The Story of O

Collarspace Discussion Forums

Home Login Search

The Story of O

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> General BDSM Discussion >> The Story of O

Page: [1] 2 3 next > >>

Login

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

The Story of O - 8/26/2006 10:53:56 AM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

by Pauline Reage. i just, last evening, finished reading it. Quite honestly, i am wondering if maybe i purchased a 'condensed' version as i was very sorely disappointed. i had heard so much about the book and then the movie (now i'm not so sure i want to see), that i expected so much more from the book. There were great holes of information (imo) missing. And the ending was just a great disappointment as it just sort of ended with a couple of 'potential ending' notes: One being that O was at some point taken back to Roissy where she was eventually abandoned by Sir Stephen (what happened that caused the abandonment?) and the other was where she was permitted to die since Sir Stephen no longer wanted her. Is there another version? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

Post #: 1

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:01:24 AM

Estring

Posts: 3314
Joined: 1/1/2004
Status: offline

I think the author was in a hurry when he wrote the book. I thought the book was horribly written, but my slave liked it. It wasn't originally written in english was it? That may have something to do with how clumsily it reads.

_____________________________

Boycott Whales!

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 2

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:03:56 AM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

i think the original version may have been in French. Well i liked it at first, but i wanted to know more about her thought processes... how she got to that point... what happened before...

~edited because i repeated myself~

< Message edited by angelic -- 8/26/2006 11:04:59 AM >

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

(in reply to Estring)

Post #: 3

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:26:38 AM

LuckyAlbatross

Posts: 19224
Joined: 10/25/2005
Status: offline

A lot of people don't like the ending- I think it's because they are hoping for a romantic/sweet ending.

While I don't LIKE the ending, I think it's exactly where the book SHOULD go, given all that we've learned about O so far.

When people say they like O, they usually mean the hot kinky stuff at the beginning and middle. They don't tend to like where it all ends up.

_____________________________

Find stable partners, not a stable of partners.

"Sometimes my whore logic gets all fuzzy"- Californication

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 4

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:30:17 AM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

LA, the reason i didn't like the ending was because i wanted to know how it got to that point, not that it actually ended the way it did... but the whys and wherefores.

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

(in reply to LuckyAlbatross)

Post #: 5

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:30:57 AM

Homestead

Posts: 1005
Status: offline

The thing about O was this. The whole theme was of an increasingly objectified sex toy. And when rich people get bored with thier toys-they tend to find new ones.

Which smacked to me as rather amusimng-since so many wannabe slaves seem to equate financial power in a Master with security. Get this into your heads. Money will not equal a stable situation. Only a stable desire to keep you around will accomplish that.

(in reply to LuckyAlbatross)

Post #: 6

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:35:36 AM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

i don't think it had anything to do with money or financial power... my own opinion is that O became so compliant, she became boring to Sir Stephen

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

(in reply to Homestead)

Post #: 7

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:52:13 AM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

Posting this has helped me understand the book better. The author wanted us to think about this. Did O give too much of herself that she literally stopped being a slave to Sir Stephen? (i'm thinking as i am typing so please forgive the thought process here)... Let's say O was abandoned at Roissy... she would (imo) spend the remainder of her days feeling she failed Sir Stephen because he no longer wanted her... (i hope that makes some sense)...

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 8

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 11:55:36 AM

Homestead

Posts: 1005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: angelic

i don't think it had anything to do with money or financial power... my own opinion is that O became so compliant, she became boring to Sir Stephen

I was making a comment for the ones out there who want to be "kept" angelic. That has it's own insecurities built in. Such as getting old and ugly. That is the way of accesories. They become outdated, and are easily discarded when money is the attraction. Toss the old, and troll in a new one that is easily manipulated but surface impressions. Such is the reward of stupidity.

In the end, the "perfectly compliant slave" can become a prophecy for failure in D/s. From my perspective, I want someone who can challenge me, and be complimentary in a life goal situation.

For Sir Stepehen, this was not a problem. His slaves were nothing but entertainment to him. Think of a dvd with a scratch on it.

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 9

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:01:13 PM

catize

Posts: 3020
Joined: 3/7/2006
Status: offline

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/O,6903,1268403,00.html

_____________________________

"Power is real. But it's a lot less real if it's not perceived as power."
Robert Parker, Stranger in Paradise

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 10

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:01:54 PM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

i think we agree, for the most part Homestead... my opinion is that we can be too much of a good thing... when that happens, another will be brought in... there will once again be 'newness' and the feeling of power. if we become too compliant... there is no power over us.... well there is... but it's just there, like air... there but taken for granted to be there... and sort of boring.

