The ultimate winner was Jonathan Littell, for a passage in The Kindly Ones. "Her vulva was opposite my face. The small lips protruded slightly from the pale, domed flesh. This sex was watching at me, spying on me, like a Gorgon's head, like a motionless Cyclops whose single eye never blinks. Little by little this silent gaze penetrated me to the marrow. My breath sped up and I stretched out my hand to hide it: I no longer saw it, but it still saw me and stripped me bare (whereas I was already naked). If only I could still get hard, I thought, I could use my prick like a stake hardened in the fire, and blind this Polyphemus..."
In writing about sex,one should ask the same question about anything one's including. Is there a reason to have it there to begin with? Narrative flow? Plot? Character development? Fun? And if there is a reason, how do you do it well?
For my money, Joyce (or, according to some scholars, his wife, Norah) does it best in Ulysses, where Molly says, "He kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower...and I drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."
On the other hand, you can't beat Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, for brevity. "The Duke returned from the wars today and did pleasure me in his top boots."
What's your take on good or bad sex writing, or how you do it or not do it yourselves?
Finally, this is my last post for the Outfit collective. My thanks to everyone who visits the site for your presence and your responses. I've learned a great deal from you, and from my fellow Outfitters, and I am grateful to Libby Hellmann for putting the Outfit together and letting me be part of it.
25 comments:
What? You start a sex conversation and resign?
Tease.
Best wishes, Sara. You'll be missed here.
Well, Sara, you sure leave us with a bang. Or whatever. You have earned "honorary member of the OUtfit" status.. any time you want to vent, explain, or celebrate, you are welcome to post.
Good New Years wishes to all who read us. And thank you for doing so. THere are so many demands on your time. We are grateful .
I'm sorry you won't be continuing to blog here - as an English reader I've enjoyed your posts very much.
You may be interested in a post on writing about sex by the poet Sheenagh Pugh. It's the text of a paper given at a conference on slash fiction so readers who look at it should expect that context. You will find it at http://sheenaghpugh.livejournal.com/12676.html?thread=96132
I agree. I think sex is so hard to write about because it's such a singular thing it defies metaphor. The second a writer says "Sex is like _____" the reader thinks "Well, no it isn't." So the only thing that's left is to describe it in literal, clinical terms, which is both completely gratuitous and (often) unintentionally hilarious.
Thanks so much for sharing the stories and the wisdom, Sara. We really are going to miss you around here,
Dana, I guess that's typical--I duck the hard stuff! Sex is such a big part of life, leaving it out is kind of a cop-out. But people often don't write well about eating, either, and I write far too much about sleep and sleep deprivation.
Libby, I do feel sad about leaving, so I'll take you up on your guest blogger offer. Kathz, thanks for that link. I read Sheenagh Pugh's essay, very thoughtful and thought-provoking. And I do keep a blog on my website, http:www.saraparetsky.com if you ever feel like stopping by there--I even posted my very own vampire story there.
Kevin, we'll be in touch
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
It was grat to read Your entries. Wish You the best and see You on your own site:)
Great post, Sara.
Thanks for joining us in the Outfit. Please come back any time.
Lovely read, to teasing though finish it
How do you think credit crunch affected porn?
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killergram
does anyone think porn is the only business still thriving during the credit cruch? I think many folks seek refuge in buying and wanking porn during the crunch
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kelly divine
There was this guy who believed very much in true love and decided to take his time to wait for his right girl to appear.
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