The Story of O, first published in 1954, written in French by an author apparently French in nationality and written under the feminine name Pauline Reage, made an immediate and dramatic impression on the literary world. Literally translated, the title reads, History of O a woman identified only by that initial who discovers the mysteries and passion of what we now call BDSM. A few years after it�s publication in France, �O� was translated into English poorly and unsympathetically, by a man who clearly wished only to shock and titillate American readers. In 1964, the most well-known translation appeared. This time, the translation was done by a woman, Sabine d�Estree who went to the trouble of establishing contact with the author to ensure that the translation was accurate and true to the original sense of the story. The result is beautifully elegant yet simple prose that captures and refines the spirit of the woman called O. Sabine d�Estree�s translation has been continuously in print for forty years and can be found in any major bookstore, a testament to its long-lasting appeal.
�O� is the sort of book that would make any creative writer proud to claim. It is said that novels begin with the assumption of change and that the quality of a novel lies in how skillfully the change is effected. In �O,� the reader sees O slowly transform, the rather tom-boyish woman with no knowledge of the dark side of sexuality becoming a woman naked and scarred who wears the marks of her slavery with great pride. The characters also move and change and grow. Even the girls who appear only briefly at Roussy and in Anne-Marie�s home have clearly distinguished personalities. Most remarkable is O herself who questions Rene�s every command in the opening pages but at the close is found obeying Sir Stephen willingly and without question. �O� is set in Paris, a Paris described so sparsely yet vividly that its author must have spent considerable time in that city. The apartments of O and Sir Stephen are particularly described in such a fashion that one feels almost as if they have walked into these very rooms themselves.
Prose has a way of tripping up the inexperienced novelist (which we must assume Reage to be as she has published nothing else, at least under that name). But �O� has all the marks of a seasoned and skillful author. In all parts the language is restrained and refined, her choices in words barely titillating enough for a Harlequin romance. While Reage implies coarseness of language, she never actually uses the words, instead remarking on O�s surprise (or lack thereof) of the coarse words men used in her presence. Narrative passages move briskly while still providing sufficient information about the plot. Descriptive paragraphs are used sparingly but effectively. In dialogue, Reage effects that curious sense of suggesting she has included far more dialogue than is actually recorded.
In all genres of writing, there are occasional books which have the remarkable ability to both change their readers and be changed by their readers. Animal Farm comes to mind, as does The Communist Manifesto. The Story of O is another of these books. That it is changeable makes it dangerous, provocative, challenging. �O� caused a tremendous sensation when it first appeared because the dark side of sexuality was simply never discussed. On that level, �O� is no longer shocking for far more brutal images are shown on prime time TV every night. But �O� is still challenging, not for its imagery but for its philosophy. The idea that a woman would desire total submission or that a man could find beauty in seeing his lover struggle to get away from the lash or a whip is every bit as radical today as it was forty years ago.
To the uniformed, these images of a scarred and whimpering woman are repulsive, their implications frightening wherever they appear. In �O,� they are especially frightening because Reage makes the torture completely believable to the point that O seems like a living breathing person. O�s obedience appears so complete and effortless that her descent into darkness seems to be a journey into light that is remarkably easy. By the end, one wonders what happened to O after the last words were written and if it would be possible to meet her and Sir Stephen. It is precisely because �O� is written so believably that it may be found unapproachable. Despite the intensity of O�s submission that may throw some readers off, there is an indefinable quality about O that keeps one reading. Reage makes the reader care about O, makes her someone you want to know more about.
In the final analysis, �O� is less an erotic novel and more a handbook of Dominant/submissive philosophy. For example, we learn that neither Rene or Sir Stephen particularly likes the act of whipping O. Sir Stephen likes to see the marks on her body afterwards. Rene enjoys the struggle her body makes, delighting that she submits even to something she fears and which causes her pain. And we learn that O herself submits to the lash because its pain and marks are proof to her that she belongs and is loved. As a second example, there are the chains O wears at Roussy. She gains a sense of freedom in wearing those chains; indeed she feels curiously restrained when they are taken off. Filled with longing to seduce Jacqueline, O feels unable to do so until Sir Stephen explicitly orders her to seduce the girl (with the ultimate goal of taking her to Roussy).
Why does O become submissive to the point of total slavery? She begins by loving � for there is no freedom in love � and is drawn deeper as her pride in slavery and sense of honor regarding her choices grows. The Story of O pushes the limits of our understanding of sexuality even as it speaks the language of respectable Victorian parlors. It is above all a decent book which good decent people can feel, well, if not exatly good about reading, at least does not make them feel guilty. By reflecting the actions of O and her users only dimly, Reage makes her prose restrained yet radical, both decent and debased. We grow to care about O while wondering exactly what games Rene and Sir Stephen are playing with her.
The final paragraphs offer a brilliant conclusion to O�s story. As the book begins with two alternatives, so it ends with two possible explanations of O�s fate, both vaguely unsatisfactory. This is the only place where �O� veers abruptly into what is clearly fantasy; both endings are ambiguous and somewhat frightening, even to the reader comfortable in O�s world. They imply that devotion and obedience can grow so complete that they are all-consuming and cannot be controlled.
The Story of O should be close to the top of any BDSM reading list whether you believe yourself submissive or Dominant. To the Dominant, the needs and desires of a submissive are made clear. For the submissive, O offers insight into one�s needs and motivations that may have seemed incomprehensible previously.
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