SEX... in books that is

[Freya]

So I joined goodreads which is a site where you basically can list and review books and what not. It's like a social networking site for readers. Anyway so I recently just finished Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and so I rated it and wrote a short little review. Well I thought I'd read some of the other reviews.

A lot of the reviews that gave negative comments were about the sex in it. If you've read it, there really isn't that much and if you have, you'd notice that it goes with the world. The compliant was that it was sexist, how it was always kinda misogynistic blah blah. It was like these reviewers were wanting an equally sexually satisfying scene in a world where that isn't too common. It mentions earlier in the book how the young girl isn't suppose to fight because it's un-lady like. That's the kind of book it is, the world, yet these reviewers are giving it negative points because it... stays true to that? I get if it was in a more modern setting, but it's not. It's in a Men rule all and girls are married off to make ties for political reasons, kidna setting.

Now i'm not all "PRO SEX!" in books, it has to fit. If you've ever read or even know about the Anita Blake series you'll know that the later novels are really smut books with little plot. It's a shame because they started off strong, story wise. Now i'm not against smutty books but it's the fact that her sex scenes are horribly written and just seem to be there because the author wants sex in her books. That's when I have a problem with it. But in the Martin case, they fit.

What's your opinion on sex in books?

[kotora]

it's horrible and it ruins our children


no seriously why do americans always have to make a big deal about sex and nudity

[Bunny]

no seriously why do americans always have to make a big deal about sex and nudity

because we were founded by prudish nerds who probably couldn't get laid with a thousand dicks in a room full of loose vaginas

[Shlup]

I like smut.

[Roto13]

Once I thumbed through a western my grandfather had been reading and there were like 5 explicit sex scenes in it. It was kind of hilarious. And gross. Because my grandfather was totally into those books.

[Jessweeee♪]

If it doesn't feel like it was put in there just for the sake of having a sex scene then sure! I flipped through an erotic novel once and the word "boobalicious" was in it like sixty times, each time in bold font. It was weird.

[Shlup]

Please try your very hardest to remember the title of that book.

[Jessweeee♪]

I think it had a Christmas theme to it.

[Bunny]

A Very Boobilicious Christmas by Stephan King

[kotora]

no seriously why do americans always have to make a big deal about sex and nudity

because we were founded by prudish nerds who probably couldn't get laid with a thousand dicks in a room full of loose vaginas

people still accomplished great things before the advent of internet message boards

[Pheesh]

Yeah, it's okay. Basically my two favorite authors are Stephen King and Bret Easton Ellis so I kind of have to be okay with it. If it's done in a way that makes it fit the book then it's all good. Pro tip: it's virtually impossible to read and masturbate.

[Ouch!]

They should have stuck past Game of Thrones. Sounds like these people would absolutely love Breine. Also, Daenerys and Arya start to kick some serious ass. I can imagine that Sansa would frustrate the hell out of any feminist, though.

Characters having sex in books is like characters taking a piss in books. If we're going to follow characters into their world of the mundane and real life, there better be a compelling reason.

[blackmage_nuke]

Yeah, it's okay. Basically my two favorite authors are Stephen King and Bret Easton Ellis so I kind of have to be okay with it. If it's done in a way that makes it fit the book then it's all good. Pro tip: it's virtually impossible to read and masturbate.

Not with that attitude!

[Pheesh]

Characters having sex in books is like characters taking a piss in books. If we're going to follow characters into their world of the mundane and real life, there better be a compelling reason.

To be fair, there's a lot more (or at least the prospect of a lot more) emotional investment in the act of sex than there is in taking a leak. Even a character having sex with someone who they're not emotionally attached to, or having the most boring sex ever tells you more about that character than the most exciting of trips to the bathroom ever could.

[Heath]

I don't have a problem with it, in the same sense that I don't have a problem with sex in films. That said, I can't really think of any sex scenes I've read and thought 'my word, what a literary triumph.'