I got my book two days ago in the mail. It is quite short-only 175 pages with relatively large type. Since this is so unlike anything we've chosen in the book club so far, or anything I've ever read, I had to start it just to see. I couldn't help myself; I read the first 30 pages right away. So far, I thought it was very easy to read, even with the older English, although this author is also quite fond of commas and looonnnngggg sentences.
It is very smutty, as I expected from what I read about it online, but also very light-hearted. I found it to be rather a fun read so far. Maybe I just have a smutty mind, though... I can't wait to see your comments!
I'm about 1/4 in so far -- had to take a little break to tear through Eat, Pray, Love -- and yes it is quite risque!
My comment so far: How quickly the unthinkable becomes acceptable when you are surrounded by it. Fanny becomes eager to be a prostitute so very quickly. Peer pressure is powerful!
Also, a lot of similarities between her attitude and Sally in Rebel, no? It is a very glamorous lifestyle compared to what they came from.
Fanny does acclimate to being in a brothel very quickly, doesn't she? She does mention that her parents do not teach her much in the ways of the world and therefore she doesn't know that being a prostitute is a bad thing. Do you think the author is trying to make a statement about the confines that society puts on sexuality, especially female sexuality (that if we weren't told it is bad then we would be more open)? Or is it just that as a male author he wants to write about a prostitute who wants to have sex with everyone? He does spend a lot of time going on about the beauty of the male sex organs. Un-huh. I think I ascribe to the Stephanie Plum "half-decorated Christmas tree" school of thought on that.
I did not see the similarity between Sally and Fanny until you mention it. Though, I think Sally knows what she is doing more than Fanny. Sally wanted a glamorous life and realizes that being a prostitute can do that. Fanny just sees the life of the prostitutes and likes that life.
I told Ken about the book and he thought maybe he would like to read it. Then I read an excerpt to him (having an idea that it wasn't his type of writing style) and he decided he wouldn't read it after all. As he said, "it's too much work!" :-)
I have finished the "first letter" and so will put my comments so far.
First said, all this fricky frick and fookin', oh my! Ang, does your mother the LIBRARIAN know you are reading this book???!?!?!
Quote from Part 1: "pleased with my cage and blind to the wires", lots of thought in that one.
Fave body part in Part 5: "furnace mouth"
and a quote from Part 5: when Fanny tells Mr. H. her motive "here he colored prodigously", here HE colors but not me the reader. I think I am beyond prodigously.
And my new vocab: dishabille meaning disheveled, I can see how these words can be confused.
posset - a drink made from milk curdled with wine or ale, usually sweetened or spiced. Milk with wine? Bleh.
prenant and varsal - neither one in my dictionary, anyone?
I can't say I read too much of this genre (like none) but am wondering about the male author perspective of a prostitute versus a female author's perspective of a prostitute's life?
Awhile back, I read a book at Joy's suggestion that followed the downfall of a man who writes sensual novels as he fights with writer's block and divorce. Along the way, he describes the 4 plot lines for these types of books. I'm going to reproduce them here, as written by Donald Westlake on pages 10 and 11 in the secret life of a sensuous man also known as ADIOS SCHEHERAZADE. ----------------- Here's the way it goes. There are four sex novel stories, which we will number 1 through 4: 1--A boy in a small town wants to see the world. He screws his local sweetheart goodbye and he goes to the big city. In the big city he gets a job and meets a succession of people, mostly female, and lays them all. Typical sequences are hitching to New York and being given a ride by a bored but beautiful wife in a convertible, or getting a job in a store and meeting a nymphomaniac in the stockroom, or going to pick up a date and meeting her nymphomaniac roommate instead. At the end of all this crap the boy can do one of three things. He can go back to the small town and the local sweetheart. He can marry one of the big city girls. He can become ruthless and shaft one of the big city girls and wind up alone. It doesn't matter which of the three, any one of them will give your sludge that redeeming social significance which will prohibit the cops from confiscating it. All resolutions are emotional --sad, happy, pointed, poignant, cynical, sentimental or whatever --so take your pick. You can't lose. 2--The same as 1, except with a girl. She leaves her little home town, pausing first to fuck with her little home town boyfriend, and then it's off to the big city for her. The reason she shacks up with her lesbian roommate is she was just raped by her boss. Fill in the details and a few more studs and you've got a book. Same jazz about the ending. 3--La Ronde. Chapter 1 introduces George, who screws Myra. Chapter 2 switches to Myra's viewpoint, and she makes it with Bruno. In Chapter 3 we follow Bruno as he climbs into the rack with Phyllis. And so on, and so on. The finish here is either to have the last character in bed with the first character, or the last character decides to stay with the next-to-last character and end this chain of meaningless sex. Either way will do. 4--A bored husband and a bored wife. The chapters alternate between their viewpoints. We watch them having bored sex with each other and less bored sex with other characters. If we make one of them, husband or (more usually) wife, the heavy, wife can finish with the heavy getting his (her) comeuppance and the good guy (girl) getting a better girl (guy). If we make them both merely confused and troubled but basically nice, they get back together again at the finish. Redeeming social significance either way, if you'll notice.
