Old stuff

[zotique]

Among the first real pornographic literature I discovered after the "Mandingo" novels was "Fanny Hill."

It really set my taste for erotic reading.

I had seen earlier stuff when I found out it existed, hidden in corners, but the descriptions were like "then he approached her with his rugged manhood and found her welcoming folds"....

But Fanny Hill, despite the archaic language was quite specific. Very much a welcome into to literary porn.

"My life and loves" by Frank Harris is another classic

Anyone else have similar influences?

 

[DreamCloud]

I was particularly impressed with Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series. It's only 15 years old, not the 250+ years of Fanny Hill.

I just downloaded Fanny Hill to my kindle. I've been on a kick reading old novels that are supposed to be good. I have been disappointed with all but Jane Eyre. Even Dracula is too wordy for my tastes. It may be that the plots are so old, there's nothing surprising for me to find. Maybe, I'm a product of too many episodic TV programs and need things to move a bit quicker.

 

[oggbashan]

Some of the Latin authors - Ovid, Suetonious and Apulieus.

 

[sr71plt]

Had several hetero ones tucked away in my teens, but can't remember the titles. In my thirties, the one I remember is City of the Night by John Rechy.

 

[oggbashan]

Anais Nin?

Rabelais?

Even the Arthurian Legends have some interesting episodes.

But one of my favourites is the Sir Richard Burton translation of the 1001 Nights - an unexpurgated version, of course!

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Where do I begin

There's de Sade, tho Ive never braved it
Story of O is probably "old" by now. There's an incredible illustrated version somewhere
Lots of wonderful Victorian porn. The Pearl journal is awesome.
Fanny Hill of course. Found that tucked into a drawer of my mother's.
The one that corrupted me forever is The Autobiography of a Flea.

There's a steamy Southern Incest tale I encountered as a youth called Raffaella that I've been trying to find my whole life. Maybe I dreamed it.

 

[Serafina1210]

Some of the Latin authors - Ovid, Suetonious and Apulieus.

Ovid is very, very hot. And speaking of names beginning with O, The Story of O. Hard to take (Laurel might reject it if it were submitted here), but great.

 

[zotique]

Where do I begin

There's de Sade, tho Ive never braved it
Story of O is probably "old" by now. There's an incredible illustrated version somewhere
Lots of wonderful Victorian porn. The Pearl journal is awesome.
Fanny Hill of course. Found that tucked into a drawer of my mother's.
The one that corrupted me forever is The Autobiography of a Flea.

There's a steamy Southern Incest tale I encountered as a youth called Raffaella that I've been trying to find my whole life. Maybe I dreamed it.

Somebody stole my copy of The Pearl

 

[beachbum1958]

The very first book to make me sit up and realise there was more out there than Marvel comics and Mars bars was Ford's 'T'is Pity She's A Whore', and its subject matter, incest, but the one that really started the ball rolling for me was 'Delta of Venus' by Anais Nin. I think I read 'My Secret Life' in uni, along with the unexpurgated 'Fanny Hill'.

 

[Serafina1210]

Back in the [never mind the decade], my college friends and I passed around and tittered over a worn paperback entitled "Airline Lesbos." Not a classic--I wouldn't be surprised if not a single copy existed today. Dreadful writing. But what a trip! It made me want to do things I'd never done before.

 

[zotique]

Henry Miller too, specially when he strums a lover's cunt like a banjo!

"I whooshed my fingers in and out like you'd strum a banjo. I had one of those half-hearted swollen erections...."

From "Sexus the rosy crucifixion 1"

 

[Handley_Page]

Some of the Latin authors - Ovid, Suetonious and Apulieus.

I think that might depend upon whoever did the translation;
and the publisher.

 

[oggbashan]

I think that might depend upon whoever did the translation;
and the publisher.

Translation?

I read the originals in unexpurgated Latin.

Publishers didn't think it was necessary to edit out the sexy bits if they were in Latin.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Satyricon, by Petronius is a classic. I've got two translations somewhere (can't match Ogg, reading the original Latin). Fellini made a wonderfully over the top film in the early seventies.

De Sade's Juliette is an easier read than 120 Days of Sodom, I discovered both on my dad's bookshelf in my teens (which was an eye opener in many ways).

