Talk:The 120 Days of Sodom/Archive 1

Pornography?
"Many would not classify The 120 Days Of Sodom as 'pornography' since the sex is repetitive and not described in great detail. Furthermore, many of the paraphilias involved, such as coprophilia, pedophilia, rape, torture and murder, are (deliberately) those which the majority of people find either unstimulating or repulsive."

I removed (deliberately) as it is of a speculative nature, as likely as it may be.


 * I think the second half of the passage doesn't even make sense -- certainly, just because most people would fine those things repulsive does not make it not pornography (if that makes sense): in other words, just because there are people who find sodomy unstimulating does not mean that erotic works involving sodomy isn't pornography. For that matter, just because sex is repetitive, does not mean its pornography (i.e. Penthouse letters?). I'm reworking that passage. Janet13 04:44, 11 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Actually, on second reading, I deleted the entirety of the two sentences because they are speculative and have no sourcing (and, as I mentioned above, the arguments don't actually make sense). Janet13 04:46, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Also -- the sex IS described in great detail. It isn't really repetitive either: de Sade and his characters were both unfailingly inventive. Too many talk about this book without having read it. Perhaps some believe nothing from the past could equal the degradations of today. How wrong wrong wrong. 76.115.59.36 (talk) 03:47, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Pornographic doesn't necessarily mean pornography — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:6010:11F0:3C0:9535:AE63:8D1A:63D9 (talk) 23:52, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

When published?
The introduction says first publishing was in 1905, but the History section says 1904. Which is correct?

The first printing in English was in 1934; cf. Library of Congress catalogue – New York : privately printed, 1934. 86.26.65.42 (talk) 07:05, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

Julie not killed
The characters-section section states "The victims who will eventually be killed are: The daughters of the four principal characters, whom they have been sexually abusing for years. "

If I understood correctly: Julie, daughter of le Duc de Blangis survives? (16 survivors: 4 heroes, 4 studs, 4 prostitutes, 3 cooks, Julie?) Pukkie 14:37, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Removing French online text link which has been identified as Dangerous by Trend Micro Internet Security Pro
This French online text link, updated by User:207.225.224.11 on July 12, 2009, has been identified as "Dangerous" by Trend Micro Internet Security Pro. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to access the website to determine whether it's safe or not; I feel it's prudent to remove the link immediately. Feel free to add the link back if you can vouch for its reliability and safety, or replace with a different source (the previous link appears to be broken). Thanks, Baileypalblue (talk) 20:58, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Requested move

 * Moved. Station1 (talk) 06:14, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

120 Days of Sodom → The 120 Days of Sodom &mdash; Title starting with "The" appears to be the most commonly used title in English; see, for example, [ http://www.amazon.com/120-Days-Sodom-Other-Writings/dp/0802130127/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251321232&sr=8-1 here], [ http://www.amazon.com/120-Days-Sodom-Marquis-Sade/dp/1604594187/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251321232&sr=8-2 here], [ http://www.amazon.com/120-Days-Sodom-Marquis-Sade/dp/1425011284/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251321232&sr=8-3 here], [ http://www.amazon.com/Sodom-Other-Writings-First-American/dp/B001PCT3B4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251321232&sr=8-6 here], [ http://www.amazon.com/120-Days-Sodom-EasyRead/dp/1425034489/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251321232&sr=8-10 here], here, and here. Page was moved from The 120 Days of Sodom in 2005 for reasons unknown. Baileypalblue (talk) 21:26, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Support. This is in accordance with Naming conventions (definite and indefinite articles at beginning of name), which advises to use "the" at the beginning of the page name in cases where it would be capitalized in running text. Jafeluv (talk) 23:54, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

information about author?
is it relevant to note somewhere that the man himself was a habitual rapist? There's stuff about whether or not the book is sexist, perverse, etc. I think you can write a book like this without advocating the behavior, even condemning it or satirizing it, but I think it's relevant to consider that the author himself had committed (relatively minor!) sexual crimes (this is why he was imprisoned- to protect people), so while it's an over-the-top work of fantasy you can't say that the man wasn't at least somewhat serious about his amoral libertine philosophy. I dunno maybe it's not relevant here, but just a thought. Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.23.183.231 (talk) 10:32, 25 November 2011 (UTC)


 * It's absolutely relevant, when the article says "It is no coincidence that they are authority figures in terms of their occupations. Sade despised religion and authority and in many of his works he enjoyed mocking them by portraying priests, bishops, judges and the like as sexual perverts and criminals."

The guy was himself a sexual sadist and rapist, this book wasn't condemning as much as it was fantasy — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.182.22.132 (talk) 14:21, 23 August 2017 (UTC)


 * "Sade, tell me, what is it that you were searching for? /The good, the bad, an angel, a whore? / *heavy breathing*" 195.67.149.175 (talk) 16:20, 22 October 2018 (UTC)

External links modified
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Under 'When published' above I have added a note as to the first printing in English (1934); perhaps someone could add this information to the right-hand box on the main page since I do not know how to. 86.26.65.42 (talk) 07:10, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

Original manuscripts tale
Something should be said about the travails of the original manuscript. From its discovery in the Bastille prison to its eventual purchase by the French state. -- Cimon Avaro&#59; on a pogostick. (talk) 21:53, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Artistic Classification
As a novel, it is both given merit and controversy. The lead mentions it is erotic and pornographic while literary merit is further expounded upon later in the article. How do we distinguish pornography from literature here? Does anyone have works on whether a work can be pornographic without being pornography (a creation solely for arousal)? 2603:6010:11F0:3C0:9535:AE63:8D1A:63D9 (talk) 00:00, 8 October 2022 (UTC)

Text and Works cited
Hello all,

I have added a section on the Text explaining up front its unfinished and unrevised nature. This makes the rest of the article easier to follow. I have also added a Works cited section which makes it easier to follow citations.

Happy to discuss. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 04:21, 19 October 2023 (UTC)