Given the descriptions above, Fanny Hill is a pretty solid #2, except for the small town boyfriend. It seems to fit the description perfectly, right down to the social commentary at the end.
Now for some quotes: pg 26: "I fell, through meer fatigue, into a kind of delirious doze, out of which I wak'd late in the morning, in a violent fever" Brain fever strikes again!!
pg 55 "mean while all this dalliance and disport had so far consum'd the morning, that it became a kind of necessity to lay breakfast and dinner into one."
pg 56 "After dinner, which we eat a-bed in a most voluptuous disorder.." I just loved that line; voluptuous disorder indeed!
pg 81, describing Will: "a very good excuse for any woman's liking, even tho' revenge had been out of the question: any woman, I say, who was disprejudic'd, and had wit and spirit enough to prefer a point of pleasure to a point of pride."
pg 96: "I melted away, his oily balsamic injection mixing deliciously with the sluices in flow from me.." Yes, that's certainly one way to describe it...
pg 110 "there was no dress like an undress."
pg 140 "I glow'd the fiercer for this sprinkling; my hot-mettled spark sympathysing with me, and loaded for a double-fire" Loaded for a double fire might just make it into my lexicon!
pg 160 "And I feeling pretty sensibly that it was going by the right door, and knocking desperately at the wrong one, I told him of it: 'Pooh,' says he, 'my dear, any port in a storm.' " lol, I have already thrown this into casual conversation a couple of times.
pg 161 "I...pass'd a good many days in a continual uneasiness lest I should have met with other reasons, besides the pleasure of that encounter, to remember it.." tsk tsk Fanny, we don't want any little "souvenirs!"
I can't say that I really enjoyed the book overall. It was blatantly sexual at points (intentionally, of course!) and got a bit repetitive. Though, I will say that written as it was, a reformed prostitute looking back on her life, the scenes described are the ones that would most stand out.
Themes I picked out: Fanny's morality: throughout she is devoted and loyal to her masters (except for the dalliance with the sailor noted above). She's also painted as brave and reliable (she went trough with the S&M after all) and overall a "good girl" who did the best she could with the situation she was semi-forced into. She might have been a whore, but Fanny was never trashy.
Virgins: Wow, most of the book dealt with losing virginity or pretending to lose it. I don't think (and this is a huge assumption) that the modern volumes of this genre of book are so concerned about deflowering. I did however, love the way that Mrs. Cole and Fanny recreated her maiden-head. =)
Nothing new under the sun: I think each generation likes to believe that they are the most liberated and sexually aware that has ever walked the earth. It's very clear, however, that the old adage is true. There really ISN'T anything new under the sun.
I haven't finished yet; I've found that I can only read about so much sex in one sitting. Especially since once the initial novelty wore off it became more of a "good grief, they're having sex again?" type of response. I'm only about 70 pages from the end, though, and will probably finish it today or tomorrow.
My first problem is with the premise that this is all being written in letters. Explaining about how you got into whoredom and some of the more important events in whoredom I can understand. But when, in the second letter, she describes each girls story in detail. Really? I cannot see anyone taking the time to describe so many different ways of being "deflowered".
I also found it repetitive and started to really feel a man's touch in the writing. For example, a couple of times after girls had sex forced upon them they chose to have sex almost immediately with the rapist because they wanted it so badly. Hugh. I doubt a woman would have written that. Granted, I don't read a lot of this genre and maybe it is a genre thing and not a gender thing? From a women's studies perspective, though, I doubt a woman would write that.
