Here's a subject I'd wager ya haven't had much cause to ponder lately or ever: The steam index of sex scenes in contemporary literature penned by male writers. Well, Katie Roiphe has and, as GalleyCat informs us, she saw fit to write a lengthy essay all about it for the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Hurray for hot, wordy sex! Um, actually, according to her, not so much hot as booooooring.
In her piece entitled "The Naked and the Conflicted", the author/journalist makes the argument that the young male scribes of today have thus far proved themselves incapable of writing the types of explicit, carnal, gasp-inducing scenes found in the works of such luminaries as Philip Roth, John Updike, Saul Bellow and Norman Mailer. It's the new guard vs the old guard!
Why anyone would want to compare heavy-breathing excerpts from break-the-silence novels written when the word was uttered in hushed tones as if it were some hideous disease--she's got s-e-x--to those published during our current it's-everywhere-but-we're-still-clueless time is, quite frankly, beyond me. But, hey, somebody's got to keep the literary criticism flame burning and why not do it by angerin' up some blood, eh?
Roiphe takes no prisoners, stating:
"The younger writers are so self-conscious, so steeped in a certain kind of liberal education, that their characters can’t condone even their own sexual impulses; they are, in short, too cool for sex."
Also:
"It means that we are simply witnessing the flowering of a new narcissism: boys too busy gazing at themselves in the mirror to think much about girls, boys lost in the beautiful vanity of 'I was warm and wanted her to be warm,' or the noble purity of being just a tiny bit repelled by the crude advances of the desiring world."
Huh, ya may just be on to something there--it's called navel-gazing and it's the number one activity of both genders these days.
Still, I think her analysis rings a tad hollow. If the criticism is that today's male novelists are drafting male protagonists that are flat, shallow and uninteresting, then, yes, the sex/near-sex scenes will be flat, shallow and uninteresting--not to mention irritating--as well. Believe you me, I get bored too when an artist is lazy about his/her craft and doesn't push the work. But if, on the other hand, they're depicting fairly well-developed, honest characters with conflicted emotions, unsteady thoughts, mental libido checks, and general uncertainty when it comes to sex, aren't they at least attempting to present the reader with a more accurate portrayal of the internal workings of the male mind and heart than the screw-anything-that-moves, though admittedly complex men created by Roth, Updike, Bellow and Mailer? I'm not defending the youngins or demonizing the elders, I'm just asking if that may be the intent.
Anyhoo, what filled me with utter giggles is that right above the GalleyCat post pointing us to the article bemoaning the impotent efforts--couldn't resist--and sexual malaise of modern-day writers of the male persuasion was another post about The Most Pirated Digital Books of 2009. Of the ten, four are about sex, with the classic Indian bestseller of all time, Kamasutra, comin' in on top. Take heart, Ms. Roiphe. Seems the kids are still as curious and imaginative as they've always been, they just haven't figured out how to write about it to your taste yet.
Great article. Roiphe's most recent book is Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles 1910-1939. Great book.
Posted by: buy cialis | March 08, 2010 at 08:10 AM