Customer Reviews

Belinda

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This book certainly doesn't waste any time. It begins with Jeremy Walker, a famous 44-year-old illustrator of children's books spotting beautiful sixteen-year-old Belinda smiling at him in a San Francisco bookstore at one of his many book signings. Dressed in a short Catholic school uniform he's already mesmerized by her, wondering what it would feel like to reach under her plaid skirt and... against his better judgment he sleeps with her during his press party only to awaken and find her gone. Unable to get her out of his mind he brings her into his home once found again, fascinated by who she is and where she comes from. As they grow closer he starts to photograph and paint her with a passion he's never felt before. Belinda is extremely carefree and uninhibited so most of them are taken nude (or partially so), but always with some kind of theme that many would deem kinky yet they consider to be art...a celebration of the body and the sensuality of their love. He soon discovers she's got many secrets, though, and is determined to learn what they are, despite her threats of leaving if he does...

I have tried and tried in the past to get into Anne Rice's vampire series but never could. I, however, still felt compelled to read "Belinda" as I've always had a weakness when it comes to forbidden love stories and this one did not disappoint! In fact, I haven't enjoyed a book as much as this one in quite a long time. It's an erotic story, yes, but don't expect sex on every page. It's actually very minimal and the details are rather vague. It is more so the factor of age difference and the circumstances they often find themselves in that are subtly erotic. And unlike some readers who found their relationship repulsive and even perverted, it is blatantly clear as the book progresses that they have genuinely deep feelings for one another so I didn't find their intimacy to be at all disturbing. Love is love, after all, and there is no boundaries nor constraints when it comes to the heart. It's also apparent that Belinda is very mature for her tender years, and understandably so given all she's been through in her life.

Anne Rice has admittedly created an intricately far-fetched story here but the character's are very believable. I even started thinking of them as real people a couple of times!

Now THAT is good storytelling... I highly recommend!

Once I read Belinda, I practically forgot the Vampire Chronicles existed. Belinda is the best book I've ever read in my entire life (and I've read a few in my time!)

The narration, settings, and characters shift throughout the book, making it fascinatingly complex. First, you're carried through the lives of Belinda and Jeremy as they begin their life together, then there's the desperate mystery Jeremy tries to solve about Belinda's true identity, then the conclusion which brings the enormous cast of characters together for one last hurrah!

The characters are overwhelmingly original, unbelievable and fantastic. Rice paints each one with vibrant colors and tones that you won't see anywhere else. At some points, it seems as if everyone is suffering from an excess of personality, but as Rice indicates from the Stan Rice poem she chose to open with, excess is the point of the book. Excess is everwhere in Belinda, from the characters to the storyline to the backdrop of San Francisco-New Orleans-Europe. Rice painstakingly describes each detail: the lushness of New Orleans, the bright, cleanliness of San Francisco, the dusty childhood relics that make up Jeremy's life, the bitter heartache of his search for Belinda's identity, the beauty and relief he finds by painting her...

To the casual reader, the book might just seem like a cop-out of Lolita. But it's not. Here, the wiser, knowledgeable person is Belinda; the child is Jeremy. He learns from her what life is supposed to be about; together they overcome the secrets of their pasts and move on to new beginnings. For years, Jeremy was locked into painting images of little girls roaming through dark, eery houses. In reality, Jeremy and Belinda were both wandering through their own shadows, unable to shake the darkness of their past. Belinda brought light into Jeremy's world and he, in return, gave her the voice that was stolen from her by painting her pictures.

If you read this book and think it is lousy, then maybe you should read it again. Take time to enjoy the excess...

I was drawn in by the casual and quiet observations that Jeremy makes when he first sees Belinda in the book store. Anne Rice wrote Jeremy as an unassuming person from a distance but completely complicated and simple at the same time.

This story is about a 40sh child book author who against his better judgment is deeply attracted to Belinda a sixteen year old child by law but woman at heart. He knows nothing of who Belinda is but is consumed by her and a need to know who she really is. This book cleverly unravels secrets old and new while painting you a picture of a life few people can imagine.

The book slowly reveals Jeremy's and Belindas secrets while taking you on a journey through this taboo subject of love, passion, and obsession with a minor.

This book was advertised as erotic but it certainly was not graphic sexually. I suppose the erotic was directed to the taboo subject of sex between a minor and legal adult. I was a little leary of the idea but as you read you question who is the adult in the relationship Jeremy or Belinda. Belinda clearly matured quickly and Jeremy is still struggling with his childhood memories and fears. Also, the subject of pornography versus art is an interesting subject considering most of the paintings Jeremy painted were of Belinda nude.

Whether Anne Rice intended it to be a topic in her book or not I read Belinda and wondered/questioned if the legal age in the USA should be 18. Lots of countries recognize younger people to be adults. Maturity is indivual and varies amoung all ages.

