Tag: Fifty Shades of Grey

Belle de jour by Joseph Kessel

Posted September 4, 2015 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Erotica / 0 Comments

Belle de jour by Joseph KesselTitle: Belle de Jour (Goodreads)
Author: Joseph Kessel
Translator: Geoffrey Atheling Wagner
Published: Overlook Books, 1928
Pages: 188
My Copy: eBook

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Belle de Jour is the story of Séverine Sérizy, a beautiful young housewife married to a successful doctor. Her life is pretty great, except she feels like she cannot fulfil her sexual affinity for masochistic desires with her husband. She gets a job as a prostitute under the pseudonym Belle de Jour, only working from two to five each week day, so she can return before her husband gets home. Her job gets her involved with a young gangster named Marcel who allows her to explore all her sexual fantasies. However this relationship of thrills becomes far too much and life gets complicated for Séverine.

Most people will know the story of Belle de Jour as it also a classic piece of French cinema from 1967. Directed by Luis Buñuel and staring Catherine Deneuve, the film explores the exact same story in a richer and interesting way. Buñuel is a Spanish director who has worked on movies in Spain, Mexico and France; he is also acclaimed for his avant-garde surrealist style. I was blown away by this movie and I only saw the movie recently. The concepts of the movie kept swimming through my mind that I needed to read the book to find out more.

What I have found is that the story in the novel is very similar but the surrealist nature of the movie was not there. I did however gain a few insights into the life of Séverine Sérizy that I never picked up on. There is some interesting observations to be made between the connection in literature and fetish, especially with sexual sadism and sexual abuse. This has been a common problem found in books like Fifty Shades of Grey and other novels that deal with BDSM. It is a little sad to think this trope steams all the way to 1928 and maybe further. I think French erotica is really interesting and it is weird to think this was written so long ago.

If you have seen the movie Belle de Jour, then reading the book is not really beneficial. Joseph Kessel does not offer anything interesting and I think everything that made the movie great was all original content from the mind of Luis Buñuel. I plan to re-watch the film sometime so I can write a review of it. As for French erotica, I plan to read more and I am not sure what to read.  I think might have to read The Story of O, but I am open to more suggestions.

The Martian by Andy Weir

Posted December 9, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Speculative Fiction / 4 Comments

The Martian by Andy WeirTitle: The Martian (Goodreads)
Author: Andy Weir
Published: Crown, February 11th 2014
Pages: 384
Genres: Speculative Fiction
My Copy: ARC from Edelweiss

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

In a freak dust storm NASA aborted a mission on Mars. leaving behind one astronaut; the crew evacuated thinking him dead. Now Mark Watney is stuck, with the damage done to the equipment he might not have time to starve to death. He was the first person to walk on Mars and he is going to be the first to die there too.

The age of the self-published novel is upon us and every now and then we hear people talking about a book getting a publishing deal and going on to be hugely successful. Fifty Shades of Grey being the first of these, then came Wool and I believe The Martian will be the next sensation book. I can’t help but think of this book as Moon (the movie) set on Mars. You have this man verses nature, fight to survive type thriller but help is about 225 million kilometres away (that’s the average; it does depend on the time of year).

You have a few parts to this novel; firstly you have a log book telling the majority of Mark Watney’s story. Then you read about NASA’s rush attempts to find a way to save him and finally you get a first-hand account of Watney when the epistolary style won’t work. The tension that builds in this book is key to why this novel works so well; this is edge of your seat thriller writing at its best.

What I loved the most about this novel was the humour, while this was a tense book, the little one liners thrown in really worked for me. I just liked how Mark Watney’s mind worked; it was a case of too much time on his hands. At one point in the novel he uses maritime law to work out how he can become a space pirate. Then the novel gets scientific, I’m not good at science but I did wonder how accurate this part of the book was. I’m not going to try mixing Oxygen and two parts Hydrogen to make water, it just sounds too dangerous.

For me, I loved every minute of reading The Martian, which is a little surprising; I can’t remember when the last time I truly enjoyed a Science Fiction novel. There are some that I got a lot out of but nothing this enjoyable. This book isn’t going to be released till February next year and unfortunately the self-published ebook is no longer available. Having said that, pre-order this one; I think there will be a lot of hype behind this, but don’t let that stop you from ordering first.

The Suite Life by Suzanne Corso

Posted September 4, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Chick Lit / 0 Comments

The Suite Life by Suzanne CorsoTitle: The Suite Life (Goodreads)
Author: Suzanne Corso
Series: Brooklyn Story #2
Published: Gallery Books, 10 September 2013
Pages: 336
Genres: Chick Lit
My Copy: ARC from Netgalley

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Growing up in Brooklyn, Samantha Bonti dreams of one day being a writer. She found the courage to break free from her an abusive mobster and eventually finds the man of her dreams. Alec is a successful Wall Street broker, but things are not as they seem and when he makes a risky business move, Sam is left scrambling to pick up the pieces of her crumbling fairy tale.

