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A review by thesawyerbean
Fanny Hill (Harper Perennial Forbidden Classics) by John Cleland
3.0
Wow, what a romp. I was honestly surprised an 18th century writer could be so bawdy, but I stand corrected.
This book follows the story of Fanny Hill, an smallpox-orphaned 15 year old girl who essentially descends into debauchery of all kinds when she travels to London just to get by. The entire book is intensely lascivious, in fact you can't really get much further than page 15 without encountering something explicit. And somehow, through the thick fog of smut and wanton that encapsulates this book, Cleland managed to pull together a decent storyline. Although it is almost entirely comprised and driven by sex, the plot did intrigue me to an extent. It seemed to have an air of tragedy and desperation, which was interesting to see developed.
All in all, a rather good book. Evidently not for everyone due to the extravagantly voyeuristic nature of the memoirs, but if you can stand horrifyingly-in depth descriptions of intercourse, frankly hilarious euphemisms for the anatomy and a thoroughly sultry narrative, then this book is definitely fit for you.
This book follows the story of Fanny Hill, an smallpox-orphaned 15 year old girl who essentially descends into debauchery of all kinds when she travels to London just to get by. The entire book is intensely lascivious, in fact you can't really get much further than page 15 without encountering something explicit. And somehow, through the thick fog of smut and wanton that encapsulates this book, Cleland managed to pull together a decent storyline. Although it is almost entirely comprised and driven by sex, the plot did intrigue me to an extent. It seemed to have an air of tragedy and desperation, which was interesting to see developed.
All in all, a rather good book. Evidently not for everyone due to the extravagantly voyeuristic nature of the memoirs, but if you can stand horrifyingly-in depth descriptions of intercourse, frankly hilarious euphemisms for the anatomy and a thoroughly sultry narrative, then this book is definitely fit for you.