Reviews

Fanny Hill. Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland

samanthabryant's review against another edition

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3.0

The tone was light and entertaining. I smiled and laughed often while listening (I borrowed the audio book from my library). While it wasn't particularly erotic for me, it was engaging. I think what I enjoyed most was the very formal language used to describe sexual situations. There were some hilarious euphemisms for genitalia. I picked it up out of a sort of historical curiosity and I'm glad I did.

caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition

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No rating because... I don't even know how to rate this actually.
I don't think my setting/character/plot method works because it's mostly just smut. It's a weird collection of quasi-empowerment and shaming sex workers, of allowing women agency and weird homophobic (m/m) rants... I don't know. It also icks me out that an adult man was writing a young woman's sexual awakening (like, age 16 I think? She ends the book at just under 19 years old) and then goes, after writing smut, on a soapbox speech about how the only RIGHT way to be is to get married and only enjoy sex if married to someone you love. I really don't know.
I DO stand by being fascinated that this exists, though. Victorians.....

scott_gunpowderfictionplot's review against another edition

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2.0

“It’s banned book week, you should read a banned book.” Suggested my wife.

So I picked Fanny Hill, because why not? I was expecting a raunchy novel with some plot or something to justify the facts that I’ve heard of it and it’s 250 years old. What did I get?

Raunch? More like full on porn. Like the porn today, it’s unrealistic, what with everything being so pleasurable; it’s trying to push boundaries without really knowing how and it’s clearly directed by a man who doesn’t understand women. Footnote, I am a man, I don’t pretend to understand women; but I’m pretty sure no women is reading Fanny Hill and thinking, that’s exact same thing happened to me.

Plot? No, this is porn, the only reason Pablo didn’t turn up to “clean the pool” is because that cliche isn’t as old as this novel. You’re told when the last sex sense begins, that’s it’s the last one, I really feel that’s to save you having to read the last 5 minutes of the book in which the story is wrapped up.

Should you read this book? I mean, do you like porn?

eheslosz's review against another edition

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4.0

Love this as an anti-Pamela response, very creative use of innuendo and euphemism to be as pornographic as possible without being explicit. Although there was some interesting exploration of women's pleasure and the b.s. of virginity/"virtue", I still found the narrative lens insidiously voyeuristic. Surprisingly (or maybe not!) I saw lots of links between this and Zola's 'Nana' which I read recently.

katerina_p98's review against another edition

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2.0

This is just some well written porn. That's it.

There was no plot, no story whatsoever, just a main character who fell in love with a different man every couple of pages and a lot, I mean a lot, of sex.

I actually skipped some of the sex parts, because they got too repetitive and boring after a while.

Nothing really happens in this book and I was a bit disappointed by that. I was actually quite excited to read this because of how controversial it was when it first came out all those years ago, and I live for controversial books.
I was expecting an intriguing story, but all I got was freaking porn.

I read it super quickly though, which I guess is a plus.

mefrost's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

conprimo's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

3.0

caitielouise's review against another edition

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2.0

many euphemisms for dick

nichola's review against another edition

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3.0

Interesting. But nothing exceptional. However context must be considered.

lovewitch's review against another edition

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3.0

It's one of the most banned books and the first pornography in a novel form or something like that... i obviously had to someday get it... i also think that's enough erotica for this year. i'm gonna reread 50 Shades Of Freed next year. my brain can't take more of that right now
my edition is in Greek and it's split into two books *no idea why*, part a and b. part A was ok. i wish it had the illustrations.
i surprisingly loved the first part and it's a 4.8 for me. part two tho is meh and kinda offensive. what's his beef with gay men *there are rumors that he may have been gay and yeah it smells like self hate in here*?
THIS BITCH, who mind you had phenomenal lesbian sex, was later like ''haha i'm gonna get his semen to prove he's gay so they prosecute them for sodomy''. bitch get chlamydia and die, the fuck. part two Fanny is such a fucking cunt.
i would have given this a 4 but he annoyed me so it's a 3.