I also noticed a definite trend toward violence terminology. For example, the penis is referred to as a "sword", "weapon", etc. One instance of this is on p 69 of my copy where it is written, "... and coming out with his drawn weapon". To go along with that, her area is often referred to as a "wound" and "injury" and not just after "destroying the maidenhead". In addition, he "lets the fury loose" (p 77) and "driving with refreshed rage, breaks in..." (p 77). The author says it is a great pleasure for both but then describes it in terms of anger and violence. I think Cleland may need some professional counciling.
Finally, I find it a bit harsh that all her mistress friends gloat over the fact that Mr. M turned her out after discovering her with the servant boy. You would think they would have more sympathy for her, especially since she mentions that many of them were carrying on dalliances on the side themselves.
I agree that Fanny Hill is solidly a # 2 on your list. The Anita Blake books are also very smutty. I tried to classify them but they escaped classification. Maybe if they fall in another genre but have smut then they differ enough from the smut genre to defy classification?
When I was a teenager I checked out a paperback from Burlington Library. It turned out to be a porno. It fit the # 1 pretty closely. Quite an eye opener for a teenager. So, I quietly returned it to the library and no-one was the wiser.
Whew – done! I am like you M, I can only read this book for so many minutes at a time.
Yes, Fanny is definitely a solid #2 in the porno plot lines.
My book has 12 – COUNT ‘EM 12 illustrations by Paul Avril (google the name and you’ll see some of them, also read his biography). Chosen for illustration are: 1) The Ceremonial of Fanny’s Initiation 2) Mr. Croft’s attempt to seduce Fanny 3) Polly Philips and the young Italian 4) Charles plucks Fanny’s virgin flower 5) Fanny emboldens William 6) Mr. H surprises Fanny and William 7) Louisa and the lodger’s son 8) Fanny’s beauties displayed 9) Fanny and the sailor 10) Fanny whips Mr. Barville 11) The bathing party 12) Charles and Fanny The pictures are very Victorian looking and in some, Fanny is a blonde, appearing very Marilyn Monroe-ish.
Another theme – THIGHS! So many descriptions of aptly proportioned white thighs, apparently, Mr. Cleland is a leg man.
I downloaded this book onto my kindle for a whopping 99 cents. By virtue of downloading, I can perform searches and so some interesting results: Thigh – 65 occurrences, weapon – 10, virgin – 8, maidenhead – 13, breast – 30.
I do agree with you M with all the “weaponry” terminology, it got tiring. And especially the “wanting” after being RAPED – that was insane!
One quote from Mrs. Cole “whether the game is worth the springs” reminded me of the Sienfeld “sponge-worthy” episode.
And Emily finally leaves with her parents and the parents send Mrs. Cole “a handsome acknowledgement” – for “keeping” Emily, you must be kidding!
I found it interesting that Fanny moves to Marybone – (merry bone?). And the 60 year old man who taught her that “pleasures of the mind were superior to those of the body” and this warrants what? 2 pages?
Interesting choice Ang. Will this book be marked "classical" or some other new category - "smut"?
Oh dear. I googled the pictures in your volume (mine was unillustrated). They are... explicit. Though I also noticed that Fanny's hair color changes- brunette in some pictures while blonde in others. Hugh.
M- I didn't pick up on the violent terms, but now that you pointed it out I completely agree with you. Very interesting, and good pickup.
The rape - We've seen this in a few books (Rebel, Shanghai Girls, Robber Bride) and I find it very interesting how male authors write women who immediately recover, and female authors write characters who struggle with it their entire lives. I think this is true across the majority of authors, do you?
Did you notice how much simultaneous orgasm was in this? Nearly every escapade, besides the deflowering, of course. Jeesh, to be so lucky!
At one point I noticed the simultaneous orgasm but then I forgot about it. I also noticed that all the girls orgasmed very easily, considering most of the men put little effort in helping the girls along. Again, male author. :-)
I think you may be right about the rape. I cannot think of a single male author who has shown rape impacting a female character her whole life, nor a female author who shows a woman getting over it quickly. A possible exception that comes to mind because I just finished it this afternoon is "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. One woman who is raped runs away and seems to be affected by it for most of her life, but another character seems to get over it fairly quickly. I'm not sure I would count this though.