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

(in reply to Homestead)

Post #: 11

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:03:08 PM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

thank you catize!!! could you re-post that, the url did not work.

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

(in reply to catize)

Post #: 12

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:06:09 PM

Homestead

Posts: 1005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: angelic

i think we agree, for the most part Homestead... my opinion is that we can be too much of a good thing... when that happens, another will be brought in... there will once again be 'newness' and the feeling of power. if we become too compliant... there is no power over us.... well there is... but it's just there, like air... there but taken for granted to be there... and sort of boring.

This is why doormats tend to be disliked by SOME Dominants. Including myself. I need a degree of ouside stimulation that fires my own creativity, to stay interested in someone. If it's lacking, I soon feel the other person is just some sort of appliance.

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 13

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:11:10 PM

angelic

Posts: 1807
Joined: 1/24/2005
Status: offline

For me, the most noblest ending in the book would be the one where she dies.

_____________________________

~....and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.~ -- Leonardo de Vinci

(in reply to Homestead)

Post #: 14

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:15:34 PM

Homestead

Posts: 1005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: angelic

For me, the most noblest ending in the book would be the one where she dies.

Sad but true. I prefer to release my baggage into the care of the almighty and live.

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 15

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:34:02 PM

Littlepita

Posts: 1430
Joined: 10/6/2005
Status: offline

My Sir has been reading me this book off and on now for months. I do like it because I like him reading to me so very much. Now, I'm thinking we just shouldn't ever finish the book.

_____________________________

“I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.” – Anais Nin

(in reply to Homestead)

Post #: 16

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 12:43:37 PM

RiotGirl

Posts: 3149
Status: offline

i was abit disapointed too actually

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 17

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 1:32:31 PM

popeye1250

Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline

I read it years ago (the 80's) did like some parts but not the overall book.
Yes, I got the impression that it was translated from French too.
I never liked the French or their "language" long before "Freedom Fries."
In 1973 my ship was in Cannes France and a bunch of us were walking around and some old French guy saw us and said; "American shit" and spit at us.
One of those French Hitler supporters I guess.
They know how to name their airplanes though; "Mirage" because you never see them.
I just don't care for anything "French."

< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 8/26/2006 1:35:48 PM >

(in reply to RiotGirl)

Post #: 18

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 1:43:36 PM

justanotheclaire

Posts: 113
Joined: 8/15/2006
From: cambs, uk
Status: offline

I read the story of O when I first came onto the scene it terrifide me(I read the version where she asked to die when he no longer wanted her) It became my greatest fear in bdsm to love your Master so much than when you could no longer be his you could no longer bear to live. I almost got to that point last year thnak god oppertunity eluded me and time healed enough for me to manage. I am glad there is more than one ending, allowing her to die is irrisponsible and no man(or woman) deserves to be able to abuse there power over someone like that.

_____________________________

Bound by desire
Free through submission

(in reply to popeye1250)

Post #: 19

RE: The Story of O - 8/26/2006 1:49:54 PM

CreativeDominant

Posts: 11032
Joined: 3/11/2006
Status: offline

I've read the book. I first read it in the 70's and at the time, I thought it was all the sexy stuff going on that had me aroused. Later, I realized I had also gotten and stayed aroused during the parts where control and submission were going on. I again read the book after I had 'discovered' my D/s/BDSM self. While I still found myself somewhat aroused by various passages, my newer thought processes...honed after years of living, a career, children, exposure to D/s, involvement in D/s...made me think that Sir Stephen was an arrogant asshole...good at breaking a woman down and making her a slave and then...when she became compliant and no longer a challenge...callously dropping her with no preparation for what was to come when they "turned off the lights...the party's over". In addition, the translation from French to English makes the overall concept suffer, in my opinion. Of course, if I knew French well enough to read it, who knows? I might still think it was poorly written, even in its' original language.

(in reply to angelic)

Post #: 20

Page: [1] 2 3 next > >>

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> General BDSM Discussion >> The Story of O

Page: [1] 2 3 next > >>

Jump to:

New Messages	No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages	Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages	Locked w/o New Messages

Post New Thread

Reply to Message

Post New Poll

Submit Vote

Delete My Own Post

Delete My Own Thread

Rate Posts

Collarchat.com © 2025

Terms of Service

0.078