Boredom seeps from the monstrosity of Sade's work, but it is this very boredom which constitutes its significance. As the Christian Klossowski says, his endless novels are more like prayer books than books of entertainment. The accomplished technique behind them is that of the 'monk ... who sets his soul in prayer before the divine mystery'. One must read them as they were written, with the intention of fathoming a mystery which is no less profound, nor perhaps less 'divine', than that of theology.