This might be a product of me being dumbed down by the media, but I found it an arduous read that I had to break up into easily digested pieces. You definitely have to read it several times to get it, much like you have to watch a surreal (or surreal type) film several times to discern meaning. It is beautifully written, despite the shocking/outrageous subject matter. The style almost acts as a buffer, at least to my modern sensibilities. It's an experience well worth having, though I wouldn't consider it one of my favorite books.
Zach
Personally I disliked it. It's completly baroque, the language full of the arabesc type of description associated with the time (for this kind of literature). The point in hand is that Maldoror is doomed [to be a "bad" guy] and feels it piercingly because he would rather prefer be a "good" guy. But, Hellas!, he can't so he complains of his bad luck all the time whille doing his nasty "stuff". If you like the romantic, self-obsseded type of looser, it might prove an interesting reading... I personally prefer the "bad" guys so be fully convinced and charmfull. greets, Ricardo Reis (who also dislikes Nieztche), "Non Serviam"