Philosophy In The Boudoir

Philosophy in the Boudoir is a curious book. At first it starts off interesting, indeed it had me thinking to recommend it. But after a while, the same scenes over and over again begin to be tired out (unless you are into that sort of thing I suppose), and then just as you reach breaking point, an interception! Except that this is a 40 page solemn declaration about how Frenchman can be better Republicans, not exactly the interruption that I was wanting. Normal service is then resumed, with a particularly horrifying ending.

Reading this made it easy to see how the Marquis de Sade got his reputation, as previous works of his that I have read such as Incest did not really strike me as worthy of this. I think it's safe to say that now I get it. But it is not all bad. There may possibly be the earliest mention of Lucky Pierre in print. There are further Biblical proofs offered that incest is a celestially ordained function, using the argument 'Could the families of Adam and Noah have survived in any other way?'. And finally, there is a quite humourous interpretation of Christainity, portions of which I shall repeat below.

I can't quite remember what brought me to want to read this book. It may have been enjoying Incest and wanting to read more. Now I am not sure if I will read another of his work, save Betrayal. The subject matter is fairly obscene, and I think a lot of people would probably find it offensive one way or another. Still, if you are looking to broaden your horizons...

"The imbecile guarantees that it was to save us all that, albeit God, he became flesh in the bosom of a human child; and the dazzling miracles that he works will soon convince the universe! At a feast of drunkards, the scalawag is indeed said to change water into wine; in a desert, he feeds a couple of ne'er-do-wells with hidden provisions that his followers have prepared; one of his comrades pretends to die, and our imposter resuscitates him; he climbs a mountain and, in front of only two or three friends, he carries out a hocus pocus that the worst trickster would be ashamed of today."

"Bizarre rites were established under the name of "sacraments", and the most unworthy and most abominable of all is the way a crime-ridden priest enjoys the virtue of several magic words that enable him to make God arrive in a piece of bread."