All Comments on 'Sex in Novels, What is it Good For?'

How ironic for you to be complaining about sex in novels on an erotic fiction site.

Very much to the point. If you want to write erotica, do it; I enjoy writing it, although I'm not all that good at it. But I can tell the difference between good writing and bad, between what tells a a story I want to read and what is a distraction thrown in to cover a want of imagination and pacing on the author's part. R_C's Tinker Tailor Goyim Spy is the start of a story I'd like to read, sex or no sex.

This excellent film stars Geoffrey Rush, and is adapted from a play written by Doug Wright. I realise that this probably an exception to the rule, but the sexual writings, or "therapeutic writings", of the Marquis de Sade, add far more than just an excuse for sex, to the plot of this carefully crafted story.

It is also interesting to note, that many passages of his work, used in the screenplay, would not sound far out of place on literotica.

In the (unusual, I agree!) case of this particular work, the sex provides, the moral tone, the mood, the historical context, the humour and a sense of the obvious direct link to the past, that we still share, with this particular author.

It would be impossible to tell this story, without the lascivious sexual focus, and impossible to understand any of the characters, without knowing how they each comprehend his explicit writings.

I would be interested to read A Pius Man, and note that it would be a passable title for the Marquis himself.

I think one could make a similar argument, for violence in literature, but there are many more examples of such violence to choose from. For instance, Beowulf, the Iliad, or Lord of the Rings, have detailed, almost "lascivious" descriptions of violent acts, but since few of us think of violence being corruptive, in the same way as sex, these works are all considered suitable for children.

I guess that I feel personally that sex is part of life, and so writing should reflect that. The fact that more of the truly talented authors in the past, have avoided being explicit, may be down to the way society would react, I mean look at the fuss they made about D.H Lawrence. After all, in 1960 Penguin books were prosecuted under the obscene publications act, for publishing Lady Chatterley's Lover. The prosecution objected to the frequent use of the words "fuck" and "cunt".

In the U.S. Senator Reed Smoot said of Lawrence " a man with a diseased mind and a soul so black that he would obscure even the darkness of hell!". ( I take it that Justine was never published in the states, because the rhetoric sounds similar to that aimed at de Sade)

I think that Philip Larkin wrote:

Annus Mirabilis

Sexual intercourse began

In nineteen sixty-three

(which was rather late for me) -

Between the end of the "Chatterley" ban

And The Beatles' first LP.

Perhaps he is hinting, that he wishes more of his work, reflected some of the other "less academic" musings of his mind. So, very late in the swinging sixties, it became theoretically possible, for the serious author to write explicit literature. They really haven't had long.

I really enjoyed this... I've found myself skimming sex scenes more often than not... its irritating to go from a relevant plot to narrating the noises people make. Makes me also reconsider how to play it down in my own writting. Thank you.

I also find myself skimming the explicit to get back to the PLOT. As to Ghost, I own all of the series and agree that the second story of the first book is by far the worst, and the one I always skip when re-reading it. And about every two or three months

I re-read all of yours on Literotica, because your heroes always go behind the bedroom door without telling details, even most stories don't even require that. JustJ

And this is why I love your stories - most authors here don't do sex scenes very well and seem to turn to some formula for them - and then redo or overdo them. It becomes jarring to the story. Thanks for writing such enjoyable stories so well !

I mostly Agree with you until...... but for me saying that the Characters X and Y had Sex in way back in Chapter 3 and all the while the reader is already on Chapter 11 of the Story. For me Personally that is Equally Pointless. Huh? WTF? And Sadly that was where you lost me.