Reading through Propriety

Do you have problem with too much vulgarity or overly explicit scenes in books? Do you take them in stride?

I usually do not read romances. When I am in the mood to read one, which is rare nowadays, I look out for soft ones. Sometimes one cannot tell from the cover, what kind of book it would turn out to be. If steamy scenes are part of the story, I suppose I dwell right into it. I have not stopped reading any book because of it. Some romance writers can write those scenes very well without it getting raunchy. The romance element is important for me. As for as looking more of it, that was in my younger days. Now it is few and far between. Mills and Boon and Harlequin romances have undergone many changes over the years. These have steamy scenes but even now, those are not hard-core!

Hard-core porn puts me off.

Comments: 8

Caren C. Oct 6, 2007, 1:52pm EDT

Gautami, the recent trend in the romance industry toward erotica has been difficult for me. While good writing does help, I am simply not comfortable with graphic descriptions of sex. The very best scenes are those that evolve naturally from the characters and their growth and occur as part of the evolution of the relationship. I have trouble striking this balance in my own writing, but I hope I do it well. I certainly try!

Younger readers are sometimes more accepting of erotica and very graphic sex because they are somewhat desensitized by television and movies. This is one reason I love Bollywood movies. You *feel* the longing, the emotion and the power of the love relationship, but you don't have to see every little detail. Thank you for the article. Good job!

Caren
Kick Start

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Gordon Swanson Oct 6, 2007, 2:01pm EDT

I feel that a book can be written and enjoyed with out sex, bad language, and even oversized words. Also, I feel that too small print is hard to read for middle aged people. Now what did I do about this? You guessed it! I wrote and published the book that was non-fiction, military history, without the above and have been getting good reports from my readers. The women and men of all ages enjoy it and they tell my that the girls and boys of reading ages also enjoy it. It this is true, then there must be room for a clean reading book. You can see my book at www.gswansonbooks.com. If you don't like it, return it for your money back.

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gautami tripathy Oct 6, 2007, 2:06pm EDT

Erotica hits one on the face. Good romance are getting rarer and smut is entering those good old romances.

There is a huge market but the art of writing good lovemaking scenes is gone. I feel that our teenagers are getting exposed to stuff they should not read in the first place.

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Sandi K. Oct 6, 2007, 3:42pm EDT

I agree. Erotica is not neccessary. I can use my imagination if I want it to get graphics, I don't need details. It's like they used to say, "leave something to the imagination" Of course things are not that way now, but when I was younger, more was more and less was less. Erotic and foul language in movies, and on TV now, does not add to the story IMHO

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