Something New to Read

The other day when we went to visit Grandpa we had followed my dad out to Grandpa's house, like I had mentioned. While we were out there I had asked if I could dig through the book collection that Grandpa had held onto that Grandma owned. She had a lot of books. She had a major in English and was a school teacher so she loved to read, and had instilled that in me from a very young age.

I didn't ask to do so in such a way that it meant I wanted to start taking things I wanted out of Grandpa's house already. It was simply because I'm currently unemployed and needed something new to read. I can't afford to buy anything new. I didn't figure anyone would care if I took a couple of books. It's not like they are worth anything. My dad and uncle said that would be fine. So off I went to a side bedroom that had been converted into a sewing room. That's where all the toys my brother and I use to play with and Grandma's book collection are.

It took me a little while. It's a pretty big collection and some of the older books didn't have the title on the spine so I had to pull them out to see what it was. I actually took so long that my dad came back there to check on me. It's not like he thought I was trying to take anything I wasn't supposed to. He just was worried I was having a hard time getting to some of them.

Anyway, there I am digging through them. I found a book on North American birds that I thought Master would love. He already had a similar book at home but this one was huge so I thought He would like to flip through it. I selected a couple of other books and then I came across one that made me look twice.

I couldn't believe it was there... I had never read it before but I knew exactly what it was about. It's "Story of O".

I sat there looking at the cover for a few minutes just kind of in disbelief. I mean... come on now... this is my grandmother we're talking about. Yes, I know she was an adult woman and all that but I don't think anyone really expects to see a book like that in a collection of books their grandma had.

Did that stop me from taking it? Nope. After all, I had heard so much about it and I had honestly wanted to read it but never really wanted to spend money on it since I had read mixed reviews on it.

One of the reviews in the book before the story actually begins said that the author, Pauline Réage, is a more dangerous writer than Marquis de Sade. Somehow I doubt that. I mean I've only read snippets of his work but... damn... I mean he was arrested for his writings for fucks sake. His family had to intervene to get him out of jail and into an insane asylum where he was refused pen and paper. (Note to self:  Find Marquis de Sade books.) From what I know of Pauline Réage some writings were banned but she never took it to the edge that Marquis de Sade did.

Anyway...

I started reading "Story of O" last night and I'm not a full chapter in yet, because my eyes were starting to bother me, but so far I'm not entirely sure what I think of it. I understand that it was translated from French to English and so I'm sure some things didn't translate well. I may just not be used to the writing style yet. I'm going to read it all the way through though, regardless. I just want to see what happens and how it ends just so I can basically form a full opinion of the book.