I just finished watching the BBC version of Fanny Hill. It was very different from the book, especially the last half. For one, they took out a lot of the sex and didn't show anything nearly as explicitly as the book details it. I can't say I was very surprised about this. In an interview shown in the special features, the director said that it was a conscious decision to show a "hint" of sex rather than to show the sex itself.
Which is not to say that there wasn't a lot of nudity. This sweet little actress has the part of Fanny Hill (virtually unknown, only a few small parts in commercials and movies). She's interviewed in the special features about her role. She said her agent told her that she had an audition as Fanny Hill, and she was all excited and went out and bought the book. Here she pauses in the interview before saying, "It was not what I expected". Then she had to tell her parents about the audition and eventually what she was expected to do in the movie. She said that she was quite shy with the nudity at first but then frequently had to spend whole days on set naked. So she got used to it and became more comfortable with her body and shooting with a variety of naked men. A parallel to Fanny Hill?
Fanny Hill's character was basically the same but they changed/combined/left out/added other characters. The woman who abandons Fanny in London at the beginning is a major character for the duration of the movie. William and the country servant of Mr. H are blended into one character. Some of the girls at Mrs. Cole's, the sailor, and the S&M customer are left out altogether. And then they added a sick man who comes to live at Mrs Coles. He finally gets an erection with Fanny and dies in the middle of sex. Actually, it was pretty funny in the movie and I almost wish it would have been in the book.
Additionally, they focus a lot more on love than sex in the movie. Mr. H falls in love with Fanny, dumps her when he finds out about William/country boy, then comes and finds her at Mrs. Cole's (this whole part, of course, doesn't happen in the book), Fanny turns down his offer of marriage and tells him she'll never love him, then he, in a fit of rage, sics the cops on Mrs. Coles and shuts down the house so that Franny is living on the street. Look, that sentence is as long as some of Cleland's! Mr. H is not the only one to fall in love, in the movie Fanny leaves a trail of broken hearts behind her.
Anyway, this is probably more than you wanted to know, but I found comparing the book and television version fascinating, as I always do. BTW: Ken was excited about watching the movie until he actually saw it. He did not finish it with me. :-)
I just finished watching the BBC version of Fanny Hill. It was very different from the book, especially the last half. For one, they took out a lot of the sex and didn't show anything nearly as explicitly as the book details it. I can't say I was very surprised about this. In an interview shown in the special features, the director said that it was a conscious decision to show a "hint" of sex rather than to show the sex itself.
Which is not to say that there wasn't a lot of nudity. This sweet little actress has the part of Fanny Hill (virtually unknown, only a few small parts in commercials and movies). She's interviewed in the special features about her role. She said her agent told her that she had an audition as Fanny Hill, and she was all excited and went out and bought the book. Here she pauses in the interview before saying, "It was not what I expected". Then she had to tell her parents about the audition and eventually what she was expected to do in the movie. She said that she was quite shy with the nudity at first but then frequently had to spend whole days on set naked. So she got used to it and became more comfortable with her body and shooting with a variety of naked men. A parallel to Fanny Hill?
Fanny Hill's character was basically the same but they changed/combined/left out/added other characters. The woman who abandons Fanny in London at the beginning is a major character for the duration of the movie. William and the country servant of Mr. H are blended into one character. Some of the girls at Mrs. Cole's, the sailor, and the S&M customer are left out altogether. And then they added a sick man who comes to live at Mrs Coles. He finally gets an erection with Fanny and dies in the middle of sex. Actually, it was pretty funny in the movie and I almost wish it would have been in the book.
Additionally, they focus a lot more on love than sex in the movie. Mr. H falls in love with Fanny, dumps her when he finds out about William/country boy, then comes and finds her at Mrs. Cole's (this whole part, of course, doesn't happen in the book), Fanny turns down his offer of marriage and tells him she'll never love him, then he, in a fit of rage, sics the cops on Mrs. Coles and shuts down the house so that Franny is living on the street. Look, that sentence is as long as some of Cleland's! Mr. H is not the only one to fall in love, in the movie Fanny leaves a trail of broken hearts behind her.
Anyway, this is probably more than you wanted to know, but I found comparing the book and television version fascinating, as I always do. BTW: Ken was excited about watching the movie until he actually saw it. He did not finish it with me. :-)
17 comments:
I got my book two days ago in the mail. It is quite short-only 175 pages with relatively large type. Since this is so unlike anything we've chosen in the book club so far, or anything I've ever read, I had to start it just to see. I couldn't help myself; I read the first 30 pages right away. So far, I thought it was very easy to read, even with the older English, although this author is also quite fond of commas and looonnnngggg sentences.
