Another book review this week, but one with a twist. Firstly though, you need some background. Xmas and the summer holidays are considered "non-rating periods" by Australian television stations, and consequently, the commercial stations show a dire selection of repeats, interspersed with sporting events, either tennis or cricket (neither of which I have any desire to watch). They do not show anything that they want to rate well, as this brings in advertising dollars.
Fortunately our national broadcaster, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), is not reliant on advertising revenue, and does fill these voids by showing high-quality productions, both locally and overseas produced, right throughout the year. When the regular programs finish up, the ABC brings in good things to fill the slots (that it seems to save for such times). The 8.30 Sunday night slot tends to be drama, often a series that will run for four, five or six weeks. In January this year, it ran a one-off English production of "Fanny Hill". Released in 2007, this had a fantastic cast, was beautifully costumed, a brilliant script and was thoroughly enjoyable. It was really more soft porn than one would usually expect (particularly given the staid reputation of the ABC, often referred to as "Aunty"). Dave found, to his advantage, that the combination of good-quality drama and well-shot sex had a very arousing effect on me. Inspired thusly, I decided to read the novel that it was taken from, "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" by John Cleland.
We happened to have a copy of this which we purchased about 10 years ago through a book club we were in at the time. Dave read it when we bought it, but for some reason, I had never done so. Having waded my way through it now, I can guarantee that I will never do so again.
"Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure", popularly known as "Fanny Hill" was written by John Cleland in 1748 while he was in a debtor's prison in London. It is widely considered to be the first modern English erotic novel. Cleland and his publisher were arrested and charged with "corrupting the King's subjects" about a year after it was published. Cleland renounced the novel, and it was officially withdrawn. It seems to have been a homosexual scene between two men which caused the corruption charge.
Essentially, young Fanny Hill, orphaned at the tender age of 15, travels to London town to seek her fortune (or at the least, employment). Abandoned by her travelling companion and child-hood friend, she is taken on as a "maid" by a local madam. Fanny's virginity is highly prized and sold at a hefty profit. She falls into a life of elegant prostitution (no common street tart, this one) and treats the reader to her memoirs as, quite literally, a lady of pleasure. No flowery euphemism is spared in the description of her conquests and difficulties.
I have to say, at this point, that I have read quite a bit of Regency and Victorian fiction, in the works of Jane Austen, the Brontes and some others. While not to Dave's taste, I enjoy them, but quite apart from the subject matter, they are all well-written and well-edited pieces of work. Fanny Hill is not. Although I desperately tried to remember that it was written 60-70 years before Austen started publishing her work, and undoubtedly standards had changed in that time, this was an incredibly difficult book to read. Editing would have been of great benefit. It is full of sentences that run on for half a page (or worse), punctuated with dashes, colons and semi-colons, but nary a full-stop to be seen. Entire paragraphs consist of a single sentence. The edition we have has kept the original spelling and grammar, which can be difficult to read at any time, but in these long-winded sentences, it's even harder. Here's a sample:
"At this so delicate and eloquent harangue, the gentleman, who saw I look'd frighted and amaz'd, and indeed, incapable of answering, took her up for breaking things in so abrupt a manner, as rather to shock than incline me to an acceptance of the good he intended me; then, addressing himself to me, told me he was perfectly acquainted with my whole story and every circumstance of my distress, which he own'd was a cruel plunge for one of my youth and beauty to fall into; that he had long taken a liking to my person, for which he appeal'd to Mrs. Jones, there present, but finding me so absolutely engag'd to another, he had lost all hopes of succeeding till he heard of the sudden reverse of fortune that had happen'd to me, on which he had given particular orders to my landlady to see that I should want for nothing; and that, had he not been forc'd abroad to The Hague, on affairs he could not refuse himself to, he would himself...."
I couldn't bring myself to type out the entirety of this particular sentence, which is long enough that had it been printed on one page it would have filled it completely. And the language in this particular paragraph is more moderate than most.
There is certainly sex in the book; some of it arousing. Some of the scenes are amusing, some are rather unpleasant. Unfortunately the passages between the sex scenes are so long-winded and difficult to get through that they detract from the sex. It quickly became a chore, rather than a pleasure to read it.
If I am enjoying the book I'm reading, I go through it rather quickly. This I had to force myself to read, as I was trying to be fair to it and do it the justice of finishing it before I critiqued it. In the end, I have to say that it wasn't worth the effort. I rarely say that a TV production is better than the original novel, but if you want to experience Fanny Hill, get hold of the 2007 TV production which stars Rebecca Night as Fanny and Samantha Bond as Mrs Coles. It is sympathetic to the original novel, but isn't a slap-and-tickle farce. Andrew Davies, who wrote the screenplay, re-wrote some scenes to flow better, deleted some and completely altered others. Consequently he tells the story better, I think, than Cleland did in the first place. Don't waste your time on the book, watch this TV production instead.
