The Revolutionary Ideas of The Marquis De Sade by Geoffrey Gorer (1934)

The Revolutionary Ideas Of The Marquis

Excerpt:

Two excuses are usually demanded a book about the Marquis de Sade; firstly a justification for writing at all about such a monster, and alternatively the reason for adding yet another book to the existing quantity concerning him. 

My excuse for both actions is that I have found the unfolding of his ideas extremely interesting, and hope others will do the same; and that without exception all the books already published deal exclusively with his life and legend, and with the mechanics of the plots of his novels, occasionally with a faint and distorted summary of his ideas concerning sex, but never with any development of his theories either on that or any other subject. 

I claim, therefore, that this is the only book in any language that has presented the ideas of this extraordinary man in any way; and the only one which allows the general public to judge him through his own words. To as great an extent as possible, I have quoted him verbatim: and to avoid making a bilingual book I have translated him into English, paying more attention to the accuracy than to the elegance of the translation.


Author: Geoffrey Gorer
 Publication Date:1934
   
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