Venus in Furs
This novel tells of a man, Severin, so besotted by a woman that he requests to be treated as her slave, and encourages her to treat him in progressively more degrading ways. Severin describes his feelings during these experiences as supersensuality. Translated from the German by Fernanda Savage. Original title: Venus im Pelz.
Approx. 42,320 words.
"I know your predilection."
"Do you know," I interrupted, "that, since we last saw each other, you have grown very coquettish."
"In what way, may I ask?"
"In that there is no way of accentuating your white body to greater advantage than by these dark furs, and that--"
The divinity laughed.
"You are dreaming," she cried, "wake up!" and she clasped my arm with her marble-white hand. "Do wake up," she repeated raucously with the low register of her voice. I opened my eyes with difficulty.
I saw the hand which shook me, and suddenly it was brown as bronze; the voice was the thick alcoholic voice of my cossack servant who stood before me at his full height of nearly six feet.
"Do get up," continued the good fellow, "it is really disgraceful."
"What is disgraceful?"
"To fall asleep in your clothes and with a book besides." He snuffed the candles which had burned down, and picked up the volume which had fallen from my hand, "with a book by"--he loo
