Erotism: Death and Sensuality

by Georges Bataille

Book Overview

Taboo and sacrifice, transgression and language, death and sensuality--Georges Bataille pursues these themes with an original, often startling perspective.

Bataille challenges any single discourse on the erotic. The scope of his inquiry ranges from Emily Bronte to Sade, from St. Therese to Claude Levi-Strauss and Dr. Kinsey. The subjects he covers include prostitution, mythical ecstasy, cruelty, and organized war. Investigating...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0872861902
• ISBN13: 9780872861909
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: City Lights Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Freud transcended

Bataille's text represents a cogent, penetrating examination of the topics of eroticism and death, as well as the violence that connects them. He explores some of the links between erotic activity and violence, providing a refreshingly intellectual perspective on subjects typically ruled by silence. Where Freud noted a connection between sex and violence, Bataille explores this connection in light of its broader philosophical implications. His section on Christianity is particularly helpful in understanding how that religion has rendered an entire sphere of sacred experience unto the profane world, with grave consequences for human culture. Never indicting Christianity or condemning it outright, Bataille instead seeks to explain the condition of humanity in the mid- to late-twentieth century--a condition that still very much troubles us today.

A WORK OF ART

This is, with no dout, one of the best books in the genre. It is decadent jet avant grade. If you like erotic literature and taboo this book is a must.

A compelling addition to the discourse of sex and religion.

Before Foucault ruined the game, this was the cutting edge of theoretical musings on sex. Bataille's "continuity" concept of the erotic still seems fascinating (if not slightly intuitive), especially in the chapters on war and mysticism. Beware of the difficult language, but once this hurdle is cleared you're in for a delightful read.

This book made me feel dizzy

This is one of the most amazing books I've ever read. Bataille contemplates humanity by means of erotism. He deals with love, sex, death and spirituality. He quests what makes human distinguished from other animals. He is vague sometimes, and leaps amazingly. Actually, I read the book in Korean, but I'd like to share the feeling with anyone who'd love to. If you liked this book, please write to me!