It is very smutty, as I expected from what I read about it online, but also very light-hearted. I found it to be rather a fun read so far. Maybe I just have a smutty mind, though... I can't wait to see your comments!
I'm about 1/4 in so far -- had to take a little break to tear through Eat, Pray, Love -- and yes it is quite risque!
My comment so far: How quickly the unthinkable becomes acceptable when you are surrounded by it. Fanny becomes eager to be a prostitute so very quickly. Peer pressure is powerful!
Also, a lot of similarities between her attitude and Sally in Rebel, no? It is a very glamorous lifestyle compared to what they came from.
Fanny does acclimate to being in a brothel very quickly, doesn't she? She does mention that her parents do not teach her much in the ways of the world and therefore she doesn't know that being a prostitute is a bad thing. Do you think the author is trying to make a statement about the confines that society puts on sexuality, especially female sexuality (that if we weren't told it is bad then we would be more open)? Or is it just that as a male author he wants to write about a prostitute who wants to have sex with everyone? He does spend a lot of time going on about the beauty of the male sex organs. Un-huh. I think I ascribe to the Stephanie Plum "half-decorated Christmas tree" school of thought on that.
I did not see the similarity between Sally and Fanny until you mention it. Though, I think Sally knows what she is doing more than Fanny. Sally wanted a glamorous life and realizes that being a prostitute can do that. Fanny just sees the life of the prostitutes and likes that life.
I told Ken about the book and he thought maybe he would like to read it. Then I read an excerpt to him (having an idea that it wasn't his type of writing style) and he decided he wouldn't read it after all. As he said, "it's too much work!" :-)
I ordered this one through the library loan system. It should be here Monday. I can't wait to start it.
I have finished the "first letter" and so will put my comments so far.
First said, all this fricky frick and fookin', oh my! Ang, does your mother the LIBRARIAN know you are reading this book???!?!?!
Quote from Part 1: "pleased with my cage and blind to the wires", lots of thought in that one.
Fave body part in Part 5:
"furnace mouth"
and a quote from Part 5:
when Fanny tells Mr. H. her motive "here he colored prodigously", here HE colors but not me the reader. I think I am beyond prodigously.
And my new vocab:
dishabille meaning disheveled, I can see how these words can be confused.
posset - a drink made from milk curdled with wine or ale, usually sweetened or spiced. Milk with wine? Bleh.
prenant and varsal - neither one in my dictionary, anyone?
I can't say I read too much of this genre (like none) but am wondering about the male author perspective of a prostitute versus a female author's perspective of a prostitute's life?
Awhile back, I read a book at Joy's suggestion that followed the downfall of a man who writes sensual novels as he fights with writer's block and divorce. Along the way, he describes the 4 plot lines for these types of books. I'm going to reproduce them here, as written by Donald Westlake on pages 10 and 11 in the secret life of a sensuous man also known as ADIOS SCHEHERAZADE.
-----------------
Here's the way it goes. There are four sex novel stories, which we will number 1 through 4:
1--A boy in a small town wants to see the world. He screws his local sweetheart goodbye and he goes to the big city. In the big city he gets a job and meets a succession of people, mostly female, and lays them all. Typical sequences are hitching to New York and being given a ride by a bored but beautiful wife in a convertible, or getting a job in a store and meeting a nymphomaniac in the stockroom, or going to pick up a date and meeting her nymphomaniac roommate instead. At the end of all this crap the boy can do one of three things. He can go back to the small town and the local sweetheart. He can marry one of the big city girls. He can become ruthless and shaft one of the big city girls and wind up alone. It doesn't matter which of the three, any one of them will give your sludge that redeeming social significance which will prohibit the cops from confiscating it. All resolutions are emotional --sad, happy, pointed, poignant, cynical, sentimental or whatever --so take your pick. You can't lose.
2--The same as 1, except with a girl. She leaves her little home town, pausing first to fuck with her little home town boyfriend, and then it's off to the big city for her. The reason she shacks up with her lesbian roommate is she was just raped by her boss. Fill in the details and a few more studs and you've got a book. Same jazz about the ending.
