13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Most misunderstood book ever, September 3, 2004
This review is from: Kama Sutra of Vatsayana (Paperback)
This book has a wide reputation among English-speaking readers, especially among those who haven't read it. That explains why its reputation is so completely mistaken.
Vatsyayana's reputation for describing couples' gymnastics comes from just a few pages out of 200 or so. The rest of this book is about all the other social aspects of men and women in each others' company. It emphasizes the "64 arts", a liberal education including literacy and literary games, as well as carpentry, cooking, and other domestic skills. It talks about courtship and courtesanship, monogamy and polygamy, brides and widows, and suasion and seduction. It discusses the dark side of human passion, including capturing the object of one's love by main force. There are even love-charms and potions for ensuring faithfulness.
I'm not forgetting the discussion physical affection. Yes, there are the many ways for a man and woman to come together. A few are familiar, others acrobatically improbable. Vatsyayana pays attention to many kinds of caresses as well. Some, including love-bites, seem suited only to the most passionate of lovers seeking the strongest sensations. Such acts may not appeal to some readers, but the author keeps coming back to the precept that what's right is what's right for the people involved and for their time and place.
Vatsyayana mentions oral sexuality, by and for men, by and for women. He addresses all combinations, but same-sex couples get very little attention. He discusses, in passing, limited use of toys. He also mentions relations with 'eunuchs', apparently a euphemism for homosexual men. I suspect that this confusing usage was introduced by the Victorian translator, sir Richard Burton. I also suspect that the medicinal recipes have lost something in translation. There may be no English words for some plants, but the latin names probably indicate a lot more certainty about species identification than may be justified.
The author has a relatively egalitarian view of women, especially when compared to the Arabic "Perfumed Garden" written over 1000 years later. Still, it's written my a male author for a mostly-male audience. The modern reader must remember that book comes from about the 4th century AD and was translated during the prudish 19th century. It's an historical document; reading it in a modern framework will only cause confusion and detract from the work.
After 1700 years, the Kama Sutra has a lot to say to a modern reader. It reminds us that the best lover is man or woman who has many other skills as well. Parts of the advice are obsolete. Even those parts remind us that relations between men and women are endlessly complex, and that the complexity is part of the joy.
//wiredweird
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10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting glimpse into Indian society, June 25, 2000
By A Customer
Though the KS is infamous as a how-to manual on sex, the section on intercourse is actually quite a small portion of the book. Interesting, but not very scandalous at all; a catalogue of some of the most minor things, down to different kinds of shapes that your teeth leave when you bite your lover. Makes you wonder how some people have this much time. The rest of the KS is a great look into the social and cultural thought of India back then, and is also worth a read.
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