Venus in Furs and Selected Stories

A man can be obsessed by many things. Often it is women. We tend to magnify and idealize even the most obscure qualities of women. For Sacher-Masoch, he imagined a dominating woman who would fulfill his sexual desires while wearing furs. Included in this text is letters he wrote to a young girl, an aspiring writer. He feels compelled to ask to be whipped by her, while wearing furs. Interesting. The main story is about Severin and Wanda; engaged to be married, Severin proposes a trip to Italy where he will assume the role of servant. Wanda does not want to do this, but his crazed ardor finally wins her over. The worse she is to him, the more he wants. This is obsession. The tale ends weakly with Severin regretting his choices, but really, Sacher-Masoch must have thrown that in so his book could be perceived as a morality tale. Masochism is probably the least understood of perversions. I have my own mild interest, and even I don't get what draws me so close to the flame. ( )

A quick (maybe 2 hours) but entertaining read. Though not nearly as explicit, an essential read in contrast to de Sade. very lyrical with nice description. ( )