3--La Ronde. Chapter 1 introduces George, who screws Myra. Chapter 2 switches to Myra's viewpoint, and she makes it with Bruno. In Chapter 3 we follow Bruno as he climbs into the rack with Phyllis. And so on, and so on. The finish here is either to have the last character in bed with the first character, or the last character decides to stay with the next-to-last character and end this chain of meaningless sex. Either way will do.
4--A bored husband and a bored wife. The chapters alternate between their viewpoints. We watch them having bored sex with each other and less bored sex with other characters. If we make one of them, husband or (more usually) wife, the heavy, wife can finish with the heavy getting his (her) comeuppance and the good guy (girl) getting a better girl (guy). If we make them both merely confused and troubled but basically nice, they get back together again at the finish. Redeeming social significance either way, if you'll notice.
Given the descriptions above, Fanny Hill is a pretty solid #2, except for the small town boyfriend. It seems to fit the description perfectly, right down to the social commentary at the end.
Now for some quotes:
pg 26: "I fell, through meer fatigue, into a kind of delirious doze, out of which I wak'd late in the morning, in a violent fever"
Brain fever strikes again!!
pg 55 "mean while all this dalliance and disport had so far consum'd the morning, that it became a kind of necessity to lay breakfast and dinner into one."
pg 56 "After dinner, which we eat a-bed in a most voluptuous disorder.."
I just loved that line; voluptuous disorder indeed!
pg 81, describing Will: "a very good excuse for any woman's liking, even tho' revenge had been out of the question: any woman, I say, who was disprejudic'd, and had wit and spirit enough to prefer a point of pleasure to a point of pride."
pg 96: "I melted away, his oily balsamic injection mixing deliciously with the sluices in flow from me.."
Yes, that's certainly one way to describe it...
pg 110 "there was no dress like an undress."
pg 140 "I glow'd the fiercer for this sprinkling; my hot-mettled spark sympathysing with me, and loaded for a double-fire"
Loaded for a double fire might just make it into my lexicon!
pg 160 "And I feeling pretty sensibly that it was going by the right door, and knocking desperately at the wrong one, I told him of it: 'Pooh,' says he, 'my dear, any port in a storm.' "
lol, I have already thrown this into casual conversation a couple of times.
pg 161 "I...pass'd a good many days in a continual uneasiness lest I should have met with other reasons, besides the pleasure of that encounter, to remember it.."
tsk tsk Fanny, we don't want any little "souvenirs!"
I can't say that I really enjoyed the book overall. It was blatantly sexual at points (intentionally, of course!) and got a bit repetitive. Though, I will say that written as it was, a reformed prostitute looking back on her life, the scenes described are the ones that would most stand out.
Themes I picked out:
Fanny's morality: throughout she is devoted and loyal to her masters (except for the dalliance with the sailor noted above). She's also painted as brave and reliable (she went trough with the S&M after all) and overall a "good girl" who did the best she could with the situation she was semi-forced into. She might have been a whore, but Fanny was never trashy.
Virgins: Wow, most of the book dealt with losing virginity or pretending to lose it. I don't think (and this is a huge assumption) that the modern volumes of this genre of book are so concerned about deflowering. I did however, love the way that Mrs. Cole and Fanny recreated her maiden-head. =)
Nothing new under the sun: I think each generation likes to believe that they are the most liberated and sexually aware that has ever walked the earth. It's very clear, however, that the old adage is true. There really ISN'T anything new under the sun.
I haven't finished yet; I've found that I can only read about so much sex in one sitting. Especially since once the initial novelty wore off it became more of a "good grief, they're having sex again?" type of response. I'm only about 70 pages from the end, though, and will probably finish it today or tomorrow.
My first problem is with the premise that this is all being written in letters. Explaining about how you got into whoredom and some of the more important events in whoredom I can understand. But when, in the second letter, she describes each girls story in detail. Really? I cannot see anyone taking the time to describe so many different ways of being "deflowered".
I also found it repetitive and started to really feel a man's touch in the writing. For example, a couple of times after girls had sex forced upon them they chose to have sex almost immediately with the rapist because they wanted it so badly. Hugh. I doubt a woman would have written that. Granted, I don't read a lot of this genre and maybe it is a genre thing and not a gender thing? From a women's studies perspective, though, I doubt a woman would write that.
