Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Florville and Courval Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Charenton Journals: Prison Diaries of a Sadist Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, & Other Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters From Prison Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Philosophy in the Bedroom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJustine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJustine (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Justine, Or the Misfortunes of Virtue (Barnes & Noble Digital Library): A Philosophical Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJustine, Or, The Misfortunes of Virtue Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Virtue Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
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Reviews for Justine
333 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Read out of curiosity, I'm still pondering the writer's purpose. The vehicle of the abused, virtuous and foolish Justine seems to be merely to put forth his opinions on religion and philosophy of life. Mild by today's standards, this is a relic of its time.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I confess I am a fan of the Marquis de Sade but although I still admire the style presented here I couldn't connect with the content as much as his other work. An interesting concept but one that ultimately is flawed.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One can only imagine De Sade cackling madly as he penned this hilarious and maybe even unintentional send-up of the self-righteous whiner. Narrated by Justine, a selfish, perpetually-stupid, "virtuous" princess-type who is shocked to find out that her beloved God is not her own personal Santa Claus, the book is rife with rants on the place of vice over virtue - some of which actually make some good points.
Mostly loved it, tired of it before the lame ending. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great book, but i really don't care for translations.
Let's see, something I took from this book:
Believe in God and a bunch of people are going to rape you, take advantage of you, tie you to a tree and let the dogs get you, while your sister becomes a whore and marries a rich guy and gets all the wonders in the world, while everyone who's fucked you over got rich and became successful.
But, hey, at least you go to heaven in the end... - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Very, very preachy. No good deed goes unpunished being the moral of the story. That she was given even a modicum of comfort at the end seemed to negate his entire premise. Way too wordy to be erotic and way too sadistic to be interesting. A very tiresome book.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Here we go! (Again. I quit the first time because some of this stuff is - spoiler alert - rather unpleasant.)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I actually enjoyed this book. However it is not for the easily offended, or squeamish. Justine and Juliette are orphaned sisters. They were raised, in a rich family, to be good virtuous girls and had no skills. When orphaned at 12 and 15, with no money, the girls went their separate ways, Justine to be virtuous and seek people's kindness, and Juliette to 'surrender herself to libertinage'. This book is mostly about Justine's struggles trying to make her way through life where everything seems to be against her. There is a lot of sexual abuse, and rape and horrific sadism. Justine goes through a lot and just when you think her life is going to get better, misfortune awaits. The moral of the story is "that true happiness is to be found nowhere but in Virtue's womb, and that if, in keeping with designs it is not for us to fathom, God permits that it be persecuted on Earth, it is so that Virtue may be compensated by Heaven's most dazzling rewards."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I did get confused over who was listening at what time and to whom. This is the story of a young orphan whose inheritance was lost. Although everyone keeps telling her to sell her body or to become a bad person as then the money will come, she is determined to live a pious life, ultimately meaning she has to suffer horrific sexual and physical abuse anyway.I do believe it is possible to live a happy life, whilst being 'good', without having to prostrate myself in front of every rich (and obviously evil) man or woman I come across, begging they listen to my story as I have no skills, and will not spend the time to learn any either. I just want your charity thank you.Interesting, but the young heroine is no heroine of mine.