World Famous Comics: Fanny Hill: Or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Penguin Classics)
Fanny Hill: Or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Penguin Classics)
By: John Cleland Publisher: Penguin Classics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Penguin Classics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 240 Publication Date: January 07, 1986
Product Description: Fanny Hill, shrouded in controversy for most of its more than 250-year life, and banned from publication in the United States until 1966, was once considered immoral and without literary merit, even earning its author a jail sentence for obscenity.
The tale of a naïve young prostitute in bawdy eighteenth-century London who slowly rises to respectability, the novel–and its popularity–endured many bannings and critics, and today Fanny Hill is considered an important piece of political parody and sexual philosophy on par with French libertine novels.
This uncensored version is set from the 1749 edition and includes commentary by Charles Rembar, the lawyer who defended the novel in the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case, and newly commissioned notes.
A fun Saturday I can easily understand why this book was banned for a long time. It is...explicit. But because it was written 2 centuries ago, the descriptions are far from crass and you have to read some sections twice to make sure that what you thought just happened really did happen.
That having been said, I think this book is a classic, and not just a literary "curiosity" for one simple reason: it portrays sex as something good despite the fact that Fanny is clearly repentant of her past ways. I went into this book expecting a tale of woe, but that aspect of it was only weakly attempted. In short: promiscuity is undesirable, but the sexual act itself is not some kind of horrible sin. This is surprising for a book written in that time, and thus breaks certain boundaries which make it worth reading.
give it a read--but just once Maybe it's because I don't think it's particularly newsworthy that people in the 18th century had sex (after all there wouldn't have been people the 19th, 20th, or 21st centuries, otherwise, and lots of the other 18th century novels and quite a few of the poems give the secret away). And I'm not saying, "Don't read Fanny Hill," because it is an interesting read once, as interesting to read as any 18th century tale that's purely about sex would be. But it's not high literary art--while entertaining to read once, it's really little more than a picaresque sex tale, clearly designed for men to read, moving from one incident to another with a "reforming" ending tacked on. The plot setup is totally unrealistic and perfunctory--i mean, would any woman in any century ever write down her sexual activity in such detail to send to another woman to read as memoirs?? As a novel, it pales in comparison to any of the other myriad 18th century works that feature sex as a plot element (e.g., Defoe's Moll Flanders, Fielding's Tom Jones, Matthew Lewis's The Monk, de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and so forth). The difference between those works and this one isn't just the explicitness, it's the fact that in those other works the sex serves a purpose in a larger plot. They may not get into the size of their characters' "machines" but they're simply better, more entertaining books over the long haul. So I'd say check this one out from your public library (it's all right, no one will suspect its contents!) and spend your money to feast on Tom Jones and his late night "conversations" instead.
ENJOYABLE READ ON SEVERAL LEVELS I have always been rather fond of this work. Not only is it well written, in a Victorian way, but it is a very nice "dirty book" to boot. There is never really anything crass or gross in the book, the author's use of the language sees to that. The story is certainly realistic, there is humor and a certain sadness all at one time. I am old enough to be able to remember when this particular work was not available in the United States. Thank goodness those days are over. We did miss a lot of purely good writing in those days. I am not at all sure if this one is appropriate for a High School Lit. class, but is certainly worth the read and the study for the more mature reader. On the other hand, the work is certainly a lot less graphic than some of the material the kids have ready access at any time. All in all I have to recommend this one. It is interesting and certainly gives us a good lesson in writing.
It's all about sex... ...Even if it seems like it isn't, it really is. Let's face it, the critics and scholars have tried to dignify the reading and "study" of this text to make the dirty pleasure more dignified. THis is almost like the guys who claim to only look at Playboy for the articles, and not the articles of clothing. It's amusing when professors assign this book, usually the new young male ones.;)
A worthy classic This book is fascinating, not merely as an erotic novel (and the historical significance of this book cannot be denied) but also as a glimpse of society and mores of the mid-18th century.
Fanny is an orphaned girl who goes to London to Seek Her Fortune and ends up with a career alternating between prostitution and being a kept woman. Unlike most porn, she's not always happy about her sexual encounters, and there are times when she's heartbroken over a lost love. She's decieved by a woman who claims to be hiring her "as a companion," in a another scene she's exploited by a money-hungry landlord.
As she grows older, though, Fanny becomes more in charge of her sexuality and more open to exploration. We, as readers, also see a glimpse of 18th-century prostitution and the demimonde of kept mistresses (which many wealthy men of the period kept).
Hardly a rollicking farce (there are times when sex has serious consequences) but at times it is humorous. Never crass or vulgar, but nevertheless explicit, this bawdy gem is worth checking out. Fanny is always honest about herself and what she does to survive, and pulls no punches. (I took away a star because, at times, it is difficult going because of the outdated language, but don't let that deter you.)
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