I also noticed a definite trend toward violence terminology. For example, the penis is referred to as a "sword", "weapon", etc. One instance of this is on p 69 of my copy where it is written, "... and coming out with his drawn weapon". To go along with that, her area is often referred to as a "wound" and "injury" and not just after "destroying the maidenhead". In addition, he "lets the fury loose" (p 77) and "driving with refreshed rage, breaks in..." (p 77). The author says it is a great pleasure for both but then describes it in terms of anger and violence. I think Cleland may need some professional counciling.
Finally, I find it a bit harsh that all her mistress friends gloat over the fact that Mr. M turned her out after discovering her with the servant boy. You would think they would have more sympathy for her, especially since she mentions that many of them were carrying on dalliances on the side themselves.
I agree that Fanny Hill is solidly a # 2 on your list. The Anita Blake books are also very smutty. I tried to classify them but they escaped classification. Maybe if they fall in another genre but have smut then they differ enough from the smut genre to defy classification?
When I was a teenager I checked out a paperback from Burlington Library. It turned out to be a porno. It fit the # 1 pretty closely. Quite an eye opener for a teenager. So, I quietly returned it to the library and no-one was the wiser.
All done and only one more thing to say, for now. I noticed Mr. Norbert died of a fever (p 136)- was it a brain fever, I wonder?
Whew – done! I am like you M, I can only read this book for so many minutes at a time.
Yes, Fanny is definitely a solid #2 in the porno plot lines.
My book has 12 – COUNT ‘EM 12 illustrations by Paul Avril (google the name and you’ll see some of them, also read his biography). Chosen for illustration are:
1) The Ceremonial of Fanny’s Initiation
2) Mr. Croft’s attempt to seduce Fanny
3) Polly Philips and the young Italian
4) Charles plucks Fanny’s virgin flower
5) Fanny emboldens William
6) Mr. H surprises Fanny and William
7) Louisa and the lodger’s son
8) Fanny’s beauties displayed
9) Fanny and the sailor
10) Fanny whips Mr. Barville
11) The bathing party
12) Charles and Fanny
The pictures are very Victorian looking and in some, Fanny is a blonde, appearing very Marilyn Monroe-ish.
Another theme – THIGHS! So many descriptions of aptly proportioned white thighs, apparently, Mr. Cleland is a leg man.
I downloaded this book onto my kindle for a whopping 99 cents. By virtue of downloading, I can perform searches and so some interesting results:
Thigh – 65 occurrences, weapon – 10, virgin – 8, maidenhead – 13, breast – 30.
I do agree with you M with all the “weaponry” terminology, it got tiring. And especially the “wanting” after being RAPED – that was insane!
One quote from Mrs. Cole “whether the game is worth the springs” reminded me of the Sienfeld “sponge-worthy” episode.
And Emily finally leaves with her parents and the parents send Mrs. Cole “a handsome acknowledgement” – for “keeping” Emily, you must be kidding!
I found it interesting that Fanny moves to Marybone – (merry bone?). And the 60 year old man who taught her that “pleasures of the mind were superior to those of the body” and this warrants what? 2 pages?
Interesting choice Ang. Will this book be marked "classical" or some other new category - "smut"?
Oh dear. I googled the pictures in your volume (mine was unillustrated). They are... explicit. Though I also noticed that Fanny's hair color changes- brunette in some pictures while blonde in others. Hugh.
M- I didn't pick up on the violent terms, but now that you pointed it out I completely agree with you. Very interesting, and good pickup.
The rape - We've seen this in a few books (Rebel, Shanghai Girls, Robber Bride) and I find it very interesting how male authors write women who immediately recover, and female authors write characters who struggle with it their entire lives. I think this is true across the majority of authors, do you?
Did you notice how much simultaneous orgasm was in this? Nearly every escapade, besides the deflowering, of course. Jeesh, to be so lucky!
I also Googled the illustrations. Oh my my.
At one point I noticed the simultaneous orgasm but then I forgot about it. I also noticed that all the girls orgasmed very easily, considering most of the men put little effort in helping the girls along. Again, male author. :-)
I think you may be right about the rape. I cannot think of a single male author who has shown rape impacting a female character her whole life, nor a female author who shows a woman getting over it quickly. A possible exception that comes to mind because I just finished it this afternoon is "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. One woman who is raped runs away and seems to be affected by it for most of her life, but another character seems to get over it fairly quickly. I'm not sure I would count this though.
