Letters From Prison

by Marquis de Sade

A generous sample of the notorious Frenchman's correspondence culled from his twenty years' imprisonment between 1777 and 1790 reveals his opinions on such subjects as society, the body politic, and humanity and offers insight into the writer himself.

Genres: Classics, Philosophy, Literature, History, Nonfiction, France, Biography

401 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

A preoccupation with sexual violence characterizes novels, plays, and short stories that Donatien Alphonse François, comte de Sade but known as marquis de Sade, of France wrote. After this writer derives the word sadism, the deriving of sexual gratification from fantasies or acts that involve causing other persons to suffer physical or mental pain.

This aristocrat, revolutionary politician, and philosopher exhibited famous libertine lifestyle.

His works include dialogues and political tracts; in his lifetime, he published some works under his own name and denied authorship of apparently anonymous other works. His best erotic works combined philosophical discourse with pornography and depicted fantasies with an emphasis on criminality and blasphemy against the Catholic Church. Morality, religion or law restrained not his "extreme freedom." Various prisons and an insane asylum incarcerated the aristocrat for 32 years of his life: ten years in the Bastile, another year elsewhere in Paris, a month in Conciergerie, two years in a fortress, a year in Madelonnettes, three years in Bicêtre, a year in Sainte-Pélagie, and 13 years in the Charenton asylum. During the French revolution, people elected this criminal as delegate to the National Convention. He wrote many of his works in prison.

Reviews

[Mohammad Ali Shamekhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

نکته: تنها ترجمه ی چند نامه

یادداشت هایی عالی برای فهم درد یک "زندانی"، درد تحت سلطه و اراده ی دیگران بودن و دائم مورد پند و ارشاد دیگران قرار گرفتن؛ در عین حال یادداشت هایی عالی از پرخاشگری یک انسان در بند، طنزهای تلخ کسی که امید آزادی برایش روز به روز محوتر و محوتر میشود .


اما ترجمه، ترجمه ی متوسطی است بر حسب ظاهر فارسی . من اعصابم کم خورد نشده از نفهمیدن ها. جاهایی جمله ها را باید با جان کندن فهمید از بس در همند و جاهایی رو هم نمی شه فهمید. البته کتاب چون چاپ رسمی نشده و ویرایش و ... هم نداره این چیزها درش طبیعیه. مترجم زحمت کشیده و مقدمه ای در مورد قرائات فلسفی ساد نوشته که خیلی نیت خوبیه. اما برای منی که خودم هم فلسفه می خونم پر از ابهامه

دسته ی دیگری از نفهمیدن ها هم وجود دارند؛ آنهایی که به دلیل ندانستن شرایط نگارش نامه ها پدید آمده اند. من رفتم سراغ فیلمی که در مورد ساد ساخته شده و نیمیش رو هم دیدم به این امید که بهم کمک کنه اما در درک آن نقاط مبهم بهم کمکی نکرد - هر چند در درک فشار زندان و شرایط ساد مفید بود

در پایان باید از تلاش مترجم که این اثر رو ترجمه کرده بدون اینکه انتشارش بده - و طبیعتا یعنی بدون درآمد - تشکر کنم

[Amirsaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

مقدمه‌ی خوب مترجم جایگاه ساد را در تفکر غربی نشان می‌دهد، لکن بی‌ارتباط است به کتاب پیش‌رو. شکایت سادِ زندانی در نامه‌هایش از مادرزن بی‌شرفش و عشقش به زنِ ساده‌لوح‌اش.

[Pooriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

مقدمه مترجم که خیلی خوب بود. نامه‌ها هم خوب بود ولی نمی‌دونم چرا حس کردم ساد از یک عدم تعادل شخصیت رنج می‌برده. یه جا چنان عاشقانه برای همسرش می‌نویسه یه جا دیگه فحش رو می‌کشه بهش. نمی‌دونم شاید در قرن 18ام این یه مسئله عادی بوده.‏

[Paddy O'callaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps his finest work.

