Reviewing Erotica

[Montanos]

Hi,

I am actually in an odd position as I have been wrestling with a conundrum for the past month or so.

I happen to review books. Its something I do as a hobby, an honest desire to express my opinion (probably cause I'm a windbag) and as a learning experience on the nuances of story delivery.

My problem is as follows. I am having a difficult time disassociating my personal perversity from the quality of erotic stories.

I have read certain erotic books that, intellectually, I find are very faulty in pacing character synergy and character evolution. BUT, I keep buying the damn books because they touch on my personal wicked delights.

How do I justify the continued purchase of these books when I can underline multiple faults that make them ... well ... suck as books ... but which, at the same time, tweak my naughty bone?

My guilty pleasure defies my attempts at objectivity.

I don't have this problem with any other type of books. It is a little irritating.

I thought I would discuss it with authors and gain your perspectives. If anyone wishes to add their 2 cents.


Montanos

 

[jacktar48]

I guess you could think of the book as a prostitute who, while she little resembles Miss America, still brings certain attributes to the table which will do the job.

In that light the price is a bargain.

You also don't have to worry about it stealing your wallet.

 

[sr71plt]

Maybe you should just stop trying to disassociate what obviously doesn't rank all that high in your actual buying activity. Separate the two slices at quality in your mind and accept that servicing your perversity is important to you independent of needing a well-written story.

 

[jacktar48]

Maybe you should just stop trying to disassociate what obviously doesn't rank all that high in your actual buying activity. Separate the two slices at quality in your mind and accept that servicing your perversity is important to you independent of needing a well-written story.

Thank you for paraphrasing me in such an extremely pompous and boring fashion. I'm sure people will find it helpful.

 

[oggbashan]

How about reviewing against two criteria:

1. Quality of the writing

2. Impact on your sexual arousal

If you find books that are highly rated for both - they are winners.

The problem with the second criterion is that, like humour, it is personal and very subjective. What works for you might not work for others. I write fetish stories. If that fetish is erotic for you, then my story might score highly on 2. If that fetish appalls you - low rating on 2.

 

[Montanos]

Hmm.


Good idea Ogg. As I use a stable point by point format to review books, I could simply add an extra format point to specify all the fetish genres witnessed in a story.

That action covers my responsibility of disclosure.

Thank you.


Montanos

 

[oggbashan]

Hmm.


Good idea Ogg. As I use a stable point by point format to review books, I could simply add an extra format point to specify all the fetish genres witnessed in a story.

That action covers my responsibility of disclosure.

Thank you.


Montanos

'All the fetish genres'?

If a story covers more than one fetish, its appeal diminishes with each extra fetish, because someone who likes one fetish is unlikely to appreciate the other.

A parallel - If someone writes an Incest story, but includes Water Sports, Scat, Anal and Gay Male, each additional category reduces the potential audience.

 

[Montanos]

It could be easily argued on the other direction: more genres more marketability. IMO, I think you're right.

Authors have to keep that in mind when writing.


Montanos

 

[Hypoxia]

'All the fetish genres'?

If a story covers more than one fetish, its appeal diminishes with each extra fetish, because someone who likes one fetish is unlikely to appreciate the other.

A parallel - If someone writes an Incest story, but includes Water Sports, Scat, Anal and Gay Male, each additional category reduces the potential audience.

It could be easily argued on the other direction: more genres more marketability. IMO, I think you're right.

Authors have to keep that in mind when writing.

Categories vary. My journal-format Group Sex stories successfully contain elements of FF (of course!), MM, strong incest, dominance, non-con, mature, voyeur, multiracial, watersports, BTB, anal, foot-fetish, and others. Narrators wander through life and encounter fuckers with varied tastes, no problem. My Incest stories are more limited but can still contain most of those elements.

IMHO what matters is the prominence of those elements in a story. If each additional fetish is just a small piece of the story, should be little problem. Does Sis piss on Bro while she's pegging him? Sure, as long as that's just 5% of the story.

EDIT: Literary reviews cannot be objective; they're always personal. One *can* objectively evaluate a story-film-artwork's technical proficiency, but its emotional impact is not quantifiable. We must admit what turns us on.

 

[JKendallDane]

Maybe you should just stop trying to disassociate what obviously doesn't rank all that high in your actual buying activity. Separate the two slices at quality in your mind and accept that servicing your perversity is important to you independent of needing a well-written story.

I wanna hire this pilot guy to write the speeches for my next run for Prez-ee-dint!

http://media.giphy.com/media/CuUkhVZ6of8sg/giphy.gif

 

[lovecraft68]

You have to just learn to separate business from pleasure and relax.

Look at the way I do with a mind numbing movie that you know is kind of implausible to flat out ridiculous, but you just shut the mind down and go for the ride. Roadhouse comes to mind

 

[patientlee]

I wanna hire this pilot guy to write the speeches for my next run for Prez-ee-dint!

http://media.giphy.com/media/CuUkhVZ6of8sg/giphy.gif

OMG. I didn't realize the picture moved. That creeped me out!!

 

[lovecraft68]

I wanna hire this pilot guy to write the speeches for my next run for Prez-ee-dint!

http://media.giphy.com/media/CuUkhVZ6of8sg/giphy.gif

Now you're just being unsophisticated.

 

[sr71plt]

Actually, four of you are being sophomoric. Not that anyone should be surprised.

 

[lovecraft68]

Speaking of something mind numbing.

 

[JKendallDane]

Actually, four of you are being sophomoric. Not that anyone should be surprised.

Ut oh! The big bad hall monitor is gonna put us on report!

