Thursday, May 2, 2013

What's on...

Some people read in bed as an aid to falling asleep. Personally one has a strict no books in bed policy. This is because, if the book is good, one is quite incapable of putting it down, turning off the light and going to sleep. No, one small slave is the kind of person who promises just one more chapter and as the dawn starts breaking on the horizon realises that the whole sleep thing just got bypassed. Now when younger that wasn't a problem... these days the body has some annoying need for sleep L

So last night the Kindle was left firmly on the bench as one reluctantly yielded to the body's insistence that sleep was an essential need. What caused this reluctance you may be wondering? Ah well for a change He put an engrossing little book on it, rather than the deeply disturbing and darkly misogynistic offerings that he normally loads up. He put on it a bit of BDSM porn, admittedly very soft porn, in the form of Kushiel's Dart.

Now as a rule one avoids these sorts of books mainly because they are crap... let us remember the 50 Shades of Travesty for a second. Hmmm... Maybe not... shudders quietly. Anyway let's be honest they are usually poorly written, even for pulp. This one however, is engrossing and quite a good read. Though one remains unconvinced that the pace manages to sustain seven books... we shall see.

This book is often cited as the reason some got into BDSM... and one has to say that the rich sensuous world is inviting. There are only a couple of glitches so far... well one did get to manage nearly a third of the first book while stuck in a traffic jam for three hours last night. The most niggling one so far is the idea that the young heroine and worlds great masochist is holed up night after night suffering such delicious guilt about masturbating.

Living as she does in a culture that celebrates the sacred whore and believes in 'love as thou wilt" one can't help but think it was put in there to make her seem less... well whorish. Particularly at her tender age of 14. Yeah don't really buy that it was until then before she started all that self love stuff either. Meh maybe one is just too cynical and maybe one can't help but feel it was just put in there to appease our modern brand of sexual unease... particularly in regards to teenage sexuality. 

4 comments:

little monkey said...

It is most definitely not crap. I am through the third book.

Malcolm said...

"Yeah don't really buy that it was until then that she started all that self love stuff either"

I think you must mean " ... was not until then ..."

It is notable that nowadays sexuality has to wait until middle teens before it is allowed to be recognised. Anyway, you prompted me to start reading it. A bit slow-paced I thought, and is rather turgid for my taste, I prefer watercolours to oils in literature. But I'll continue to the end of the first book at least.

Master's piece said...

@Malcolm Sort of... mind you at 5.30 am, pre mouse, it is a miracle that there is any coherence at all :D
Seriously though one prefers oils. The literary tastes run to D.H. Lawrence amongst others... can't get more turgid than that LOL

Unknown said...

The first book isn't the best of the series, since you have to spend so much time in getting the background, mythology, etc., but her writing is exquisite. Although her other series, the Sundering, was awful, in my opinion. Both Kushiel series, and the follow up Naamah series are definitely worth the time spent.