As I said before the sex was not written graphically but the entire romance was written so sensually you didn't need it to be graphic. Anne Rice certainly is a great example of wonderfull writing. You can feel the passion as you read.

I fell in love with Jeremy and Belinda and the entire book.

Call me a hopeless romantic but I think this love story about a precocious sixteen year old child and a forty something author of children's books is....... well moving. Of course being on the plus side of middle age may be part of the reason.

Yes Belinda is beautiful and young and exciting and young and charming and young and shapely and did I mention young. Jeremy Walker is a famous, middle age author of children's books and a painter, who illustrates his own books. But after he runs into Belinda he can't write anything. All he can do is work on paintings of Belinda. He is in fact obsessed with painting her without clothes.

The book starts with Jeremy observing Belinda at a book signing in a San Francisco book store and he is smitten. He has to meet her so he asks her to a publisher's party afterward. She not only accompanies him but she seduces him at the party. No doubt about it, he is a fish on the hook, trashing around on the deck. On the other hand Belinda is both secretive, uninhibited and affectionate. Eventually Belinda agrees to move in with Jeremy.

Understandably, Jeremy is very curious about Belinda's past and her family but Belinda will not discuss it. In fact, she issues an ultimatum that she will leave for good if he keeps questioning her. Jeremy keeps painting her in various nude poses and tells Belinda not to worry, no one will ever see them. Like Belinda is worried. She thinks he ought to have an exhibition.

Jeremy is not about to stop inquiring about Belinda. He's just going to be more discreet about it, so he tells his good friend and Attorney Dan the story and asks him to surreptitiously make inquiries. Dan is incredulous and tells Jeremy what he already knows. That if his affair became public, he would at least be finished as a writer of children's or any other kind of books and maybe even serve time for statuary rape, where he would get to experience forcible rape firsthand. He also queries another good friend, Alex, a famous movie star.

Little by little a picture emerges about Belinda and people are indeed looking for Belinda and the more he finds out about them, the more they find out about him, whereas this involved story gets even more involved.

CONCLUSION

Is Belinda pornographic? No, it really is a love story. Really! Ok, so it has some erotic sequences and I suppose it resembles an old man's fantasy where a rich older man takes up with a beautiful young girl but it's also real life where rich older men divorce their long time wives for young blood trophy wives. It's not exactly uncommon.

Jeremy seems to have a childish innocence about him, while Belinda is worldly beyond her years. Jeremy is a bachelor, who happens to be a nice man and Belinda sincerely likes him for it. She has had plenty of duplicity and uncaring in her childhood and she is ready for stability.

Belinda is four hundred fifty-two pages long and was well written as any of you familiar with Anne Rice/Rampling might expect. While some of her writing tends to be morbid or even bloody, there was none of that in Belinda. The sexuality that appears was in keeping with the theme of the story and tastefully done. This novel was told in three longer parts and the final shorter part. While the writing was flowing, the story was not too wordy. Descriptions were kept to a minimum and used only to enhance the story. I found Belinda to be a quick compelling read that I enjoyed and no problem recommending, especially for men on the plus side of forty

My boyfriend gave me Belinda to read to stop my boredom from over taking me during the more empty summer days. I'm an avid reader myself, but I usually stick to romance novels only, although I've red Rice before (vampire series). But this book was amazing. From the first page, the erotic imagery and forbidden story line just drew me in. I read the book in one sitting, finding it hard to put down. Yes it's pure 80's, and yes its controversial, but that's what writing is all about, speaking your mind about things that are new and unique. This book is easy to follow, yet still very well written. I would suggest this book to anyone who either likes romance or you're more erotic type writing....Good job Rice.

I really enjoyed this book. This was the very first Anne Rice novel that I have read. I found her to be a wonderful writer. Once I picked this book up, I literally could not put it down. I loved all of the characters. The storyline about Jeremy and Belinda is what first drew me in. As I kept on reading, I got more and more addicted to the story and the lives of these characters. I also loved how part one is from Jeremy's point of view and then part two is from Belinda's. I was truly entranced with Anne Rice's novel. After reading this book, I'm even more interested in reading her other novels. I would recommend this book to anyone that believes in the power of love.

In the tradition of other best selling "Tinseltown Trash" authors--Collins, Krantz and Korda immediately spring to mind--this book works.

Unfortunately, the style is dated, the story is dragged out, the characters are hard to care about, self absorbed, petty, vain, childish, hedonistic, and those are just the good guys!

The whole thing is hard to believe--I know it is fiction and believe me I can suspend belief long enough to enjoy a good story--but this did not fit the bill. No way!

Anne uses too many exclamation points in her dialog! And there are too too too many superlatives and details, details and more details--get the idea?