This isn’t really the type of book I would read but I liked the idea a novel about a writer, a mobster and a crumbling life. That was enough to peek my interests and I thought it was enough of a risk for me to try. Unfortunately it wasn’t a book for me and I should have abandoned it but I persevered. This novel didn’t have enough to deal with the mobster ex-boyfriend, which was one of my first disappointments. I got a sense that Sam wasn’t really as damaged by the relationship as the author wanted us to believe and I really struggled with that. I actually thought Alec was more damaging than the ex, with his emotional blackmail and need for control.

Let’s look at the relationship between Sam and Alec for a moment. The relationship felt a little too much like Edward and Belle from Twilight; I know some people think that is romantic but I really have a problem with it. Ordering for your date can be romantic but when it is a first date and they hardly know each other, it just feel weird and out of place. Also Alec felt too controlling and I got the impression he would sulk if he didn’t get his own way. There were also times I thought Alec would turn into Christian Grey from Fifty Shades of Grey; that might have made things a little different but still not my type of book.

I must admit that Suzanne Corso has a decent writing style and with a bit of work she could become an interesting writer. The Suite Life could use with a good hard editing, removing all the repetitiveness and cutting anything that was just filler but then the book would be too short. Some parts felt rushed and some parts dragged on too much, Corso needed to work more on backstory and show the reader just what Sam has been through. The Chick Lit approach feels like any pain and suffering has been down played and this really didn’t do the novel any justice.

There was also not enough to do with Sam’s desire to make it as a writer and it felt like she quickly abandoned her passions when she got a taste of the high life. The synopsis for this book made me think that this book was set in the 1980’s but I turned out to be the 1990’s. There wasn’t much nostalgia about the 90’s; the only real reference was repetitive mentions of Alanis Morissette. Also if Alec is so rich and living the highlife, I wonder why he was driving such an old car?

Having read this book I have since found out that The Suite Life is a sequel to Brooklyn Story and all the backstory and information about her mobster ex-boyfriend would be covered in that book. I suppose this book could work as a stand-alone but I think it was missing too much information that must have been covered in the first book. Will I read book one? Maybe, but I’m not in a hurry to find out about Sam’s life before Alec and there are just too many other novels to read.

This was an interesting reading experiment. I probably should have done more research on a book before reading it but sometimes it is fun to go in blind. While this book wasn’t for me, I’m sure that some people will enjoy it. I am more interested in diving into the emotions and looking at what drives and motivates people but The Suite Life just glossed over that. I’m not a romance or Chick Lit reader so I don’t know if this is the norm; I really hope not.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Posted August 24, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Classic, Erotica / 0 Comments

Tropic of Cancer by Henry MillerTitle: Tropic of Cancer (Goodreads)
Author: Henry Miller
Published: Harper Collins, 1934
Pages: 336
Genres: Classic, Erotica
My Copy: Library Book

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Tropic of Cancer is probably best known for being about sex, a book that was banned for over thirty years. An autobiographical novel of a struggling writer living in Paris in a community of bohemians. A fictionalised account of Miller’s life living underground, with prostitutes, painters and other writers.

This is an odd novel, not necessarily good but a literary landmark. Without Henry Miller we may never have books like Lolita, Naked Lunch, A Sport and a Pastime and even Tampa. On the plus side, we may never have Fifty Shades of Grey. This novel pushed the boundaries of literature in the 1930’s and found itself being banned, which developed a cult following that helped influence the future of literature. I tend to think, much like Lady’s Chatterley’s Lover, if it wasn’t for the banning of the book, this novel wouldn’t be a classic; it would have just faded away into obscurity.

There are some advantages to reading this book, there are the autobiographical elements but then Miller focuses on his friends and colleagues. Almost off topic, like he is commentating on what is happening in their lives. Then it gets a little more complex because there is a stream of consciousness reflecting on the occasional epiphany. The whole narrative gets really confusing with its non-linear approach, the tangents and reflections. It makes the whole book hard to read and in the end not really enjoyable.

I can’t help but compare this novel to The Dud Avocado, the sexual adventures in Paris is similar but Tropic of Cancer wasn’t as interesting and a female lead makes for a less sex obsessed narrative and tends to focus on life abroad as well. I can’t help thinking just how narcissistic Henry Miller must have been with all those autobiographical novels of his life; do people still do that? Or is this just a thing of the past, pushing the boundaries.

I have to give Henry Miller one thing; he doesn’t hold back, he will expose the good, the bad and the disturbing parts of his life. If I ever wrote a book like this (which I have no interest in doing anyway) I would be more inclined to hold back, to paint myself in a more favourable light; Miller doesn’t do that at all. There isn’t much I can say about this book, it’s about sex and that is about it. The stream of consciousness part was interesting but I still find that difficult to read. I would probably tell people to skip this and read The Dud Avocado or something similar but for the book snobs (like myself) if you do read this book I hope you get something out of it apart from the historical significance of a book like Tropic of Cancer.

