How Come Good Literature Has to be Ruined by Bad Sex

[PeterL]

I find detailed descriptions of fights even more boring than detailed descriptions of sexual activity. My imagination is good enough that I can imagine the details, so a couple of well written sentences are enough to tell me what the couple might be doing.

Apparently there are many people who are not so imaginative, because the whole porn industry aims at those people, and I understand that industry is doing well.

On the other hand, nearly all of human ex[ression is about survival and reproduction.

[Idril]

I find myself wondering... is this "prudery" or dislike of graphic sex limited solely to sexuality... or does it apply to graphic violence as well? If so, what do you make of The Iliad and The Odyssey, The Aeneid... or more recently... Cormac McCarthy?

I feel the same way about graphic violence that I do about graphic sexual descriptions, less is more. It's not just violence that bothers me, The Odyssey wasn't too bad, severed limbs I can deal with, it's quick, it's simple...for the most part. What I have problems with is something like The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski because that was just unrelentingly graphic. It's one thing to say, "He fell in a hole and was eaten alive by rats", that's bad but I can handle that, what I don't like is when that process is written down in mind-numbing, stomach churning detail so you feel every bite, you see every wound and hear every cry. That I don't want to read.

[n_maw]

Perhaps, but I think some things are better left unsaid.

Personally, what I found interesting was that the sex scenes were much less graphic in The Agony and the Ecstasy and that book was from a male's perspective while The Birth of Venus, which included very graphic sex scenes, was from a female's perspective.

Oh, no, The Birth of Venus is on my to be read pile and I'm the one who got this whole thing started.

What is a good way to "preview" a book if one would like to know details of the content regarding sex, language, and violence. We have a rating system for movies, but not for books. Do you think the industry needs to "rate" the books or at least state what type of content is in them? I'm not sure myself, what do you think?

[stlukesguild]

In some way I have long been "fascinated" (perhaps not the best word for it... perplexed?) by the fact that we (especially in America) can accept graphic violence on a day to day basis in film and television... we don't question the glut of murders... drive by shootings, knifings... to say nothing of the more creative and grossly graphic killings and tortures in films like Saw... and even if we don't find such things entertaining ourselves, we have no problem with the fact that others appreciate them. But sex? A murder... shooting or stabbing or even various graphic decapitations or other mutilations raises hardly the least eyebrow of the television censors... but perish the thought of a bare a** or breast... to say nothing of full frontal nudity. The vast history of art is laden with images of nudity and sexuality... but I cannot show the least of these to my students... but there is no problem with most scenes of killings, battles, death, etc... As a visual artist I have long been "fascinated/perplexed" by the fact that nudity and sexuality (which are a normal part of the human experience) are often seen as more disturbing or discomforting than violence... which we imagine as aberrant... abnormal...

[jon1jt]

...even if we don't find such things entertaining ourselves, we have no problem with the fact that others appreciate them. But sex? A murder... shooting or stabbing or even various graphic decapitations or other mutilations raises hardly the least eyebrow of the television censors... but perish the thought of a bare a** or breast... to say nothing of full frontal nudity. The vast history of art is laden with images of nudity and sexuality... but I cannot show the least of these to my students...

Right on Luke!!! And golly-gee-dad if we're seen bare a** from our bedroom window for a second by some ungodly passerby! Repent!

And schools are the most repressed of them all. Oh we must protect the children! Meanwhile dad's out balling his assistant while mom's home online flirting with his best friend. Oh but keep the dirty pictures away from Tommy, yass yass!

[blazeofglory]

I
I enjoy reading a lot of contemporary literature, but it seems that authors and readers alike are dealing with a lot more sex! Right when I'm getting into a really great story with really great writing, I'm confronted with a very graphic sex scene. What would have been outrage 50 years ago is accepted and normal now. I just don’t enjoy reading what I would consider to be very sexually explicit material.

I'd like to know what your opinions are!

Interesting thought indeed as a matter of fact and of course great pieces can come without sexually explicit materials too.

[Igetanotion]

Do you think the industry needs to "rate" the books or at least state what type of content is in them? I'm not sure myself, what do you think?

I think it would be terrible to put "Ratings" on literature. Besides, there already kind of is. Ex: Erotica and, of course, Pornography magazines are "Rated" in that they cannot be purchased by those under 18
It would be horrible to put actual literature in the same category as pornography

[*Classic*Charm*]

We have a rating system for movies, but not for books. Do you think the industry needs to "rate" the books or at least state what type of content is in them?

Good lord I hope not!! All that will do is get more books banned from schools. When it comes to books, there is the maturity level of the reader to be considered, and while restricting the reading of a piece might be beneficial to the average group of people, it will be limiting to others. For example, if a novel were to be rated for people over 18 because of a sex scene, that might be fine for he majority of high school students who may not be mature enough to read it, but it limits others (who most certainly can deal with such a scene) in what they are allowed to read. It's the same with movies- I was allowed to watch films rated R when I was young because my parents knew that I could deal with the violence. Obviously they kept an eye on what I was watching, but if you think about it this way: I just turned 18 a few months ago. If I had actually been limited by the rating system, I wouldn't have ever seen half my favourite movies. Luckily, it is easy to get around movie bans, but I think book bans would ruin high school english curricula.