The story follows young and devout 12 years old Justine whose trouble and misfortune after losing parents get her into set of happenings where she was forced to participate in sexual exploitation and martyrdom. Disasters that followed her one after another, where she was dragged into all kind of perverse practices, illustrates the writer's belief that the more virtue you have the more you're destinied to suffer on Earth.

The audience is split. I have read reviews where people judged content, calling it children's pornography. I have read reviews where people wrote how the book's content turned them on. This type of book is good for those who doesn't know sadism in all its glory. If you think 50 Shades of Grey is perfect example of what BDSM is about, I'm sure you'll change your mind after reading "Justine". I don't know what kind of impact will leave on yourself but I'm sure you won't feel indifferent about the book.

I especially liked moral of the story. Even though its extreme graphic content, kind of, dominate through the whole book, a single paragraph at the end beat it all. I also liked de Sade's really elegant writing style.

I'm used to read a books with chapters. This one doesn't have chapters at all. It was a little bit hard to stop reading and go back to it another day. I had to reread few pages before I continued from where I stopped last time.

I was mostly shocked because of all scenes Justine described to her sister and I was really hit with huge sadness by reading the last three pages. When I finally closed it I started to cry. I felt sorry for Justine, the main character, because all troubles she was through didn't change her principles and beliefs. She stayed loyal to herself until the end and found a little piece of happiness in her last days. However, as it always happens with poor and miserable, she also didn't make it. I was especially broken reading the last paragraph where the writer wrote how God gives us misfortune on Earth just so He can give us deserved happiness in Heaven. I won't lie, I have never cried over a book, but this piece of writing dragged the tears from my eyes.

Marquese de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts; in his lifetime some were published under his own name, while others appeared anonymously and de Sade denied being their author. De Sade is best known for his erotic works, which combined philosophical discourse with pornography, depicting sexual fantasies with an emphasis on violence, criminality, and blasphemy against the Catholic Church. He was a proponent of extreme freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion, or law. The words sadism and sadist are derived from his name.

De Sade was incarcerated in various prisons and an insane asylum for about 32 years of his life: 11 years in Paris (10 of which were spent in the Bastille), a month in the Conciergerie, two years in a fortress, a year in Madelonnettes Convent, three years in Bicêtre Hospital, a year in Sainte-Pélagie Prison, and 12 years in the Charenton asylum. During the French Revolution he was an elected delegate to the National Convention. Many of his works were written in prison.

I'd recommend it only in case you are really open minded person and if you can understand that these things happened before and they are still happening somewhere in the world nowadays. Also, if you think you can handle all kind of depravity, crime, and trampling and denying God and religion, it's all here.

I don't recommend a book for anyone who had been through any kind of abuse, either emotional, sexual or physical.I also don't recommend it to anyone who is religious. Marquis de Sade isn't a writer for everyone's taste. You either like him or you hate him. There's no anything in between. Also, the book is written in 1791 when children's pornography didn't exist and many people doesn't understand this fact. If you're going to read a book from 18th century and judge it from the aspect of a man who lives in 21st century just don't start to read it at all.

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Created Sep 24, 2016 at 5:25pm • Submit your own review...