Story of O

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Cover of a French edition of Histoire d'O featuring Corinne Clery

Image:Roissy triskelion iron ring signet.png

Histoire d'O (English title: Story of O ) is an erotic novel about sadomasochism by French author Anne Desclos (1907-1998) under the pen name Pauline Réage. Desclos only revealed her identity as the author forty years after publication and shortly before her death. Desclos said that she had written the novel as a series of love letters to her lover Jean Paulhan who admired the work of the Marquis de Sade. Desclos also wrote under the name of Dominique Aury.

Published 1954 in French, by Jean-Jacques Pauvert, editeur, it is a story of female submission about a beautiful Parisian fashion photographer who is blindfolded, chained, whipped, branded, pierced, made to wear a mask, and taught to be "constantly available" for oral, vaginal, and/or anal intercourse. In February 1955, it won the French literature prize Prix des Deux Magots, although this did not prevent the French authorities bringing obscenity charges against the publisher. The charges were rejected by the courts, but a publicity ban was imposed for a number of years.

The first English edition was published by Grove Press, Inc. in 1965. Eliot Fremont-Smith (of the New York Times) called its publishing "a significant event."

A sequel, was published 1969 in French, again with Jean-Jacques Pauvert, editeur, Retour à Roissy (Return to Roissy, but often translated as Return to the Chateau, Continuing the Story of O), was published again by Grove Press, Inc., in 1971.

The English edition published by Grove Press, as An Evergreen Black Cat Book. Printed in the United States. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York.

A critical view of the novel is that it is about the ultimate objectification of a woman. The heroine of the novel has the shortest possible name, consisting solely of the letter O. Although this is in fact a shortening of the name Odile, it could also stand for "object" or "orifice", an O being a symbolic representation of any "hole".

It is assumed that a real-life O and inspiration in the entourage of Pauline Réage was French novelist Janine Aeply, the wife of French painter Jean Fautrier, and one of the friends of Dominique Aury.

The book has been the source of various terms that are used in the BDSM subculture such as SAMOIS, the name of the estate belonging to the character Anne-Marie, who brands O.

1 Adaptations
2 Use in Popular Culture
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Adaptations

For a very long time, French director Henri-Georges Clouzot dreamt of adapting the novel. Finally, a film, The Story of O, was made in 1975 by director Just Jaeckin, starring Corinne Clery and Udo Kier. The film met with far less acclaim than the book. It was banned in the United Kingdom by the British Board of Film Censors until February 2000.

In 1975 it was adapted for comics by the Italian artist Guido Crepax.

In 1979, Danish director Lars von Trier made a short movie which is a homage to Story of O and Dominique Aury, entitled Menthe - la bienheureuse.

A Brazilian miniseries in ten episodes with Claudia Cepeda was made in 1992 by director Eric Rochat, who was the producer of the original 1975 movie.

Finally, in 2002, Phil Leirness directed a modern-day, English-language remake of the Story of O, which he co-wrote.

[edit] Use in Popular Culture

In the episode "Halloween" of Frasier, Roz dresses as O at Niles' Halloween costume party.
In Damien Rice's album "O", the Story of O is said to be the general concept on which the album revolves around.
In the Webcomic "The noob", Episode 71, Fred the Dread relates how popular his gaming website became when it printed translations of "The History of O"