I just finished watching the BBC version of Fanny Hill. It was very different from the book, especially the last half. For one, they took out a lot of the sex and didn't show anything nearly as explicitly as the book details it. I can't say I was very surprised about this. In an interview shown in the special features, the director said that it was a conscious decision to show a "hint" of sex rather than to show the sex itself.
Which is not to say that there wasn't a lot of nudity. This sweet little actress has the part of Fanny Hill (virtually unknown, only a few small parts in commercials and movies). She's interviewed in the special features about her role. She said her agent told her that she had an audition as Fanny Hill, and she was all excited and went out and bought the book. Here she pauses in the interview before saying, "It was not what I expected". Then she had to tell her parents about the audition and eventually what she was expected to do in the movie. She said that she was quite shy with the nudity at first but then frequently had to spend whole days on set naked. So she got used to it and became more comfortable with her body and shooting with a variety of naked men. A parallel to Fanny Hill?
Fanny Hill's character was basically the same but they changed/combined/left out/added other characters. The woman who abandons Fanny in London at the beginning is a major character for the duration of the movie. William and the country servant of Mr. H are blended into one character. Some of the girls at Mrs. Cole's, the sailor, and the S&M customer are left out altogether. And then they added a sick man who comes to live at Mrs Coles. He finally gets an erection with Fanny and dies in the middle of sex. Actually, it was pretty funny in the movie and I almost wish it would have been in the book.
Additionally, they focus a lot more on love than sex in the movie. Mr. H falls in love with Fanny, dumps her when he finds out about William/country boy, then comes and finds her at Mrs. Cole's (this whole part, of course, doesn't happen in the book), Fanny turns down his offer of marriage and tells him she'll never love him, then he, in a fit of rage, sics the cops on Mrs. Coles and shuts down the house so that Franny is living on the street. Look, that sentence is as long as some of Cleland's! Mr. H is not the only one to fall in love, in the movie Fanny leaves a trail of broken hearts behind her.
Anyway, this is probably more than you wanted to know, but I found comparing the book and television version fascinating, as I always do. BTW: Ken was excited about watching the movie until he actually saw it. He did not finish it with me. :-)
I just finished watching the BBC version of Fanny Hill. It was very different from the book, especially the last half. For one, they took out a lot of the sex and didn't show anything nearly as explicitly as the book details it. I can't say I was very surprised about this. In an interview shown in the special features, the director said that it was a conscious decision to show a "hint" of sex rather than to show the sex itself.
Which is not to say that there wasn't a lot of nudity. This sweet little actress has the part of Fanny Hill (virtually unknown, only a few small parts in commercials and movies). She's interviewed in the special features about her role. She said her agent told her that she had an audition as Fanny Hill, and she was all excited and went out and bought the book. Here she pauses in the interview before saying, "It was not what I expected". Then she had to tell her parents about the audition and eventually what she was expected to do in the movie. She said that she was quite shy with the nudity at first but then frequently had to spend whole days on set naked. So she got used to it and became more comfortable with her body and shooting with a variety of naked men. A parallel to Fanny Hill?
Fanny Hill's character was basically the same but they changed/combined/left out/added other characters. The woman who abandons Fanny in London at the beginning is a major character for the duration of the movie. William and the country servant of Mr. H are blended into one character. Some of the girls at Mrs. Cole's, the sailor, and the S&M customer are left out altogether. And then they added a sick man who comes to live at Mrs Coles. He finally gets an erection with Fanny and dies in the middle of sex. Actually, it was pretty funny in the movie and I almost wish it would have been in the book.
Additionally, they focus a lot more on love than sex in the movie. Mr. H falls in love with Fanny, dumps her when he finds out about William/country boy, then comes and finds her at Mrs. Cole's (this whole part, of course, doesn't happen in the book), Fanny turns down his offer of marriage and tells him she'll never love him, then he, in a fit of rage, sics the cops on Mrs. Coles and shuts down the house so that Franny is living on the street. Look, that sentence is as long as some of Cleland's! Mr. H is not the only one to fall in love, in the movie Fanny leaves a trail of broken hearts behind her.
Anyway, this is probably more than you wanted to know, but I found comparing the book and television version fascinating, as I always do. BTW: Ken was excited about watching the movie until he actually saw it. He did not finish it with me. :-)
Sorry about the double post- I don't know what happened.
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