Venus in Furs and Selected Letters

This book reads more like a philosophical treatise on Sacher-Masoch's type of love than it does a novel. By today's standards, it is actually extremely chaste.

I found it very romantic and sweet, except for the fact that Sacher-Masoch puts his main character through horrible ordeals, usually involving whippings of some kind.

Also interesting is the fact that the story closely parallels incidents from his life with his wife, Wanda.