[Pardis TD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felt very sorry when I found out about this fact and read this book, as yes, I had read about the Juliette/Justine paradigm swap, as anyway, even Verga writes about "gingers" not being bad people, and we all know black cats don't bring bad luck, but imprisoning someone over it, especially Marquis de Sade, was a bit excessive, as he was really nice. Merely, he was stating that he had seen virtuous brunettes vs not so virtuous blondes and I believe he was just opening our minds on a beauty standard that had lasted for over 3000 years (today we dye our hair indiscriminately that is a lot better). I believe that imprisoning someone over his freedom of speech was a bit excessive, although it was at a time whereby people were travelling a lot from and to islands in which that type of practice persists to date (i.e. they have no constitution), and with which I still disagree with in regards with their legal system. Thankfully with Napoleon, justice is achieved, thanks to the French Napoleonic code, that later will become the basis for the French and the majority of the world's codes, preventing such injustices from repeating themselves (a century later). In the end, he remains the father of the gothic novel, and it's part of the romantic literary movement in Europe.

[Uğur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying suffering is actually the root cause of all feelings.

It is possible to witness real life based on Sade's stories in the letters he wrote to his wife. There isn't much of an absurd difference between the two anyway. He's very sultry and passionate. However, in these letters, it was very contradictory that Sade said that he did not feel pain and that his feelings were dead. How can a name that is the creator of sadism stop feeling pain? The human body redesigns pain according to time and space, even if the space changes. In a world where our happy moments are so limited and our sorrows so intense, not feeling the pain was the worst thing Sade did to herself. This is what I read between the lines of your letters.

Of course, when you say Sade, a passive sadism that is only told in literary language should not be understood. In real life, they have a very active pleasure- and pain-focused activism*. -which is why he went to jail and came back from the dead. Is it a resume? Never.

The reason why we can understand Sade better is the fact that he expresses his fantasies even when he asks his wife for donuts in the letters he writes.
Happy reading.

[Gregory Klages · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book pretty much exclusively for those seeking insights into Sade's psychology, but not so much into his writing.

For those hoping for a 'behind the scenes' dive into Sade's lustful, salacious texts, this work will be a significant disappointment. For those seeking to understand the psychology behind Sade's most noteworthy writing, this work will be a significant disappointment. For those seeking insights into French history in the years preceding the Revolution, this work doesn't offer much.

With expectations thus lowered, this book might provide an intriguing view into the petty, quotidian concerns of Sade during his long period of imprisonment for attempts to poison or, alternatively, to administer sex drugs to prostitutes. The correspondence does offer a view into Sade's fractious relationship with his spouse, with some insights into his reading and evaluation of contemporary authors.

[Ehsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتابی بسیار مهم در شناخت ساد از زاویه نگاه بی پرده و صریح خود او. در قسمتی از نامه ها ساد تنها امید به زندگیش را مادرش می‌داند که از اعماق گور او را فرا می‌خواند و آرزوی ساد این است که برای باری دیگر ولو در گور به آغوش مادر باز گردد.(که آدم را یاد نمایش‌نامه سوتفاهم آلبر کامو می‌اندازد.) نکته مهم دیگر، ارجاعات مکرر ساد به خداوند خوب و مهربان، پروردگار و قادر متعال است که می‌تواند سندی باشد که زبان و تفکر کنایه‌ای او الزاما تشویق به رذیلت و نفی فضیلت نبوده است.

[Margarida · Rating 2 out of 5]

"São estas as minhas virtudes - bem como meus vícios - orgulhosa ira -, tudo levando ao extremo, de um desajustamento do pensamento face aos costumes que não tem igual, ateu até ao fanatismo, eis em duas palavras o que eu sou, por isso, mais uma vez digo, matai-me ou aceitai-me tal como sou, porque nunca mudarei." - Citação da contra-capa.

[Nini · Rating 4 out of 5]

See the movie....with Jeffrey Rush, very well done. Sade is a pervert and tortured man, but his story is fascinating

[Mady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Letters that Marquis de Sade wrote. Not my kind of book, but interesting to have a chance to get to know some more about Sade.

[CJ Maxey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd prefer to read the unabridged letters in their original French.

[Dom Zuccone]

What a polite and wry surprise.