 

[oggbashan]

When I was at school in England (long story for other places) the graffiti in the boys toilets was in Latin or Greek.

Some of it was in classical poetical forms.

One that was notorious was signed with a pseudonym (and we all knew who he was). It described the physical attributes of one of the senior girls in the parallel girls' school. Her brother copied it for her. She asked him to write her response, also in Latin verse.

Her retort was on the lines of "You've got the description wrong, you wanker. And how would you know anyway? You're too immature to even talk to a woman, let alone undress her. Get a life.".

 

[oggbashan]

The Guardian newspaper on a new translation of Satyricon

The more one contemplates Petronius, in fact, the more attractive he becomes. His fans included Nietzsche, Wilde, Huysmans and DH Lawrence, all of whom appreciated his ironic honesty. For despite the straightforwardness of its narrative (it's a romp, and so wonderfully easy to read), the Satyricon is multi-layered. Only the most alert of its contemporary readers would have picked up on every literary reference it packs in. One very brief description of Encolpius's recalcitrant penis manages to pack in, I am told, allusions to the Aeneid (twice), Virgil's Eclogues, the Iliad and Catullus.

...

Petronius's own suicide, as demanded by the emperor, haunts our understanding of the work, and adds to its depth and richness. But even that was a piss-take of the Stoic or Socratic ideal: if Tacitus's account is to be believed, he slit his wrists, had them bound up again, invited some friends for dinner and cheerful conversation. He then detailed Nero's debaucheries, "giving the names of the catamites and women involved, and the novel features of each fornication", sending Nero himself the document

 

[Bramblethorn]

But one of my favourites is the Sir Richard Burton translation of the 1001 Nights - an unexpurgated version, of course!

Back when I was commuting five hours a day, I read the whole of the Mardrus/Mathers version. Hard to find (still in copyright, so unlike Burton it's not available online) and by my understanding Mardrus took liberties with the source material, but all in all it's my favourite from the ones I've read.

M&M's version of the tale of Budur and Qamar was a major influence on my latest story. Burton also has that one, but with a very different ending that wasn't to my taste (and honestly, if I were Scheherezade, I wouldn't be telling that ending to the king!)

 

[oggbashan]

Back when I was commuting five hours a day, I read the whole of the Mardrus/Mathers version. Hard to find (still in copyright, so unlike Burton it's not available online) and by my understanding Mardrus took liberties with the source material, but all in all it's my favourite from the ones I've read.

M&M's version of the tale of Budur and Qamar was a major influence on my latest story. Burton also has that one, but with a very different ending that wasn't to my taste (and honestly, if I were Scheherezade, I wouldn't be telling that ending to the king!)

Serendipity...

In today's local auction I bought the four volume Folio Society edition of 1001 Nights, the Mardrus/Mathers version, for £3.30. The covers are slightly worn but that was a bargain.

 

[Bramblethorn]

That's a good deal! I picked mine up in a second-hand bookshop; it's in good condition but we had to stick it in the freezer for a couple of weeks to kill off what smelled like mould.

 

[Ewobbit]

I was sickly as a kid and while the other yahoos were out running around and playing, I was stuck in my room reading. As a result, when I started kindergarten, I was bored out of my everloving mind with all that "A is for Apple" horseshit. As it happened, the teacher told us that the classroom was ours and that we were welcome to play with any of the toys or read any of the books so long as we shared. She didn't say anything about what was on her desk being off limits. So, I spent "nap time" reading a Harlequin. Didn't have the first damn clue what "heaving bosoms" or "throbbing manhood" was, but I liked the parts about the pirates.

I did think it was decidedly unfair that she took it away from me before I could finish it.

Later on, I had discovered Heinlein thanks to his children's books and got sucked into his adult stories. Granted it wasn't very explicit, but...

There was a series called "Longarm" that was sold at the grocery stores along about the time I was finishing up elementary and going into junior high. (10-13 or so) Actually, I think it may still be around. At least as of 2015.

I still didn't have much of a clue about what was what (although I'd figured "bosom" out), but it took me awhile to work out that in those books a "French kiss" was a "blowjob". And you can probably imagine what havoc that wreaked on my dating life. She said something about French kiss and I dropped my trousers.