Customer Reviews

Emmanuelle

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

While some might find the frankness of the book's text shocking, Emmanuelle Arsan's infamous bestseller is rich in imagery and detail which still resonates brightly so many years after its initial publication.

The story concerns a young Parisian who flies to Bangkok to join her diplomat husband. In a marriage which in the strictest sense might be termed "open," Emmanuelle struggles to conform to what she believes are her husband's wishes. She becomes entranced by an older man named Mario, whom she believes can teach her the "Secrets of Eros," and help her to become what she terms a "real woman." The real star of the book, however, is not the story, but the period philosophy which is so oft found throughout the book, and especially in the chapter "The Law."

Love "scenes" are frequent, but are told with such subtle beauty and grace, that they never become unpleasant or gratuitous. "Emmanuelle" is without a doubt a classic of the genre.

Emmanuelle is rather a well written book and it has a certain charm. With any doubt it is nicely erotic in parts. There is lesbian sex and love which are arousing to read. There is also a reasonable feel for colonial French expats living a decadent life in South East Asia. The endless dialogue about love and fulfilment between Emmanuelle and Mario is, to an Anglo-Saxon at least, pretentious nonsense but I have to admit it is very much of the French psyche and is an acquired taste - I found it rather dull. I also found some parts laughable. If you read the first chapter and Emmanuelle's adventures on the aircraft it seems to me quite clear that Arsan must never have been flying except in her dreams. If you see it at a friend's, or are bored and need something to read then by all means try it an you will find enough to keep you interested. If you believe that there really is a philosophy of sex then this is a book for you. If not, then read it for the narrative and the love scenes which are erotic to be sure. Otherwise Anais Nin is really much more literary and artistic in the same genre.

The sex scenes in this book are pretty good, if you are into that sort of thing. And most of the first half of the book is amusing, especially Emmanuelle's relationships with other women (sexual or not). But the second half of the book is dominated by Italian playboy Mario educating Emmanuelle about his philosophy of eroticism. This is pretty pretentious stuff, and rather dull. Mario almost makes sex seem boring. What a windbag! Also, the book ends rather abruptly. It feels like there was another chapter that got left out. But the book is worth a read, if only because it has become so iconic.

Something I find interesting about this book is that it is often held to be a feminist work, a freeing of a woman's sexuality. In reading the book I felt the hand of a man throughout. It was always a man who guided Emmanuelle into her debauchery and always a man who gave her permission. There was even a parenthetical scene between Emmanuelle's husband and his colleague where he voiced his encouragement of Emmanuelle's infidelity. I got the feeling there was no Emmanualle, just a woman who was no more than the sum of her parts and her libido on a little leash to be tugged around by any passing father figure.

There is nothing life changing about this book and no message worth giving an ear to you. If you're looking for something erotic, it fits the bill. Just be careful of the second half which Mario dominates with his mind-numbing chatter.

(...)

I bought this because a newer book I liked, Pandora an American in Prague, was compared to it (and I've always been curious about it, like it's one of those historical erotic books like The Story Of O that anyone seriously interested in erotica should read). What I didn't expect to find were brilliantly powerful, elegantly choreographed erotic scenes. Goodness! Here I am intellectually slumming and I found erotic gold! It's supposedly a memoir written by Marayat Rollet-Andriane, or possibly by or with her husband depending on which critic your reading. Googling her brings up some fascinating stuff, including lots of photos (she was stunningly beautiful). I also found a blog entry from a guy speculating that his mother was one of the couple's lovers while she (his mother) was in the Peace Corps in Thailand! As pure erotica, some of the scenes are among the best I've ever read. My less than perfect rating for it is because at the end the tone changed (for me) from erotic fascination to her "mentor's" philosophy of sexuality. I wonder if that's when her husband took over writing the book?

I was interested in the book and the movie because of the 70's feminist/female-empowerment angle. I am sorry to say that I purchased this book after reading the mixed reviews here and found that it was completely unreadable. Perhaps it's because it's translated from the French: I will give it the benefit of the doubt that the writing appears better in its original language. But In English, the writing is terrible and there is no attempt at any literary value (despite its claims). The "erotica" was so clumsily worded as to have no appeal at all. I stopped reading after a few chapters. At least the movie had Sylvia Kristel, who - no matter what you think of her acting skills - is kinda cool in her cult, campy, 70's way. But this book has no Sylvia Kristel or any kind of cult cool. If you think Danielle Steele and Shirley Conran is corny and unreadable, this is much, much worse. It was a waste of money.

A couple of scenes involving Emmanuelle and her catty, women friends are real and amusing. The rest of the novel is preposterous. The eighty pages of ranting by an artist named Mario might inadvertently constitute the most savage indictment of the "examined life" in the annals of literature.

The author may have lived in the tropics and had wild times. She had no connection with the world around her beyond comments about the heat, which may have double meanings. The rant of Man's world over the natural world smacks of the college cafe. The sex in the aircraft is something else to seperate her from the world around her. Basically a few good sex scenes and early 70's pop philosophy.The Movie version provides better entertainment.