A certain professor of mine told me that she thought she could scorch my eyes out with a book by Emma Holly, a writer or Romantica. I swore that my eyes could not possibly be scorched out, as nothing could shock me. I win. My eyes are not scorched, I'm not shocked, and I was even pleasantly surprised by (oh god, parents, stop reading) some male-on-male action. However. And but.
I didn't read past page 70. The sex in these books is hot, and the writer is perfectly capable. It's just not to my taste. And by that, I'm exposing my completely pedestrian and boring attitudes towards sex. I hunger, so boringly, for monogamy. I didn't really know that this would be a problem in a romance book until Emma Holly. I just don't enjoy reading about a lot of people having sex with each other without some sort of commitment or love involved. I'm dead serious. I know it's silly, but I guess that's why I've been reading romance novels all these years, and avoiding erotica. And, I suppose, if you wanted to extend this further, I don't enjoy p0rn, but I love romantic comedies.
I even wouldn't mind some more boy-boy love in my romance novels--gay best friends belong in romance novels, if you ask me--but it has to be monogamous boy-boy love. I'm so boring! I just want everyone to pair off and end up happily ever after. I'm not a prude, or anything like that. I consider sex to be a very essential component to a romance novel, and I think part of the reason I've been reading them all these years is the little spicyness it adds to my reading life. I'm even not really very closed about talking about my sex life; I don't shy away from those topics.
In fact, I thought I was pretty enlightened. But clearly, I'm totally missing the boat. I guess, in a way, I did fail the test. No more romantica for me.
What's the difference between Romantica and erotica, if any?
Posted by: frog | May 16, 2005 at 08:42 AM
The difference is that of story. Most erotica, as I understand it, has little or no story. Person A has sex with Person B and then Person C comes and whooooooo boy, more of the same.
In Romantica, (and forgive me for reading the last five pages of the Holly book, just to see) the story ends with an engagement. In fact, there seemed to be a story. Quantum Physics Genius needs a break so he has his sexual majordomo find someone and that's where I stopped reading. But I'm thinking that there's some sort of Physics upheaval.
I guess, basically, in Romantica, there is sex, but the sex is not the story.
Posted by: manogirl | May 16, 2005 at 09:59 AM