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey by Andrew Shaffer

Posted September 26, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Humour / 0 Comments

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey by Andrew ShafferTitle: Fifty Shames of Earl Grey (Goodreads)
Author: Andrew Shaffer
Series: Fifty Shames #1
Published: Da Capo Press, 2012
Pages: 224
Genres: Humour
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I’ve not read many parodies before but Andrew Shaffer is mildly amusing on twitter so I thought I’d give his book a go. Fifty Shames of Earl Grey is an obvious dig at Fifty Shades of Grey but it also has fun with the Twilight fanfic elements as well; clearly pointing out the similarities of the two books with lines like; “I’m Edward Cullen. I mean, ‘Earl Grey.’ Have a seat?” This novel reminds me of a Leslie Nielsen style parody with the farfetched and over done humour, but that’s what makes it so much fun to read. Earl Grey is a billionaire with fifty secret shames; some of them involve his love of BDSM (Bards, Dragons, Sorcery, and Magick) while others are even worse, like his love of Nickelback.

Obviously this is never going to be high literature with lines like “Moan,” I moan. “Moan, moan, moooooooan.” but is this book supposed to reflect the literary flaws of 50 Shades and Twilight or is this just meant to be a fun read? I’m not going to think too much about it, I went into this book for a fun read and that is how I will review it. I’ve heard people claim that Edward Cullen and Christian Grey are hot but none come close to Earl Grey because “HOLY MOTHER EFFING SPARKLY VAMPIRES IS HE HOT”.

Let’s face it Andrew Shaffer had a lot of fun with this book, from the pseudonym (Fanny Merkin) to the cover and everything in between. It was awkward and unexpected; I had so much fun reading this book. I don’t normally highlight but my kindle version of this book has over thirty different highlighted passages in it. I really enjoyed what Shaffer did with this book; highlights for me included the Spanking scene with the Count from Sesame Street and the Cleo sex quiz (which I really want to read the other 200 pages of). They are making a movie of Fifty Shades, and if they ever decided to make a parody I really hope they consult Andrew Shaffer. This was a fun read and I’m looking forward to Fifty Shames in Space but right now I need a sandwich.

If you don’t believe me check out what Tiffany Reisz, author of the BDSM erotica series, The Original Sinners says about this book; “I’m not telling you to buy Fifty Shames of Earl Grey because I’m banging the author. I’m telling you to buy Fifty Shames of Earl Grey AND I’m banging the author.”

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Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Posted May 23, 2012 by Guest Post in Erotica, Guest Posts / 20 Comments

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. JamesTitle: Fifty Shades of Grey (Goodreads)
Author: E.L. James
Series: Fifty Shades #1
Published: Vintage, 2011
Pages: 528
Genres: Erotica
Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I first came to hear about Fifty Shades of Grey through blog posts and friends, and couldn’t believe all the hype and excitement this book was creating amongst the reading world. It was phenomenon. I read several romances and erotica in the past so I became curious. I think the only thing that I was holding me back was the BDSM relationship. I’ve hardly read any books that involve BDSM, so I was slightly a bit nervous. But curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give it a go.

Now that I’ve read it, I’d have to say it was the worst book I have ever read and I want my 2 weeks back. When a few people mentioned that it was mommy porn, I should’ve taken their comment seriously, and not just waved it off as a silly and biased comment toward this genre. By the end of it, that is exactly how it felt.

The sex scenes were continuous, repetitive and boring; one scene, after the other, going through the motion of sex with a little variation of positions or setting but it was all the same – Porn. There was nothing sexy about it. It lacked any passion, class or emotion and I was numb the whole way through. As far as the BDSM was concerned, there was nothing new that I haven’t read previously. It was more talk and negotiation on how far Ana will go than the act itself. There were a few bondage sessions here and there but it was very light.

The writing was pathetic and utterly ridiculous, which made the characters unlikable. Ana is meant to be this intelligent, 22 year old literary student but her personality didn’t match to her persona. The constant use of these juvenile words and phrases such as ‘Inner Goddess’ or ‘talking to the Subconscious’ or ‘Holy Fuck’ almost made me want throw the book against the wall. She would gush or blush over the most so trivial things and came across as being an immature and stupid lady. It’s how I would expect a young teenager to act.

Christian on the other hand, I had an instant dislike him immediately. He’s a deranged and twisted character who likes to dominate every aspect of Ana’s life, not only in the bed; he would question her on how often she would eat, stalk her and set out rules on he would like her to act/behave around him – otherwise she would be punished (BDSM style). I felt the author tried very hard to make him seem appealing or sexy by Ana gushing and being aroused over his looks, charm, sexual comments but his behaviour was a complete turn off and he sounded creepier to me. I honestly can’t understand what women can see that is so appealing in Christian’s character!?!

All in all I think this series could be a great introduction to the genre, if you are new and interested in reading erotica as they ‘flying of the self’ and most people are raving about it. But unfortunately, it didn’t work for me and I have no intention of continuing the series in the future.

This is a guest post by Mish; when she is not reading she is busy moderating that Aussie Readers group on Goodreads. Big thanks to her for this post and being the first guest blogger on Literary Exploration.