Comments on: Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille http://ireadoddbooks.com/story-of-the-eye-by-georges-bataille/ No really, I read lots of odd books Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:18:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: paynith http://ireadoddbooks.com/story-of-the-eye-by-georges-bataille/comment-page-1/#comment-286 paynith Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:48:57 +0000 http://ireadoddbooks.com/?p=135#comment-286 hey, thanks for the comment on DT & the link. i think /story of the eye/ can be hard to vibe with because, like you say, the characters are so flat... they're just vessels for bataille, really. all we can really do as readers is stand back and watch. in retrospect, /story of the eye/ makes a lot more "sense" in the context of bataille's writings on eroticism and transgression... yet i think what appeals to me most is the absurdist tone throughout the book. above all, i think it's just a fun read. but bataille also has particular conceits in terms of imagery which interest me. i mean, he sets up this metonymic chain of signifiers around the repeated ritual of vaginally ingesting a globular object. my twisted mind has to respect that shit! if you haven't read his essay "the big toe," it's quite short and funny: http://books.google.com/books?id=2Yj6s1sjelgC&lpg=PA20&vq=big%20toe&dq=%22big%20toe%20is%20the%20most%20human%22&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q&f=false hey, thanks for the comment on DT & the link. i think /story of the eye/ can be hard to vibe with because, like you say, the characters are so flat… they’re just vessels for bataille, really. all we can really do as readers is stand back and watch. in retrospect, /story of the eye/ makes a lot more “sense” in the context of bataille’s writings on eroticism and transgression… yet i think what appeals to me most is the absurdist tone throughout the book. above all, i think it’s just a fun read. but bataille also has particular conceits in terms of imagery which interest me. i mean, he sets up this metonymic chain of signifiers around the repeated ritual of vaginally ingesting a globular object. my twisted mind has to respect that shit!

if you haven’t read his essay “the big toe,” it’s quite short and funny:
http://books.google.com/books?id=2Yj6s1sjelgC&lpg=PA20&vq=big%20toe&dq=%22big%20toe%20is%20the%20most%20human%22&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q&f=false

]]> By: anitadalton http://ireadoddbooks.com/story-of-the-eye-by-georges-bataille/comment-page-1/#comment-155 anitadalton Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:49:28 +0000 http://ireadoddbooks.com/?p=135#comment-155 As horribly unintellectual as it may seem, I think sometimes it boils down to whether or not one <em>gets</em> the book. I suspect I did not get this book because for every comment I've received, I've also received about 10 e-mails explaining the reason why <em>Story of the Eye</em> has merit. The perversion simply did not speak to me. The characters were just too... foreign, compelled by forces I find inexplicable and so outre there is no way I could find the merit others see. For some reason, I could not step back and look at it as surrealist subversion. I just finished reading <em>Necrophilia Variations</em> by Supervert and for some reason, the grounded reality of that particular perversion and subversion worked for me. Gah! Yay for me! I get necrophilia but not the eggs, oh god, the eggs! Interestingly, I have a greater fondness now for Bataille. I've read off and on and plan soon to finish <em>The Trial of Gilles de Rais</em> and Bataille has an amazing sympathy for the devil, an understanding of what it really means to be a monster to the monster himself as well as the victims. Interesting book. Hey, thanks for the comment! I appreciate it. As horribly unintellectual as it may seem, I think sometimes it boils down to whether or not one gets the book. I suspect I did not get this book because for every comment I’ve received, I’ve also received about 10 e-mails explaining the reason why Story of the Eye has merit. The perversion simply did not speak to me. The characters were just too… foreign, compelled by forces I find inexplicable and so outre there is no way I could find the merit others see. For some reason, I could not step back and look at it as surrealist subversion. I just finished reading Necrophilia Variations by Supervert and for some reason, the grounded reality of that particular perversion and subversion worked for me. Gah! Yay for me! I get necrophilia but not the eggs, oh god, the eggs!

