Grab an egg salad sandwich and a warm glass of apple juice, we’re reading The Story of the Eye.

I went into this blind (no pun intended) and was struck right in the gut almost immediately.

This is erotica, but it’s not erotica.
This is smutty, but it’s not smut.
This is horrible, but it’s not horror.
This is depravity, nihilism and existentialism as a vehicle of these themes, but it says something deeper.
You should be grossed out.
You should be disturbed.
You should feel ashamed that you wanted to know what happened next.

But also:
“There is no crime of which I do not deem myself capable.” - Goethe