cmcrockford's review against another edition
5.0
Some of the most horrifying images in literature, backed by a Decadent philosophy that sees the title location as only the tip of the iceberg. Also deeply racist and Orientalist - Clara's idealization of China is reflected in the book's own prose, ironically. The likes of Hellraiser, "In The Penal Colony", and Genet were able to rifle through this novel without simulating it's ignorance. Still an invaluable work.
szeglin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
bessa's review against another edition
5.0
სიკვდილზე და ტანჯვაზე დაფუძნებული რამეებით ვინც კაიფობს, იმ წყობის და საზოგადოების სახე ქალბატონი კლარა რომ არის, სექსისტურად კი გამოიყურება, მაგრამ მეორე მხრივ, 'გიკის სიყვარულის' ავტორიც განა შეიძლება, რომ ქალბატონი არ ყოფილიყო და კიდევ ბევრი ასეთი რამე.. ხოდა, გაუმარჯოთ საშიშ ქალებს!)))
umbreen's review against another edition
I read this for a class. The first part of this book was interesting and then it got a bit strange. Reading it was an interesting experience, but I don't think I'd recommend it to anybody.
jimmy_r's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
4.5
kuhkeke's review
4.0
Setting Patrick Bateman loose in New York City sounds like summer camp compared to experiencing Mirbeau’s Torture Garden.
This piece definitely requires context some preliminary research on Mirbeau’s political beliefs and some basic historical knowledge of his times, else it’s really easy to read this as a depraved man’s manifesto instead of the satire that it is. There are some passages that feel too real, so like, Poe’s law. You can totally imagine soldiers treating mass murder like a game (because it’s happened).
The long descriptions of the florid environment lost me at times, but I can appreciate the idea Mirbeau tried to convey. For all the beauty that exists and appears to be natural, the cost of nourishing the “garden” was paid with blood, rot, and torture. It’s a clever analogy for and a critique of Western colonialism. Projects to (nominally) civilize and advance the Other were accompanied by the decimation, rape, and enslavement of them. Those who reaped the rewards weren’t the “uncivilized brutes” but the war profiteers, soldiers who treated men like game, evangelists, and all manner of civilized folks falsely convinced of their charity and aid.
This piece definitely requires context some preliminary research on Mirbeau’s political beliefs and some basic historical knowledge of his times, else it’s really easy to read this as a depraved man’s manifesto instead of the satire that it is. There are some passages that feel too real, so like, Poe’s law. You can totally imagine soldiers treating mass murder like a game (because it’s happened).
The long descriptions of the florid environment lost me at times, but I can appreciate the idea Mirbeau tried to convey. For all the beauty that exists and appears to be natural, the cost of nourishing the “garden” was paid with blood, rot, and torture. It’s a clever analogy for and a critique of Western colonialism. Projects to (nominally) civilize and advance the Other were accompanied by the decimation, rape, and enslavement of them. Those who reaped the rewards weren’t the “uncivilized brutes” but the war profiteers, soldiers who treated men like game, evangelists, and all manner of civilized folks falsely convinced of their charity and aid.
niamhelizabethfennell's review against another edition
4.0
At first glance the horrific racism, sexism, graphic tortures are almost too much.
But if you read on the satire is clear. In the novel there is no real difference between the refinements of civilisation and the cruelties of barbarism. Mirbeau uses “the orient” as a satire of literary colonialism (which had seen “primitivism” of Africa and Asia as a Neo-romantic vision of recovery) he does this by subverting this idea of an exotic orient as French romantic tradition into the scene of the most extreme cruelty imaginable.
Furthermore, 30 years before Freud argues repression makes us miserable but also has the beneficial effect of allowing us to live, Mirbeau articulates something Beyond this pleasure-pain principle in Torture Garden.
But if you read on the satire is clear. In the novel there is no real difference between the refinements of civilisation and the cruelties of barbarism. Mirbeau uses “the orient” as a satire of literary colonialism (which had seen “primitivism” of Africa and Asia as a Neo-romantic vision of recovery) he does this by subverting this idea of an exotic orient as French romantic tradition into the scene of the most extreme cruelty imaginable.
Furthermore, 30 years before Freud argues repression makes us miserable but also has the beneficial effect of allowing us to live, Mirbeau articulates something Beyond this pleasure-pain principle in Torture Garden.
braincabbage's review against another edition
4.0
Mirbeau might actually be the most misanthropic author I've ever read. The translator's introduction mentioned misogyny, but judging from what I've read so far he justs hates everyone. In a weird way, I felt he did women more justice in this book than other male authors did at the time: his female characters are not the stereotypical innocent virtuous ladies in need of a strong man to shield them from the unpleasantries of the world that other men at the time liked to imagine they were. Mirbeau's female characters are just as vile and corrupted as the men are, strangely equalised in their cruelty. I think he doesn't see people on a spectrum of fluctuating between good and evil, I think he only sees people as either openly diabolical or hypocritical.
Not gonna lie, some parts of this did remind me of shock fics I read years ago, the rat torture especially squicked me. But most of the novel is more literary, because unlike shock fics I don't think Mirbeau set out to shock the audience as much as he could with this, but rather uncover the hypocrisy and moral corruption of humanity at large.
Not gonna lie, some parts of this did remind me of shock fics I read years ago, the rat torture especially squicked me. But most of the novel is more literary, because unlike shock fics I don't think Mirbeau set out to shock the audience as much as he could with this, but rather uncover the hypocrisy and moral corruption of humanity at large.
ediesuperstar's review
3.0
This ed. is from 2000, but I have one from an earlier date from this publisher. Will update to proper ed.
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