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The Pleasure Principle: The Amaryllis Book of Erotic Stories
"In The Pleasure Principle – The Amaryllis Book of Erotic Stories, editor G.Sampath brings together fifteen of the finest contemporary fiction writers on a singular thematic platform: erotica. These are tales that explore the glories of romance, eroticism and much more. From homoerotic and transgender to bisexual and straight.This anthology covers a wide variety of erotica. Quite a few of the stories in The Pleasure Principle cover new ground even in ‘straight’ territory. The irrepressible Taslima Nasrin subtly brings out the unexpected transmutations of online lust when it goes offline; Meena Kandasamy tells us about the sex tapes of our ancient gods, Jaishree Misra’s story brings out the yearnings of an elderly widower, while Cyrus Mistry explores the forbidden desires of a middle-aged school teacher – these are just some of the erotic sub-themes explored in the anthology. Other contributors include such distinguished names like Tabish Khair, Amitava Kumar, Shinie Antony, Krishna Shastri Devulapalli, Rupa Bajwa, Amrita Chatterjee, Kankana Basu, Aditya Sharma, Vikram Kapur and Kristen Cosby."
157 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 23, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 12, 2016
The last story in The Pleasure Principle: The Amaryllis Book of Erotic Stories is Amrita Chatterjee’s The Real Sex. A young woman gets drunk at a bachelorette party and arranges to meet up with a Frenchman for a four-day tryst. The outcome of that rendezvous surprises her; it is unexpected, it turns on its head everything she has associated all along with sex. It makes her realize, too, what sex is, what it can entail. And what it need not necessarily be. Not the ecstasy of orgasm, not the relief and release and excitement of the act—but more. And less.
That is true, too, of good erotic literature, as emerges from the fifteen stories that comprise The Pleasure Principle. Erotica is not necessarily voyeuristic. It is not the literary equivalent of the porn film (though it can have some of the elements, and there are a couple of stories here that go into graphic detail). It is, instead, when well-written, an exploration of human nature—of which sexuality, of course, is an integral part.
Human nature, for instance, which to relieve its loneliness, turns in desperation to unorthodox means: an old man, recently widowed, in Jaishree Misra’s Naked Cleaning Lady puts in an ad for a cleaning lady to clean his home—in the nude. Or, as in Taslima Nasrin’s Sexboy, loneliness which makes a woman decide to turn an online encounter into an offline one, with unforeseen consequences.
Human nature, too, which is revealed in a story about a small-town adolescent’s increasingly desperate desire to lose his virginity—even if he does not know exactly how. There is a dark humour here, in Aditya Sharma’s Chunni Lal, that is also pathetic, in the same way that Cyrus Mistry’s aged, paedophile teacher is, in The Degradation of Erasmo S. A man driven by sexual desire, so desperately in need of relief, that he loses his sense of balance, of right and wrong. Or, as in Shinie Antony’s Thy Will Be Done, a reluctant god woman whose sexuality has been so long repressed that it bursts forth in rebellion.
This is a wonderfully mixed bag of stories, of different facets of eroticism, the emotions that go with it. The jealousy, the greed, the ambition. Sexual power and politics, as in Kankana Basu’s grimly noir Graveyard Shift, where Anu dons the guise of Shabnam, the sophisticated upper-class woman who walks into the night beside the railway line, looking for a man, any man, to prey on. Or the politics, completely farcical and hilarious, that result in a narrow escape for a travelling businessman in Krishna Shastri Devulapalli’s delightful The Middle-East Position.
From a child’s first, uncomprehending glimpse of sex, to a young Croatian baker’s nightly tryst with an American girl, their lovemaking amid flour and marzipan, cream and raspberries, this is a very eclectic collection of stories (and one of them more an essay than a story, Meena Kandasamy’s tongue-in-cheek satire on moral policing, the glory of Hindutva, and ‘ancient Indian science’, The Holy Sex Tape Project). Ennui, fantasy. Humour, pathos. Poignancy, wild passion. Madness, desperation. The exhilaration of one’s first sexual experience, the loneliness of old age, of being left behind.
It's all here, and in a variety of styles and settings. A fine collection of literature, not just erotic literature.
(From my review for The New Indian Express: http://www.newindianexpress.com/lifes...)
That is true, too, of good erotic literature, as emerges from the fifteen stories that comprise The Pleasure Principle. Erotica is not necessarily voyeuristic. It is not the literary equivalent of the porn film (though it can have some of the elements, and there are a couple of stories here that go into graphic detail). It is, instead, when well-written, an exploration of human nature—of which sexuality, of course, is an integral part.
Human nature, for instance, which to relieve its loneliness, turns in desperation to unorthodox means: an old man, recently widowed, in Jaishree Misra’s Naked Cleaning Lady puts in an ad for a cleaning lady to clean his home—in the nude. Or, as in Taslima Nasrin’s Sexboy, loneliness which makes a woman decide to turn an online encounter into an offline one, with unforeseen consequences.