 

[lovecraft68]

Ut oh! The big bad hall monitor is gonna put us on report!

Seriously. I can just hear him back in school "Mrs Williams! Mrs. Williams, they;re talking back here, they're running, they're passing notes.....They stuffed my head in the toilet again!

 

[DeathAndTaxes]

You have to just learn to separate business from pleasure and relax.

Look at the way I do with a mind numbing movie that you know is kind of implausible to flat out ridiculous, but you just shut the mind down and go for the ride. Roadhouse comes to mind

This is along the lines of what I wanted to say - comparing it to your enjoyment of movies.

I think one thing you ought to settle on when taking in any form of art or entertainment is: What am I trying to get out of this? What need is it fulfilling? When I went to see Hercules with The Rock this summer, I knew I was going into a theater to be entertained for 90 minutes, to see some ridiculous CGI battle scenes, and some oiled-up man nipples. Did the movie deliver this? Yes it did. Of course, if I were to critique it for where it fits in the grand scheme of film as an artform, then naturally it fails horribly. Lots of movies I love are like that (most of them explosive action flicks or ridiculous comic book movies).

Does that mean I don't have the ability to appreciate an art film or an indie flick? No, I'm just looking at a different set of criteria for those. Having a different type of conversation on my way out of the theater. For some movies, I ask myself: Was I entertained? For others: Did this make me think and ask questions?

And coming back to books, there are plenty of stories right here on Lit that, just like you said, aren't so well done as far as literary conventions go (hey, probably mine, TBH, I'm just getting started), but damn if the smut isn't up my alley. I just decide to enjoy if for the parts I like and let the other stuff go. I don't even call them 'guilty pleasures', because I'm not going to feel guilty about what I enjoy. And you shouldn't have to, either!

So that's my two cents. Good topic!

 

[glynndah]

Guilty pleasures are pleasures, nonetheless.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Great great original question.

Okay so I personally don't do what's known as 'close copy editing' when I post a story here - there are a few mistakes and things still that could be changed if it went to a 'forever in stone manuscript.'

There is a big problem with assuming that NO erotica can be as high quality as general ficition - because that would not be reflective of real life and real people.

At the same time, I take the path that says there can be a great variety of valid experiences in let's say, sex life, and they don't all need to speak with a plum in their mouths.

I am definitely not a class snob, either in life or in literature.

And then too, one has to factor in that because some people - or even quite a lot of them - write erotica 'in secret' so to speak, then you are going to have the rushed nature of the writing show up in the exposed product.

But the crude, perverse, downright in-the-daylight social unacceptability of some of the story ideas, and the style of expression used, hmn... Why is it so attractive on that erotic level?

Well why not though?

Who is not a human being? (And even aliens are our literary sentient kin in these kinds of tales).

The apparent outward social disgust - 'social sinfulness' - (that would be implied by 'normal people') for some of the truly hot but crude stories, is modern social programing.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Is it attractive because it is a transgression? Is it attractive in the absolute sense? A bit of both maybe?

Yet all the same 'there is nothing new under the sun,' I think. There's a lot of re-configuring, a lot of stylistic nuances, but underneath it all, nothing that isn't in Ovid or the Chinese folkloric stories, or Homer, or the Scandinavian or old German myths and legends, to say nothing of Boccaccio or Petrarch or Chaucer.

 

[Stella_Omega]

let me quote an informal review i left elsewhere on the net;

It was tough to get through the first two chapters of this novel, what with the lackluster characterisation and pedestrian narrative voice. Although there were only a few typos, my overall dissatisfaction lent them extra poignancy each time they showed up. But once our hero entered the club, whoo boy! The writer hit on (in my opinion) a perfect combination of kinky gadgetsex fun, and an atmosphere of consent and trepidation -- a nuance I rarely encounter in this genre. The writing never really got better, but my nethers told my brain to just please shut up...

Would read again. Probably, as soon as I get my breath back.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

A great thread.

I pride myself on being able to separate myself from my preferences, that is, if something is of exceptional quality I tend to appreciate it regardless of whether it aligns with my personal tastes. I don't particularly enjoy Led Zeppelin, but their skill is undeniable. The same with Herman Melville. I recognize whether someone is a good whistler regardless of whether they are whistling a song I like.

Erotica can be a bit harder, however. While I am a discerning individual, capable of laying aside petty grievances and avoiding the pitfalls of bias--my dick is not. It likes what it likes. It's like a divining rod; it finds the wetness.

My solution is that I tend to read every erotic story twice. Once in a more...subjective state, and then again with a critical eye after I am once again feeling more...centered. Truthfully, however, this is not much different than how I read traditional fiction. A narrative can sweep you up, drag you away with a plot or setting you enjoy and blind you to weakness that you might otherwise find issue with, just as a hot sex scene can fog up your literary spectacles.

I still argue that, on a site like this in particular, talent and ability is often patently obvious. Gay male, incest, non-human--doesn't matter, within a page or two most authors who can truly write have already distinguished themselves and I haven't, usually, hit the first stray kiss.

 

[Montanos]

Well, I would like to thank the authors who participated (well anyone who participated). Was able to review a couple of erotica books today and I believe I was fairly impartial (as impartial as anyone can be).

Thanks

Montanos

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXSE0NGVfPA

I never think of Tchaikovsky as a fag-American ballet composer. He pretty much set the standard, and the others bear the stigmata of hyphenation vis a vis Mister T. Art has no place for affirmative action and political correctness. I wanna read your best, I don't wanna read your WE ARE THE WORLD plastic trophy entry.