heshe's review against another edition
3.0
A very interesting introduction to Marquis de Sade.
One of the final chapters, the one that speaks about women & the anima, is very tangential & seems to come from a place of emotion & personal feeling rather than research & critical thinking. This chapter detracted from the rest of the book, considering how thoughtful most other chapters are. This chapter seemed to have little editing, & presents scarily harmful ideas.
The rest if the book was a very fun, interesting read.
One of the final chapters, the one that speaks about women & the anima, is very tangential & seems to come from a place of emotion & personal feeling rather than research & critical thinking. This chapter detracted from the rest of the book, considering how thoughtful most other chapters are. This chapter seemed to have little editing, & presents scarily harmful ideas.
The rest if the book was a very fun, interesting read.
kimberlyrose's review
4.0
I wouldn't call it an "astonishing" book (blurbs that outrageously self-praise are as repulsive as people who do it), but it certainly is fascinating, fresh, and full of mature "whole-person" beliefs.
Moore is consistent; his popular Care of the Soul book speaks about accepting all of ourselves, "problems" included, things we fear, don't like, think wrong included. This book projects the same idea: as a archetype therapist (and a student of J. Hillman), he presents Sade's characters as archetypes, comparing them to the gods and goddesses of other religions, such as Greek and Roman, Christian and Buddhist. It's a compelling argument, seeing the libertines and masochists of Sade's stories lined up to the classic characters of well-known religions, instead of seeing them as real people, which makes them almost impossible to relate to, since they are one-level representations.
A zeal for fearful imaginings of "evil" and "darkness" lie within us all, Moore says, and acknowledging these feelings and thoughts are not the same as acting intentionally cruel or harmful toward another. Accepting, without shame, all of ourselves gives us permission to explore and take back our power rather than have these dark sides of ourselves repressed--that's when they become something unbiddable.
Sometimes Moore waxes way too philosophical, losing his own point in a plethora of what-the-fuckery lines piled on top of solid ideas, but overall, this was an accessible book. I'll never see the Marquis de Sade the same.
Moore is consistent; his popular Care of the Soul book speaks about accepting all of ourselves, "problems" included, things we fear, don't like, think wrong included. This book projects the same idea: as a archetype therapist (and a student of J. Hillman), he presents Sade's characters as archetypes, comparing them to the gods and goddesses of other religions, such as Greek and Roman, Christian and Buddhist. It's a compelling argument, seeing the libertines and masochists of Sade's stories lined up to the classic characters of well-known religions, instead of seeing them as real people, which makes them almost impossible to relate to, since they are one-level representations.
A zeal for fearful imaginings of "evil" and "darkness" lie within us all, Moore says, and acknowledging these feelings and thoughts are not the same as acting intentionally cruel or harmful toward another. Accepting, without shame, all of ourselves gives us permission to explore and take back our power rather than have these dark sides of ourselves repressed--that's when they become something unbiddable.
Sometimes Moore waxes way too philosophical, losing his own point in a plethora of what-the-fuckery lines piled on top of solid ideas, but overall, this was an accessible book. I'll never see the Marquis de Sade the same.
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