Human nature, too, which is revealed in a story about a small-town adolescent’s increasingly desperate desire to lose his virginity—even if he does not know exactly how. There is a dark humour here, in Aditya Sharma’s Chunni Lal, that is also pathetic, in the same way that Cyrus Mistry’s aged, paedophile teacher is, in The Degradation of Erasmo S. A man driven by sexual desire, so desperately in need of relief, that he loses his sense of balance, of right and wrong. Or, as in Shinie Antony’s Thy Will Be Done, a reluctant god woman whose sexuality has been so long repressed that it bursts forth in rebellion.
This is a wonderfully mixed bag of stories, of different facets of eroticism, the emotions that go with it. The jealousy, the greed, the ambition. Sexual power and politics, as in Kankana Basu’s grimly noir Graveyard Shift, where Anu dons the guise of Shabnam, the sophisticated upper-class woman who walks into the night beside the railway line, looking for a man, any man, to prey on. Or the politics, completely farcical and hilarious, that result in a narrow escape for a travelling businessman in Krishna Shastri Devulapalli’s delightful The Middle-East Position.
From a child’s first, uncomprehending glimpse of sex, to a young Croatian baker’s nightly tryst with an American girl, their lovemaking amid flour and marzipan, cream and raspberries, this is a very eclectic collection of stories (and one of them more an essay than a story, Meena Kandasamy’s tongue-in-cheek satire on moral policing, the glory of Hindutva, and ‘ancient Indian science’, The Holy Sex Tape Project). Ennui, fantasy. Humour, pathos. Poignancy, wild passion. Madness, desperation. The exhilaration of one’s first sexual experience, the loneliness of old age, of being left behind.
It's all here, and in a variety of styles and settings. A fine collection of literature, not just erotic literature.
(From my review for The New Indian Express: http://www.newindianexpress.com/lifes...)
August 31, 2016
A long time acoming, a book that shares experiences and fantasy with a teasing touch of literary excellence. This collection has brought together big names as well as lesser known yet none the less well-established decorated writers.
Read over a weekend or on a journey, you will look forward to the next story only to find the book has ended while you wish there more stories to read. A huge variety from assorted prisms treats erotica with an at once familiar yet fantasy-like literary flavour. A book to put on your shelf not under the magazines. Tabish Khair, Taslima Nasrin and Cyrus Mistry are just a few of the authors you will find in this book's rather fun topic.
Read it. Enjoy it and read it again.
Read over a weekend or on a journey, you will look forward to the next story only to find the book has ended while you wish there more stories to read. A huge variety from assorted prisms treats erotica with an at once familiar yet fantasy-like literary flavour. A book to put on your shelf not under the magazines. Tabish Khair, Taslima Nasrin and Cyrus Mistry are just a few of the authors you will find in this book's rather fun topic.
Read it. Enjoy it and read it again.
June 2, 2017
This is not an erotica, but as the compiler G. Sampath promised, it's a collection of short stories about the "perception" of eroticism. They are about growing up, adolescence, old age and loneliness, desires and love in their different forms. Written by a dozen or more well known authors including Taslima Nasreen, it makes interesting reading.
December 7, 2018
Trust G Sampath to come up with an eclectic and engrossing anthology. Almost all the stories are of a very high quality of prose and the spaces they explore cover varying shades of emotions. The only story that lets down this otherwise great collection is Meena Kandasamy's - it sticks out like a sore thumb and definitely belongs to a political collection rather than this one.
July 14, 2017
Exciting, entertaining, witty at times. Fine anthology.
August 3, 2021
These are humdrum stories – vignettes of daily life – and hardly erotic in content. There is one gem, however, a riotously hilarious account by Krishna Shastri Devulapalli. His uproarious style is like Stephen Leacock on LSD. I plan to read his other works viz., Ice Boys in Bell - Bottoms, How to Be a Literary Sensation: A Quick Guide to Exploiting Friends, Family and Facebook for Artistic Gain etc
There are two stories of sexual repression leading to mental breakdown – one person turns out to be a closet paedophile and the other ends up in a psychotic state. Sad and morbid, and not at all titillating. The Indian male's obsession with maids – the long-suffering kaamwali – features in two stories
There is a superfluous satirical piece on moral policing by the so called “right-wing” techies – essentially ridiculing Hindu gods. The left-leaning author’s antipathy towards Hinduism was uncalled for.
There are two stories of sexual repression leading to mental breakdown – one person turns out to be a closet paedophile and the other ends up in a psychotic state. Sad and morbid, and not at all titillating. The Indian male's obsession with maids – the long-suffering kaamwali – features in two stories
There is a superfluous satirical piece on moral policing by the so called “right-wing” techies – essentially ridiculing Hindu gods. The left-leaning author’s antipathy towards Hinduism was uncalled for.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews