Venus In Furs

I had read de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom, and I loved it. It gave me a true sense of why the word sadism had its roots in his name.

I'd heard of Venus in Furs, and I knew that Sader-Masoch's name gave way to the word masochism. I came into the book with preconceived notions of what it was supposed to be, what it was supposed to do. I've just now left the book with higher hopes and spirits than I thought I would.

 If you've come to this book looking for hardcore pornography, you should just go to Kink.com's Divine Bitches.

I have to start off: the book, novella actually, moves at what I thought was a slow pace. Being the crass individual that I am, I thought Severin was a whiny bitch, and Wanda and flip-floppity fluffer Dominant. There is lots of crying from the former, and lots of wishy-washy love/hate from the latter.

There are many references to historical people at times, and even though I'm reading it for my own edification, I have to say I'd like to read it again and take notes. One of the biggest misconceptions about the book, is masochism. I'm not sure how to better phrase it... what modern day people see as a masochist, might only be seen as a facet of true masochism based on this book. Most of the masochism isn't physical, but emotional, which I found fascinating.

Depending on who you are, there could be some downsides to this book. If you're picking up a paperback version, I'd suggest being familiar with archaic words, or have the internet close by for quick googles of different things. I still haven't seen an effective image for the styles of furs that he finds so fascinating. Also, the way I've seen some of these movie posters and all that such... it looks a lot different from what was written.

I don't think that Wanda was a cougar, if I'm not mistaken, she was twenty-four at the start of the story, and even back then, that wasn't super old. And well, I don't want to give anything else away, so I'll try to steer clear of any further information.

There's just one curious thing I've noticed since just finishing the story... it hasn't technically loosened the bonds of my fingers. That's very curious indeed. I'll just continue to read some more fantastic literature and see where I'm led to next time.

Difficulties You Might Not Expect

I have to say, coming up with ideas isn't really my issue when it comes to writing.

I have way more problems with actually getting through an idea, and finishing it. When I look at so much of my writing, I'll get in far, 20, 30, sometimes even forty pages. I'll try to keep it up long and strong, and it'll fade back as quickly as it came on, and I'm stuck dribbling on about something I'm not quite sure was ever as good as I'd imagined it to be.

I think it's the reason that writing something, dare I say, novel length is intimidating for me. My play was originally supposed to be something novel length, and I know if I had continued trying to write it as something grand and pompous, I'd have forsaken it before I could go the full journey with my character. Now, I return to a novel, the very beginnings of some epic story, and I find that I don't know that character any more. She's grown into a wonderful and splendid human being (for all intensive purposes), and I still have her stuck at at basic level.

As for right now, I know that there is a particular story, well, a few, that I should devote time specifically to. I'm still learning how to actually sit and write something for two hours. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it perfectly, but I know that I need to put in the time necessary for me to perfect my craft.

Trying to Read "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

This is the most mis-titled book I have ever come across.

Unlike Frankenstein, which is free for my Kindle, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a book you have to pay for. Granted, it's just under one dollar, but when money is tight, you do your best to save every penny. That's why I downloaded the PDF version of the book. I should probably make an entire blog entry about the Pros and Cons of having PDF files. This is, for sure, not this entry, this is specifically about the book.

I'll start by saying I'm a reader that's somewhat familiar with older English phrasing, reading it, and enjoying it. This book is not only in older English, it also has many Latin phrases, and historical references. This is not a book about Quasimodo. This is not a book about his life, his times or anything like that. This book is quite literally about the the world of Paris surrounding Notre Dame Cathedral. The French name for this book literally translates to "Our Lady of Notre Dame". I don't know who in their right mind decided that a good English translation of the title would center around one of the characters.

Quasimodo doesn't even show up in the book until 50 pages in. This book spends most of its time telling the reader about the world around Notre Dame, the streets, the buildings, the neighborhoods. It does mention some pivotal characters, but the characters lives haven't been as elaborated on as the steeples and bells.

I'm 200 pages in the book, and I've realized that I have to stop being a cheepie peepee and fork over the buck to buy the Kindle version. When reading this book, I feel like I need two things: a map of Paris, and a direct internet connection to look up the many phrases and historical people that are mentioned. Without them, I'm really not going to get all out of it that I want. I refuse to give up on this book; I love Gothic literature, but I never thought it would be this tough.But, for all the tough parts, there is a beauty in the world that Victor Hugo is painting, and a music to the sentences that just isn't found anymore.

I think, after reading it, I'll write a formal review, instead of just a review of how difficult it is. But I know that it's worth the work.