Interestingly, I have a greater fondness now for Bataille. I’ve read off and on and plan soon to finish The Trial of Gilles de Rais and Bataille has an amazing sympathy for the devil, an understanding of what it really means to be a monster to the monster himself as well as the victims. Interesting book.

Hey, thanks for the comment! I appreciate it.

]]> By: paynith http://ireadoddbooks.com/story-of-the-eye-by-georges-bataille/comment-page-1/#comment-154 paynith Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:32:44 +0000 http://ireadoddbooks.com/?p=135#comment-154 Hi, stumbled here suddenly. Just another vote on the yes-this-book-has-merit side; I was also exposed to it at a young age (somewhere between 14 and 16 or so)... I think that's a key factor here. Older now, I'm undertaking a more formal study of transgressive lit, but Story of the Eye will always have a warm place in my heart, for nonintellectual reasons. The eggs, the eggs! Hi, stumbled here suddenly. Just another vote on the yes-this-book-has-merit side; I was also exposed to it at a young age (somewhere between 14 and 16 or so)… I think that’s a key factor here. Older now, I’m undertaking a more formal study of transgressive lit, but Story of the Eye will always have a warm place in my heart, for nonintellectual reasons. The eggs, the eggs!

]]> By: anitadalton http://ireadoddbooks.com/story-of-the-eye-by-georges-bataille/comment-page-1/#comment-128 anitadalton Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:18:40 +0000 http://ireadoddbooks.com/?p=135#comment-128 Misha, thanks for your two cents. Odd books... Man, they really hit people so differently. Increasingly I think there is no real high-minded literary reasons why anything is good or bad, aside from the obvious of just being crappily written. All there can really be is reaction. At least I reacted. I'd rather read a book that makes me yuck out than one that leaves me feeling "meh" inside. I am haunted, HAUNTED, by the scene where a recovering Simone and the narrator are playing with eggs in the toilet. I suspect it would require years of psychotherapy to understand exactly why this book made me respond as I did. Thanks again for sharing! It never stops thrilling me to see there are other odd book lovers out there! Misha, thanks for your two cents. Odd books… Man, they really hit people so differently. Increasingly I think there is no real high-minded literary reasons why anything is good or bad, aside from the obvious of just being crappily written. All there can really be is reaction. At least I reacted. I’d rather read a book that makes me yuck out than one that leaves me feeling “meh” inside.

I am haunted, HAUNTED, by the scene where a recovering Simone and the narrator are playing with eggs in the toilet. I suspect it would require years of psychotherapy to understand exactly why this book made me respond as I did.

Thanks again for sharing! It never stops thrilling me to see there are other odd book lovers out there!

]]> By: Misha http://ireadoddbooks.com/story-of-the-eye-by-georges-bataille/comment-page-1/#comment-127 Misha Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:46:00 +0000 http://ireadoddbooks.com/?p=135#comment-127 This book was recommended to me by a friend who likes it a lot and was exposed to it at a young age. I remember thinking, "Where was this book when I was 15?" as I was reading it, too. Among the not-so-odd books I enjoy are a few FTL scifi types. I immediately marked a paragraph in chapter 8 of "Eye" knowing even before I finished the story that this would be my favorite passage. It's the paragraph from when he is on the ground looking up at the stars and describes the milky way. I dig the book. I have no high-minded literary reason with which to disagree with your assessment or anything. Just wanted to toss in a vote for the positive on this one. ;) This book was recommended to me by a friend who likes it a lot and was exposed to it at a young age. I remember thinking, “Where was this book when I was 15?” as I was reading it, too.

Among the not-so-odd books I enjoy are a few FTL scifi types. I immediately marked a paragraph in chapter 8 of “Eye” knowing even before I finished the story that this would be my favorite passage. It’s the paragraph from when he is on the ground looking up at the stars and describes the milky way.

I dig the book. I have no high-minded literary reason with which to disagree with your assessment or anything. Just wanted to toss in a vote for the positive on this one. ;)

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