KEE@FSWMAG.COM
I USED TO DEVOUR BOOKS WHEN GROWING UP, FIRST BY ENID BLYTON AND THEN AGATHA CHRISTIE.
These days I have no time to read except Harry Potter books which I borrowed from Sonia Wong ( bet she has forgotten I took them as she never asked for them!) but for those who enjoy reading books (apart from this blog of course), here are some fab recommendations.
Book review: Fifty Shades of Grey
By Noman Ansari
Published: August 26, 2012
The book is classified as erotic fiction, where I am sure
the word ‘erotic’ is used in the loosest sense of the word. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
The book is classified as erotic fiction, where I am sure the word ‘erotic’ is used in the loosest sense of the word. If erotic passages are meant to induce an almost impossible combination of disbelief, cringing and inadvertent hilarity then, by all means, Fifty Shades of Grey is the most erotic novel ever written. Frankly, until now, I did not think it was possible to wince, laugh, and grind my teeth at same time. There is also no doubt that the book is fictional because it requires a suspension of disbelief that I believe the human mind isn’t dull enough to manage. I am not sure who the 40 million people who purchased this book are, but either the US is experimenting with fresher ways to torture those being held for terrorism or Fifty Shades of Grey is really popular with the stoner crowd. The book is told from the perspective of a 22-year-old college student Anastasia “Ana” Steele who, while doing a favour for her friend Katherine Kavanagh, meets 27-year-old businessman Christian Grey and they develop a mutual attraction. After a longwinded courtship, they eventually become involved in a more physical relationship. Initially, their physical interactions are limited to regular sexual play. Ana, who has little sexual experience, not even solo, finds Christian irresistible, and through him reaches a sexual awakening. But things get out of control when they turn to BDSM. To his credit, Christian is very receptive to Ana’s physical needs and is both attentive and successful at sexually pleasing Ana. Unfortunately, as a male reader, that’s the only positive or realistic thing I can say about this character. Other than that, what Fifty Shades of Grey has taught me is that I would have to be incredibly handsome, in peak physical condition, a billionaire, a philanthropist, able to fluently speak foreign languages, be trained at flying aircrafts, be the world’s best lover and, on top of all that, be impressively endowed, to attract Ana. Yes, I’d essentially have to be Batman. But while the depiction of Christian Grey as some sort of superhuman can be perfectly acceptable as a woman’s fantasy, his characterisation makes him quite unlikable. Not only is Christian emotionally distant, rude and gloomy, he is manipulative and borderline psychotic in stalking Ana. And for a man in charge of a huge company, he seems to spend little time actually working. On the other hand, Ana is even less likable as a highly neurotic and insecure woman, who has never been romantically interested in another person until she found someone like Christian who only appeals to her on a superficial level. Fifty Shades of Grey is poorly written, and that too to a surprising degree. Twice, I stopped reading to check if I had been duped in my purchase or whether I was reading an authentic eBook. This isn’t surprising given that this first novel in the trilogy by British author EL James began as erotic fan fiction for the Twilight saga. Aside from the poor characterisation, the author did not do her research properly and used plenty of British colloquialisms that sound odd being spoken by the book’s American characters. Worse still are the words and phrases that repeat themselves with such frequency, including 58 counts of the term ‘inner goddess’, that I wonder if the author set shortcuts for common phrases on her keyboard. Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 26th, 2012. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sexier Than ‘50 Shades of Grey’: Naughtiest Bits From 12 Other Erotica Bestsellers Jul 12, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
 1. The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy By Anne Rice Anne Rice did it before Fifty Shades of Grey, when she published her underground hit Sleeping Beauty trilogy in the 1980s under the pen name A.N. Roquelaure. Some 30 years later, it’s being rereleased with the message: “If you liked 50 Shades of Grey, you’ll love the Sleeping Beauty trilogy.” Rice told the New York Times, “Women have just as much right to pornography as men do, and I’m talking about literary porn, erotica. If a woman wants to read about being overwhelmed by a pirate, that’s her right.” And, boy, is it overwhelming. This is no Disney movie. Here’s how the Prince (not exactly Charming) wakes Sleeping Beauty up. Naughty Bit: He mounted her, parting her legs, giving the white inner flesh of her thighs a soft, deep pinch, and, clasping her right breast in his left hand, he thrust his sex into her. He was holding her up as he did this, to gather her mouth to him, and as he broke through her innocence, he opened her mouth with his tongue and pinched her breast sharply. He sucked on her lips, he drew the life out of her into himself, and feeling his seed explode within her, heard her cry out. And then her blue eyes opened.  2. Lace By Shirley Conran A huge novel that was turned into a Warner Brothers mini-series. Lili went from porno princess to Hollywood star, and now she has mommy-issues: she wants to know which of four women she’s summoned to her New York hotel is her mother, because she’d like to destroy her. Let the over-the-top theatrics begin. Naughty Bit: Kate, who never knew whether to swallow, spit or dribble, tasted the oddly pungent, acrid almond odor. “What do men like?” she timidly asked Tom later. Silence, then he said, “Naturally, I can’t speak for the rest of my sex, but when borne on summits of delights such as I have just experienced, I neither know nor care.”  3. My Secret Garden By Nancy Friday Nancy Friday broke new ground in her bestseller My Secret Garden by revealing the real-life sexual fantasies of women, asserting that “sexual freedom was never a part of modern feminism.” Her scenarios are riotously fun to read. Here’s a fantasy about cheering on the Baltimore Colt (ha!) football player Johnny Unitas from the stands. Naughty Bit: Everyone is going mad. He’s got his cock out now and somehow it’s between my legs; he’s torn a hole in my tights under my short skirt and I yell louder as the touchdown gets nearer now. We are all jumping up and down and I have to lift my leg higher, to the next step on the bleachers, to steady myself; now the man behind me can slip it in more easily. We are all leaping about, thumping one another on the back, and he puts his arm around my shoulders to keep us in rhythm. He’s inside me now, shot straight up through me like a ramrod; my God, it’s like he’s in my throat! “All the way, Johnny! Go, go, run, run!”  