Erotic Novel Breaks Muslim Taboos

Good for her. And all muslim women.

Seems to me that the way muslim men treat their women is a testimony of male insecurity. Even though there are coutless examples, I refuse to believe that all muslim men are monsters within their bedroom's four walls.
But that they could stand some sexual enlightenment is no understatement.

I read "The Almond" about, oh....9 months ago.

I was interested in hearing the womans view, and was anxiously awaiting to be scandalized.

To be frank, the book was one of the most boring things I ever read.

It read like borderline soft porn, the main character (the writer) is uninteresting, the story choppy and I never got any real feel for her personality, beyond her being self-indulgent and self-important.

Sex, with men, with woman, masturbation...the story got old really quickly.

The fact is was happening in a muslim country? She had the goods on the men she slept with, she could have caused them as much trouble as they could have caused her.

I'm not saying any of this to disrespect you detano....Just one persons take on the book. It's interesting that you brought this up.
Others may have very different views, positive ones, and they'd be just as valid.

It is possible that she is a lousy writer and the book is not polished. I have not read it.
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Still, the primitive conditions of Muslim marriages and customs are described and that is what sells the book. Very few Muslim women have the guts to tell or write about it. They would be risking their lives, not an easy thing to do.

I haven't read the book either, so it would be interesting to hear from more people who have.

The subject definetly needs to be flaunted as I see it.

The subject is more important than the smooth description. For instance: if a terrible rape has been committed, we are interested in hearing the details. If the victim's description is not eloquent, it does not bother us.

Good points all.

Thinking for a minute about what I didn't like about the book as far as the message it was trying to get across....

The tone of the writer for one. She comes across a very decadent and oh, trying to be bohemian about the whole thing. Jaded. It could very well be that she uses that as a defense mechanism, so she doesn't have to look at the pain (emotional) she's gone through.

Keeping in mind that so few women could manage to pull this off and get a book like this written and published, I would congratulate her on that.

However, how can we be so sure a woman actually did write this? I learned recently the young man, TJ LeRoy, who wrote of his horrendous sexual experiences, was actually a woman who claimed to be a friend or relative or something. TJ LeRoy doesn't exist. But I digress....

Now, maybe it was the novelty of a Muslim woman choosing to write about her sex life, but it was all too much, all the time. It didn't really explore any other facets of her personality, which I think would have made her a much more emphathetic characters. I really could just see that one dimension. The way the book is written, it seems that sex is the only thing in her life. It would have been more effective in the context of other aspects of her life.

For instance, I'm not a big Anne Rice fan, but one day in a 2nd hand book shop I picked up a copy of a paperback of hers called "Sleeping Beauty" I read the first 2 pages there in the store, and shelled out my $1.50 for it....I thought it would be interesting because it appeared it was a rewrite of the original.
Well, I don't know if either of you read it, but don't bother. After page 8 it turned into a sado-masochistic tale that averaged at least 3 spankings a page. I tried to continue, got well past the middle, finally gave up because frankly, it was making me queasy. Very repetitious.

That's the feel I got in "The Almond" I finished it, and yes, you're right detano, I should (and do) admire that someone wrote it, but it left one waiting for more, as in..."OK, you have sex....what else?"

It looks more and more like a flimsy book. Even if she made a bundle off it, she was still brave; any day now she could be found out and killed for it.
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Perhaps she is obsessed with sex and greedy too. Thanks for warning me; I won't bother reading it. A long time ago I picked up an interesting book. Women writing erotica, called: 'Slow Hand'. Worth reading. (no Muslims)

Maybe the act of writing it, more than the books own message, was the controversial issue...


Chai Tea

I've read Anne Rice's Vampire chronicles. In intriguing tales with multidimensional characters Anne Rice is a master. It's maybe more erotic that her books under her pseudonyms, but not directly sexual.

Oh detano...don't NOT read it because of me....you might think it's great. I could be totally off base. Someone else might say they felt they knew the woman intimately from the book. It'd be interesting to get your opinion.

Cyracuz
I read interview with the vampire, it was good and I did enjoy it.
I read the Mayfair Witches too. I don't know, I can be enjoying a really good read, and one part of it just disturbs me. In that book, I remember something about the girl who sat on the porch all the time and never spoke. Something about that some spirit was with her and she was in this constant orgasmic zone....that.....just seemed.....not cool.

Sleeping Beauty...actually at first I thought it'd be really interesting. When the Prince comes to wake her up, he violently rapes her rather than kiss her. He takes her back to his kingdom, where all these sex slaves are kept. The women must be always "ready" and the men are trained to have erections 24 hours a day, but no one is allowed to have an orgasm. That was just a little too sick and disturbing for me. I don't know, read the reviews.

quote:
Sleeping Beauty...actually at first I thought it'd be really interesting. When the Prince comes to wake her up, he violently rapes her rather than kiss her. He takes her back to his kingdom, where all these sex slaves are kept. The women must be always "ready" and the men are trained to have erections 24 hours a day, but no one is allowed to have an orgasm. That was just a little too sick and disturbing for me. I don't know, read the reviews.
.............
Chai Tea, strange sexual behaviour would almost need a special thread to discuss it. Don't you find it incredible to read about men who search for a domina so they can be her slave. I can hardly believe my eyes when I read about that huge subculture.
People asking and paying for torture and humiliation. What is this world coming to?

yeah, I wasn't trying to go off on another thread....I'm really bad about using analogies, examples to express my feelings.

BDSM is the new thread I started. Sink your (imaginary) teeth into it.

Hmm.. so I was looking for a thread to post this snippet in.. this thread was the closest fit I could find in two pages of results...

Dutch lingerie. That would be, like, bloomers with suggestive ruffles, right.

Oi, Dutch lingerie is internationally renowned I'll have you know!

Tho I'm sure it looks better on non-Dutch women..