Another book I don't like

One of the worst books around has to be the 120 Days of Sodom. First of it's moral repulsiveness. The main characters kidnap people and inflict all sorts of rapes and sexual tortures upon them. Some will say this depiction of evil helps us understand what evil is so that we might recognize it. The 20th century gave us plenty of examples of evil and we have far too many today to deal with, thanks very much. A second line of argument says that we all have a bit of evil in us and we will recognize that. Criterion Contraption guy deals with that line of thinking in his review of the Sade-influenced Salo. There is a certain complicity in watching this amount of evil.

I also have to say that the book is also overly long and terribly boring. After a while it becomes, "oooo, another indignity!" The characters, as such, are known for their body parts as in the case of the frighteningly named "Bum Cleaver." It's just a catalogue of bizarre demented fantasties of a decadent and feverish mind. I can see the book appealing to the college student as you don't see this sort of thing in print very often, but it really is a tremendous waste of time. Just click over to cnn.com and you'll realize, that yup, evil exists.