Rating: Summary: Be forewarned... this is NOT the movie!... THANK GOD Review: A love story infinitely more readable than the Sleeping Beauty set, it delves deep into the human psyche, and attempts to explain how and why someone would choose BSDM as a lifestyle. Plenty of erotica, and a plot too! A great read!
Rating: Summary: Starts off into the wilderness, but returns to small town. Review: This is my least-favorite of Rice's works. It begins boldly, with an over-the-top sexual adventure in the fringes of s&m, but ends up with an unlikely and boringly banal marriage.It is as if Rice had an attack of conscience (or publisher?) half way through. So the book ends up being neither a satisfying piece of erotica or romance. Neither fish nor fowl... I preferred her Beauty books for her somewhat unique brand of b&d erotica, and on the literary side, her best are not the Vampire Chronicles, not the Mayfair witch books, but the little-known Cry to Heaven, and Feast of All Saints. This is neither good nor typical Rice.
Rating: Summary: Entertainment Weekly Review: Audio Books Review: Read By: The X-Files' Gillian Anderson and Ally McBeal's Gil Bellows. Breathy, amusingly shuddering reading of an S&M romp that's much naughtier than the sanitized 1994 film version starring Rosie O'Donnell. Listen For: Bellows occasionally slipping into a laughable rico suave accent and Anderson waxing poetic on how her "nipples throbbed." The Lowdown: Mulder and Georgia would be appalled. Grade: B+
Rating: Summary: One erotic passage in the entire book. Review: I kept thinking that Elliot and Lisa would really get down and dirty at the "Club". Was I disappointed when they actually only had sex once, and in New Orleans to boot!!! I will say that the one time they did have sex was worth the price of the book. But the rest of it was very poorly written.
Rating: Summary: A Cleverly Disguised Yet Typical Paperback Romance Novel Review: I first read this book when recommended to me by a friend who termed it as "beautifully sexual." At the time, I agreed with her - to a lesser degree. However, after having read it recently (along with an added maturity), I am surprised to see how typical the structure of the novel is so that it resembles a popular romance novel. Does this sound familiar? The plot is that of the initially strong woman who has (kinky) sex without guilt and controls the dominant "gaze" in her work. Yet she has this "gaze" threatened by a more dominant male to whom she succumbs to such an extent that she momentarily loses sight of her life and work. She is thus rewarded with marriage as there is nothing more rewarding for a powerful woman than to be dominated by an even more powerful man. There lies the psychology behind the success of the romance novel - the ultimate fantasy for the woman to be dominated and the man to dominate with rewards of lifelong sex i.e. marriage or the equivalent. The question is will the powerful husband let his wife continue on with The Club as before, or will maternal duties or the powerful man's instinct to seek ultimate control somehow see him at the the top of The Club? Lisa and Elliot (who is supposed to be a Ph.D holder!) sound, in the best sense, pseudo-intelligent and typical (too perfect in all respects), giving them the essence of plywood. Anne Rice jumps all over the place, not developing any of her interesting points (i.e. Lisa's conflict within herself, S&M as pain to experience pleasure, etc.), and it is hard to see what point she is arriving at, if there is one at all. I especially dislike her use of Catholic symbolism as I find it one of the most banal and unimaginative ways to depict repression. As always, she has an interesting premise but her endings are awful. The fact that their love is consummated by a marriage (!) sounds hollow and hypocritical. So be warned that this is not literary erotica but a drugstore romance novel set in an unusual place but otherwise adhering to a formulaic structure.
Rating: Summary: Gillian Anderson Review: Gillian Anderso
Rating: Summary: Mixed bag Review: With a respected author like Anne Rice, what I had hoped for was some erotic, imaginative reading. I will say that the settings, the environment, the background material were well-narrated and enticing. The characters, however, are another story. A nice way to describe them is that they are one-dimensional Harlequin Romance characters who trade in their corsets and leather pants, for, well, corsets and leather pants. Truly, the characters, aside from their extensive participation in the s&m scene, are classic romance novel pulp: the unbelievably gorgeous, unavailable rogue meets the unbelievably gorgeous, willful woman, blah, blah, blah. They just happen to do their bodice ripping at an an s&m resort instead of at some foggy Moorish castle. The bottom line: this book may very well float your boat if your interest is on the s&m scene descriptions, which are pretty creative without being blatantly pornographic, just don't expect anything resembling realistic character development. As far as recommendations of similar reading, I wish I could make some. I'm not sure there is such as a thing as literary erotica. Maybe for the same reason that there are very few good X-rated movies?
Rating: Summary: Not what I expected Review: This wasn't at all what I expected. Once I was done I understand what Anne was trying to do but while reading the book I was wondering what she was doing. It's not a bad book, just not what I expected. She spends lots of time spouting about why people become masochists. To be honest I wanted more of what went on in the club - not why they were there.
Rating: Summary: Excellent novel, not unlike the Sleeping Beauty trilogy Review: I was a skeptic at first when I bought this book, but my opinion soon changed. Simply the best by Anne Rice in my view, even though it was written before her Vampire Chronicles. It's very sensual and VERY erotic; but at the same time, it plays with your heart. You feel as though you are Lisa or Elliot, and it pulls you into the pages like none other I've read. I've loaned it to four people who each bought their own copy after reading mine....you won't be disappointed!!!!
Rating: Summary: an escape from reality Review: This is my all-time favourite by Anne Rice. I have read it at least 10 times! My main reason for liking it so much is not because of all the sexual situations involved, but simply because of the main character, Lisa. She is someone I would like to be. She has created an island that is the ultimate escape from reality.
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