Labeled “a private, discreet way to read erotica,” this collection of free (yes, free!) short stories has the capability of vastly improving our subway rides. “Reading erotica on an electronic reader is a delicious experience because no one knows what you are reading,” the introduction says. Damn right. The opening story features a woman who gets a sex lesson by listening to her friend’s fantasy. Naughty Bit: I peek, and Annie is lifting her skirt next to me and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen a woman do. She wears nothing underneath and she has no hair at all on her pussy and it’s beautiful. “You can watch me, China, or we can put a scarf around your eyes to help you lose yourself and take off.” I want to watch. I suddenly can understand why Jack wants this. I take my jeans and panties off as she instructs and I lie back and spread my legs. She props me up with the pillows so I can see, but I notice that she has closed her eyes and is touching herself.  5. Stolen By Jinx Jamison and Minx Malone The Madame X School of Sex series of short ebooks are steamy cheap buys. This story is a prequel of sorts, featuring characters from the series and showing how they started. Stolen features a pickpocket with a cleavage to kill for who gets caught and has to return a wallet. Perhaps readers who’ve seen the film 1959 French film Pickpocket would find stirrings of a shared ecstasy, but honestly Stolen would probably kill the stoic and gaunt director Robert Bresson with a heart attack. Naughty Bit: Go on. You took it out so you should be the one to put it back,” he growls. When I take a tentative step forward his eyes glitter in triumph. He’s testing me and I am helpless to resist it. I should run away or throw the stupid wallet at his head. But I don’t do any of those things. Instead I step forward and slowly slide my hand into his pocket. I brush up against the hard length of his cock and he lets out a low moan. He doesn’t protest when I take my hand out of his pocket and unzip his slacks. I want to feel the impressive erection I know is hiding beneath the material.  6. Bared to You By Sylvia Day If what you want is a complete Fifty Shades clone, this is it. Instead of a tie on the cover, we have cufflinks. Instead of a millionaire named Christian Grey we have Gideon Cross. Naughty Bit: “Haven’t you ever had sex in a limo?” “No.” His jaw hardened. “Have you?” Looking away without answering, I saw the traffic and pedestrians surging around us. We were only inches away from hundreds of people, but the dark glass concealed us and made me feel reckless. I wanted to please him. I wanted to know I was capable of reaching into Gideon Cross, and there was nothing to stop me but him.  7. Decadent By Shayla Black If S&M between Anastasia and Grey isn’t enough for you, add another guy to the mix. This is the story of Kimber, a virgin who has a crush on Jesse, a pop star who likes threesomes. So she asks bodyguard Deke and his friend Luc for an education. Chaos ensues. Naughty Bit: Another foot forward, and he leaned into her personal space, putting his lips near her ear. “In my bedroom, ménage means two men simultaneously pounding a woman to orgasm and driving her so insane, she forgets her name and screams the roof down.”  8. Open For Business Edited by Alison Tyler This collection of office erotica is not exactly Secretary, the film based on the excellent collection of short stories, Bad Behavior, by Mary Gaitskill. But, just like Fifty Shades, these are, well, much more explicit. Naughty Bit: “If you’re looking for a new job, we need a receptionist at HQ. It’s not a posh place like this, but we have a laugh, and it does mean I’d get to see you again.” His smile sent an aftershock of pleasure right through me. “Not to mention that a chick like you would be a hell of a lot more fun than the dragon they sent us from the agency.” “You reckon?” I asked, pushing him onto the floor on his back, straddling him and reaching for his belt. “I reckon,” he said, grinning widely when he felt my hand reach for his cock. What is the old saying about being in the right place at the right time and grabbing opportunities when they come by? My hand tightened on his cock. It looked like office work wasn’t going to be so bad after all.  9. Orgasmic: Erotica for Women Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel The great thing about Fifty Shades of Grey is that it was written by a woman, for women. Here are plenty more stories like it, centering on what gets women to the O word. Naughty Bit: I’m bucking my hips, feeling those little tickly sensations that mean my orgasm can’t be too far away, which is precisely when Danny orders me to stop what I’m doing and play the vibrator over my nipples instead.  10. Going Down By Rachel Kramer Bussel There’s no shortage of oral excitement in erotica, but a whole collection dedicated on such pleasures is something else. Naughty Bit: She tried to imagine he’d said something else, instead, like: I just want to eat peaches until they yum all over the place. Which didn’t make any sense, she knew, but hell. It made more sense than his sudden desire to lick her panties and the stuff through her panties and oh no, oh no, he was licking her bottom. He was definitely licking her bottom.  11. Carrie’s Story By Molly Weatherfield A very explicit sadomasochistic novel, but the writing is actually quite good. Naughty Bit: I had been Jonathan’s slave for about a year when he told me he wanted to sell me at an auction. I wasn’t in any condition to respond when he told me this—I was very carefully licking his balls, concentrating on doing it the way he liked.  12. Do Not Disturb Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel How much sex has a typical hotel bed been host to? It’s better not to think of that the next time you travel, but if the thought doesn’t disgust you, you’ll probably be a fan of this collection of hotel sex stories. Naughty Bit: “I’d like the room service waiter to have the chance to appreciate you.”
“No! Please, no.” the thought
is as horrifying as it is arousing.
==================================================== |
No comments:
Post a Comment