The writer of Histoire d'O was a mystery. Jean Paulan (who wrote this Preface, and was certain that the writer was a woman) was himself suggested as the author, along with Henry de Montherlant, André Malraux and André Pieyre de Mandiargues. Dominique Aury, the secretary of the Nouvelle Revue française, was in fact the author, who 'confessed' to this in 1994 at the age of eighty-six. She described it as a 'love letter' to Jean Paulhan, and the book was at the time considered scandalalous due to its sexual content.
Well, it was considered really 'hot', but today I have to admit I found it a huge yawn, and – very rarely for me – found it impossible to finish. It may well be that the atmosphere of Provence (where I was at the time), the heat, the wonderful food and drink prevented me from appreciating a gem of literature. Or perhaps not, so I'll keep an open mind and hold it in reserve for a future date. I note that a number of people managed to get through it, and I don't give up so easily.
'JEAN PAULHAN 1884–1968'
In photographs the Paulhan family tomb looks deceptively tall, whereas in reality it stands at little more than waist height to the average adult. Also buried here is Jean's philosopher father Frédéric Paulhan (1856–1931). I wrote a few paragraphs about Jean Paulhan here.
'JEAN PAULHAN
1884 – 1968
VÉCUT DANS CETTE MAISON
DE 1940 À SA MORT'
And the house is at 5 rue des Arénes, quite close to the Jardin des Plantes. Jean Paulhan was the son of the philosopher Frédéric Paulhan. In 1920 he became secretary to Jacques Rivière at La Nouvelle Revue française (NRF), of which he was editor after Rivière's death in 1925 until 1940, sometimes writing as 'Jean Guérin'.
During World War II Paulhan wrote for a number of Resistance organs, and on one occasion was arrested, only to be saved by the collaborator Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, who had taken over as editor of the NRF. Paulhan later went into hiding until the Liberation.
Famously, Dominique Aury – secretly Paulhan's partner from 1953 to his death in 1968 – revealed in 1994 that she was the pseudonymous 'Pauline Réage' who wrote the 'pornographic' novel Histoire d'O (1954), which won the prix des Deux Magots the year after publication. It was her 'love letter' to Paulhan.
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