"The 120 Days of Sodom" by The Marquis de Sade / Translated by Will McMorran & Thomas Wynn (Penguin Classics)

ISBN: 978-0-141-39434-3

What is there not to like about the new translation of Marquis de Sade's "The 120 Days of Sodom?"  Will McMorran and Thomas Wynn translate it, and their work brings Sade's language/writing to the contemporary world.  This doesn't mean it's full of Urban language slang words, but it reads extremely well.  And oddly enough this is the first time I've read "The 120 Days of Sodom."  

What's interesting is not the sex, which of course it is a big part of the book, but the Sade organized his series of narratives that reflect on a society falling apart.  It's not precisely a turn-on type of book or even a 'dirty book,' but more of a work that deals with the structure and how it tells its tales.   On one level, it's a book that takes place in an imaginary landscape, especially regarding the castle that the action takes place. One has to walk to the location, so therefore it is highly unlikely no one will come unannounced.   Also, the four main libertines are a duke (royalty), a bishop (religion), a judge (the law) and a financier (economy).  After that, then we have groupings of family members, Harem of young girls, Harem of young boys, and Eight fuckers (all well-hung men).  It's very much a stage-set with everyone in the story playing an essential role in a social structure. 

The sex is crazed and usually exposed in a frenzy mode of action, with lots of poop offerings of all sorts.  So it demeans people which is part of the turn-on but also to expose the power system in place as well.  Or at times, playing with the 'role' of power and it plays in a sexual context.   For sure, Sade's book doesn't read like a sex book, but more of a critique of overall power, family structure, and political power.   It's a dangerous book because it works on different levels.  One as a sex book (which it is, but as mentioned not that sexy) and two, a political/social critique. 

The Penguin edition (2016) is a handsome book, with a cover image by Surrealist/DADA Man Ray, and interesting endnotes at the end of the book.  Very close to being an annotated edition, and readable.  For those who admire narratives like Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange," or even a 1960s William S. Burroughs novel, Sade's work is very much a cousin to those works.  Burroughs and Burgess expose a system in place, and Sade did that a few centuries ago.    A brilliant book that needs to stay in print forever, because like "Gulliver's Travels," "Candide," and others of that style, this is a remarkable political / social observation.  

- Tosh Berman