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A review by declaired
Spanking the Maid by Robert Coover
3.0
Where to begin with this?
First: While this book looks like erotica (hello, that cover) and talks like erotica (hello, the inside margins, the length, the listing of spanking implements), it is more like a literary adventure that has taken erotica (specifically, a Master/Maid spanking fetish) as a jumping off point. It's interested in the nature of obsession, and works as an exploration of the use of repetition (in scenes, in dialogue, in phrases, in description, in- everything) while still remaining readable.
The prose: is pretty fantastic. the use of repetition never does get dull, and requires your memory of often-repeated phrases to get the joke when they get turned about. whose spanking obsession are we following? what (obvious) things are being left unsaid? the maid comes later and later in the day, and the birdsong disappears. if prurience is left aside in favor of a textual exploration, then the climax of the novel is the downfall of words, the intermingling of the Maid and the Master, the collapse of time and meaning into a jumble of phrases that the novel has created. it implodes, gloriously - the final gyre of a spiral that wound itself completely together.
Things I liked: I love the humor of the maid, as she pursues perfection in spite of her glorious incompetence. The first time she walks into a room, before it becomes clear that time is passing, she appears to have come in 8 times, trying to get the day right. anytime something becomes overwhelming, she thinks, "oh no, perhaps I'd better try again." I like the prose, I like the subject matter (uuuh, generally), and I like the way this book is a study of obsession (everyone involved gets drawn into the Master's obsessions, which come from Manuals, the pursuit of perfection, and, obviously, spanking).
The things I cared for less:
If you are coming (lol) in to this book looking for a prurient experience, I don't think it's what's on offer - despite being the substance of the entire novel. The characters are stereotypes, the Master a parody of upper class misogyny, cyclically obsessed with spanking because he experienced corporal punishment in school (his dreams, wherein lectures become lechers, and spankings Social Improvements, tie the erotic to the literary - which again, is solid as far as following a theme but also utterly predictable). The kink is a route to talking about obsession, and so flattens everything around it into a two-room stage show.
First: While this book looks like erotica (hello, that cover) and talks like erotica (hello, the inside margins, the length, the listing of spanking implements), it is more like a literary adventure that has taken erotica (specifically, a Master/Maid spanking fetish) as a jumping off point. It's interested in the nature of obsession, and works as an exploration of the use of repetition (in scenes, in dialogue, in phrases, in description, in- everything) while still remaining readable.
The prose: is pretty fantastic. the use of repetition never does get dull, and requires your memory of often-repeated phrases to get the joke when they get turned about. whose spanking obsession are we following? what (obvious) things are being left unsaid? the maid comes later and later in the day, and the birdsong disappears. if prurience is left aside in favor of a textual exploration, then the climax of the novel is the downfall of words, the intermingling of the Maid and the Master, the collapse of time and meaning into a jumble of phrases that the novel has created. it implodes, gloriously - the final gyre of a spiral that wound itself completely together.
Things I liked: I love the humor of the maid, as she pursues perfection in spite of her glorious incompetence. The first time she walks into a room, before it becomes clear that time is passing, she appears to have come in 8 times, trying to get the day right. anytime something becomes overwhelming, she thinks, "oh no, perhaps I'd better try again." I like the prose, I like the subject matter (uuuh, generally), and I like the way this book is a study of obsession (everyone involved gets drawn into the Master's obsessions, which come from Manuals, the pursuit of perfection, and, obviously, spanking).
The things I cared for less:
If you are coming (lol) in to this book looking for a prurient experience, I don't think it's what's on offer - despite being the substance of the entire novel. The characters are stereotypes, the Master a parody of upper class misogyny, cyclically obsessed with spanking because he experienced corporal punishment in school (his dreams, wherein lectures become lechers, and spankings Social Improvements, tie the erotic to the literary - which again, is solid as far as following a theme but also utterly predictable). The kink is a route to talking about obsession, and so flattens everything around it into a two-room stage show.