Crimes of Love, a collection of short stories, was first published in 1800. Now five of these weird and wonderful tales are available to modern readers. This book is tame compared to the author’s other writings. This should be expected; after all it is from him that the term “Sadism” is derived.
The stories themselves are witty, moral, extremely tragic and bizarre, all at the same time. They contain murder, incest and intrigue. One involves a journey by Rodrigo, the King of Spain, to hell and back for money. The young girls he has murdered and raped haunt him throughout his journey. As well as that, he soars through the solar system on an eagle who gives him advice and words of wisdom. Sade’s villains stop at nothing to fulfil their evil plans, and have no motivation other than to cause suffering. The contrast between the villainous and virtuous characters is fascinating. The endings of these stories are moral, but not moral enough, as the damage caused is irreparable and the antagonists merely repent. They rarely receive their just desserts.
Also, reading the author’s footnotes is intriguing, as Sade discusses dreams and states how long it would take a cannonball to reach the sun. His writing is archaic but still accessible to the modern reader.
If you are squeamish or prudish, you should avoid this book and anything else by the Marquis de Sade. He was imprisoned for his pornographic writings and is to this day considered dangerous. Having read his magnum opus, The 120 Days of Sodom, I can assure you that his work can go beyond pornographic. He is responsible for what is probably the most disturbing and vile piece of literature ever created.
Crimes of Love is not an evil book, nor is it by an evil author. As Wilde said, “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.” Fortunately this one is well written, albeit the language is archaic at times. The arguments and philosophising of the characters and narrator are thought provoking. The stories are interesting, entertaining and gripping. It provides everything one should expect from a good book, although the plots are predictable, and overall similar. I would recommend this to anyone over 18. ( )