And do we need to be reminded every 2 seconds of how beautiful everyone in this book is?

The globe trotting is fun to read. The sex is a snore--so if you are buying this for its allegedly erotic content, you have been warned. I have read more explicit stuff in the Bible! A child's fairy tale has more erotic overtones than this howler!

And as for the romance--it is so contrived--purely lust in love's clothing. Yeah, Belinda is a worldly 16 year old but she is till too immature for 44 year old Jeremy. And yes, this 44 year old acts very much his age--except when he turns into a 15 year old horn dog all too eager to do the deed with Belinda. Who is also, all too eager to do it with Jeremy. And yet with all this sex going on, the book is rather sexless. This is where Rice skimps on the details...! What irony. An erotic book minus the erotica. What next? A book of poetry minus the poems?

If you long for the days of wine and roses, for get it. But if you have a jones for big hair, and big egos ala Alexis Carrington in Dynasty (which is referenced here too showing that Rice knows exaxtly what's she's doing!) crossed with Humbert Humbert's Lolita (another work referenced in this book) then this book is for you.

So pour yourself a glass of Scotch (Belinda's drink of choice...see how classy this teen is?) and smoke a few foreign cigaretes, pop a foreign film (never call it a movie!) into the VCR for the right Eurotrash ambience, and curl up with this potboiler. And don't forget to hang on, folks--it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

This book just gets worse and worse!

Second time reading it (I stopped a long time ago and had to slog through the first half again just for any of it to make sense.)

Icky tacky Euro trash feeling permeates each page. Like Dynasty or something but not as fun and campy. Like a soap opera on steroids. Yes, it's THAT bad!

Loltia...er, I mean Belinda, is a little blonde sexpot, jailbait, child star, wordlier than thou waif, who's been there, done everything and everybody. She's seen the world and has great style, high brow tastes and charm galore, yet she had does every drink and drug imaginable (Oh yes, that's sophistication, Anne!) and downs Scotch and cigarettes as if they were cookies and milk. She's got mucho dollars in the bank but lives on the street under an assumed identity. She is womanly enough for Jeremy to boink, but he loves to get her dressed up like a three year old first. Then he photographs and paints his muse, naked, in a variety of child-like settings. So this is what passes for erotic now? Maybe to pedophiles and some fetishists, but not to me! The sex scenes are a snore. Some homosexual and lesbian references round out an otherwise totally unerotic book.

Expecting smut? Pass on this one and pick up a copy of any of the Sleeping Beauty novels instead.

Expecting a meaty story? Hah! This ones is all style no substance, all glitz no glory, all prose and no purpose.

Artsy fartsy. Heavily detailed. Eurotrash. Like the set of a bad B movie, cheesy porn flick and child's morning show all rolled in one with a hearty helping of nighttime soaps a la the 1980's.

Dated. Poorly written (but much easier to read than most of Rice's heavy handed fiction). Characters I don't relate to or want to relate to. Insipid, banal, two dimensional, airheads--the whole lot of them!

If this were a movie, Drew Barrymore would be a cinch to play Belinda (she'd have to drop a few pounds first to fit the 5'4'' 100 pound description). She exudes enough 'little girl lost' appeal on and off the screen to make it believable. But why bother? It's all been there and done before in a myriad of bad TV miniseries, cable movies, straight to video soft cores, and night time soaps.

This book does not live up to the blurb on the back. It is not erotic. It is inane.

Read Lolita instead, preferably while listening to Sting's "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

While many have called Belinda erotica, the only truly erotic content would be supplied by the reader. When sex occurs, one can almost feel the shades being drawn; the reader is not allowed into that private realm. This book is a romance, pure and simple. The kicker, of course - and what sets this apart from other romances - is that it is written from the male protagonist's perspective.

Let me reiterate that, because it is important and bears repeating: This is written from a male's perspective. And no, he doesn't describe his quivering chest or give the reader any other reason to doubt his gender or sex. Indeed, if the reader allows himself, he cannot help but be drawn with Jeremy - the protagonist - into love and obsession for Belinda.

If your a man AND a hopeless romantic, pick this up today. But, be forewarned. As other here have noted, this book is not for the repressed or puritanical. But then, very few creative works are.

It takes a great writer to make a controversial story premise like this one really work, and make it tasteful, but Anne Rice (excuse me, Rampling) has done it with this one. Belinda is a 16 year old mystery. Who is she? She is intelligent, polished, mannered and sophisticated...so why can't she be with a 40 something handsome and sophisticated Jeremy Walker, illustrator of children's books? There is a bit of mystery behind it, and some secrets about Belinda's past that make an intriguing read, but the fact that Anne Rice has made a beautiful love story out of a subject that any other writer might turn into tacky middle aged men's fantasy makes it one of my favorite books.