Monsta Reader

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Sex scenes in literature and erotic fiction can be cringe worthy. In fact, the Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction Award has selected a work each year since 1993 to "honour" for, well, bad sex in fiction.

But, sex can also be used as a device to challenge ideas, and open up discussions about social mores and sensibilities.

In this post, we are going to take a little look at five books that feature sex, and sexuality, because we all have a relationship with sex, and it is as worthy a subject or theme to explore in literature as any other!

1. Crash by J. G. Ballard

Originally published in 1973, this is a classic of underground literature.

'In a sense, pornography is the most political form of fiction, dealing with how we use and exploit each other, in the most urgent and ruthless way.

'Needless to say, the ultimate goal of Crash is cautionary, a warning against that brutal, erotic and overlit realm that beckons more and more persuasively to us from the margins of the technological landscape.'

- J. G. Ballard, from a 1995 introduction to the novel

You can purchase Crash by J. G. Ballard here.

2. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

Constance Chatterley feels trapped in a sexless marriage to Sir Clifford. She is attracted to Mellors, her husband's gamekeeper, and she embarks upon a passionate affair with him that sparks new life in her stifled world. The novel itself sparked tremendous controversy on publication, and is still an erotically charged and powerful novel today.

You can purchase Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence here.

3. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Humbert Humbert - a doomed monster, scholar, and the unreliable narrator of this tale - has fallen hopelessly in love - or a delusional lust - with Dolores Haze, or Lolita as he calls her, his landlady's twelve-year-old daughter. This novel is all about obsession, delusion, lust, and objectification.

You can purchase Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov here.

4. Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Unlike previous entries, this is not a novel, but the author's recounting of her experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. However, there are scenes in the book where Strayed writes candidly about her sexuality.

In the wake of personal loss, the author uses sex as a means to self-destruct, and distance herself from her marriage. But we find that sex can also be healing, and a means of connection to something profoundly beautiful.

We find here that sex can be an empty act, but it can also be empowering.

You can purchase Wild by Cheryl Strayed here.

5. The Story of My Life by Giacomo Casanova

Casanova, whose very name is synonymous with sexual conquest, was also a swashbuckler, a poet, a storyteller, and many other things in his adventurous life. This collection of his memoirs (unfinished at the time of his death in 1798) highlights his youth in Venice, his dabbling in the occult, encounters with great literary figures, and, of course, many amorous encounters.

His was an adventurous life.

You can purchase The Story of My Life by Giacomo Casanova here.

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If you pursue bookish/writerly endeavours of your own, please do keep reading to the end of this piece . . . .

Even back when tweeting was just the sound a bird made, people felt awfully threatened by thoughts and words they didn't agree with. But, you can't block a book or its author, so, instead, some tried to ban the works instead. What follows are a few of the books from my shelves which, at one time, in some place, have been banned for various reasons.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Anyone that has visited my blog before, or perused previously published posts (do love a bit of alliteration), will know that I have a lot of time for Huxley. Huxley had the courage to critique the absurdities of politics and society as he saw them. In Brave New World, the author demonstrates how an ideal society might be created through the use of genetic engineering, brainwashing, recreational sex, and drug use; a dystopia presenting as utopia. The novel was banned in Ireland when it first appeared, in 1932, because they saw it as taking a stand against religion and the traditional family, but even just ten years ago a piece was published in The Guardian newspaper suggesting it was a book that many Americans took offence with (here is the article).

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Much like the author in the preceding entry, Orwell's fame stems from works that analyse and criticise political and social ills. Along with 1984, this novel secured George Orwell worldwide fame and recognition. However, not all of that recognition was favourable. Animal Farm is a veiled attack on Stalin and his brutal brand of communism. As you can imagine, the work was banned in the USSR. However, it is also, even today, banned in both Cuba and North Korea, both communist countries under a dictatorship. You might also be interested to learn that many countries in the Islamic world also have a ban on the novel. Why? Because it features talking pigs.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

This book has been held up as a classic by its fans; a book that takes an honest look at the cares, fears, anxieties, and ennui of teenage life. Its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is one of literature's defining moments in exploring adolescent angst. However, this novel was the subject of a ban in American schools almost since its publication. Being seen as a subversive text that included far too much sex, swearing, and violence for some to feel comfortable with (though, I don't think you are supposed to feel comfortable reading these books, that's kind of the point), one teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was even fired in 1960 for assigning the book to his class. As an interesting aside, the novel popularised the slang term "screw up" - Boy, it really screws up my sex life something awful.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

Sex. We all have some relationship with it, many of us have had pleasant experiences because of it, and a lot of us want it. But, boy, that doesn't stop us from feeling pretty damn uncomfortable around it. This novel is erotically charged and explores adult relationships, and the gulf between classes. And so, of course, it was banned. The book was published in 1928, but it was banned in England, America, Canada, Australia, India, and Japan. It wasn't until 1960 that the novel was published, as an unexpurgated edition, in the United Kingdom, which resulted in an obscenity trial, under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Penguin Books was found "not guilty" by the jury, and the publisher dedicated the second edition to the three women and nine men who made up that jury.

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