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Amos Lassen

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Amos Lassen is currently reading

Wuthering Nights

by I.J. Miller (Goodreads Author)

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Amos Lassen said: " Miller, I.J. and Emily Bronte. “Wuthering Nights: An Erotic Retelling of Wuthering Heights”, Grand Central Publishing, 2013.

Adding the Erotic

Amos Lassen

We will never know how Emily Bronte would feel about I.J. Miller’s retelling of her story about th Miller, I.J. and Emily Bronte. “Wuthering Nights: An Erotic Retelling of Wuthering Heights”, Grand Central Publishing, 2013.

Adding the Erotic

Amos Lassen

We will never know how Emily Bronte would feel about I.J. Miller’s retelling of her story about the love between Heathcliff and Catherine but I think it is a wonderful read. When the book arrived, I showed it to one of my neighbors who remarked, “They can’t find anything new to write about, so they ruin our classics”? I simply replied “Nothing is ruined, it is simply added to. Besides, Hollywood does it all the time”.

I decided to make this read a two book event. First I reread the original (I was surprised how much I enjoyed it when I read it this time—I had not read it since my undergraduate days when it was required reading for a course I took) and then I would read Miller’s version. The two go hand in hand and complement each other. We can only imagine how difficult it must be to step into another author’s shoes and rework a novel that has thrilled readers for so long.

In Bronte’s original we read of the tragic love between the beautiful Catherine and the mysterious and brooding Heathcliff. Their feelings were restrained but were a step away from being carnal and we felt that. Miller brings us that carnality.

“Heathcliff pushed Catherine to her back and began to lick and kiss her neck, tasting her. She arched her throat and moaned softly. He licked down while cupping her full breasts in his hands and began nuzzling and sucking her nipples”…

Catherine and Heathcliff’s love was doomed from the very get-go. Heathcliff had been abandoned as a child and was an orphan of low birth. Catherine was impulsive and wild but could tame the man who sees her as his “beshert”, his soul-mate. (I doubt that Bronte was aware of the Yiddish concept of soul-mate). The love they shared was possessive and would change them forever.

Miller does more than just re-imagine their story. She uses Bronte’s characters and character sketches and updates Bronte’s language so that we, in the twenty first century, can enjoy the read without having to get through the original’s language style. She adds the eroticism and the original romance bursts into life with the addition of sex scenes (which are never tawdry or smutty) that truly enhance the emotions between the lovers and propelled the plot forward as if this is her own story.

Miller frames her telling with the story of a modern traveler to the moors and the scene of the original novel. Herein I understood exactly what Miller was doing. She was not just adding sex to Bronte; she has written a new novel that is inspired by the original. As we read we recognize the original characters and Bronte’s original emotional stress. We read of the awakenings of sexual feelings in the two lovers and we gain a foreboding sense as Heathcliff realizes that sex and power are connected. He becomes more sexual and more dominant as the novel continues and soon the emotions of envy and manipulation enter the plot and Heathcliff uses these sexually. The original was not a happy love story and neither is this. Negativity is expressed through sex but passion still reigns supreme. By risk of writing a spoiler, I will simply say that the love between Catherine and Heathcliff becomes dark but compelling.

When Bronte wrote the book it was considered controversial because of its depictions of mental and physical cruelty and here is where Miller lets us see the novel in a different light by adding the erotic. Her eroticism replaces the dark parts of Bronte and her totally integrated into the text. Nothing is gratuitous and I wondered how the original could have lasted without them. Literary purists may take issue with Miller but so what. Recreational readers get a story that they enjoy and let’s face it—it is all about pleasing those who read for pleasure. ...more "

Apr 24, 2013 04:35PM · see review

Amos Lassen is currently reading

The Battle for Jericho

by Gene Gant (Goodreads Author)

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read in January 2012

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Amos Lassen said: "
Gant, Gene. “The Battle for Jericho”, Dreamspinner Press, 2013.

Making Amends

Amos Lassen

In the small town of Webster’s Glen, there is trouble. Dylan Cussler, a gay activist moves in with his boyfriend and then sues the state because of its ban on gay
Gant, Gene. “The Battle for Jericho”, Dreamspinner Press, 2013.

Making Amends

Amos Lassen

In the small town of Webster’s Glen, there is trouble. Dylan Cussler, a gay activist moves in with his boyfriend and then sues the state because of its ban on gay adoption. Two of the locals, Jericho Jiles and Mac Travis, his best friend decide to find a way to get Dylan and boyfriend to leave town but things do not work out as planned. Dylan shows up as the two are trashing his house making Jericho nervous and he flees leaving Dylan hurt and unconscious.
Jericho is not all bad and he is remorseful about what he did and returns to apologize and set things right. Dylan accepts his apology and forgives him to Dylan’s surprise and then Dylan begins to open Jericho’s eyes and mind. Jericho realizes that he is attracted to both boys and girls which does not make things easy for him because he has a girlfriend from a very strict religious family. If he is to accept the fact that his sexuality is divided then he must question just who he is and where does he stand with not just his girlfriend but with her religious parents and with God.
I really believe dealing with God in a gay romance is quite a difficult task for any writer and Gene Gant does just fine in the first book I have read by him. He is able to bring together a struggle to find out who someone is with the opposition being those in God’s army who want the world to be safe for salvation. We are all aware of the high price we sometimes have to pay for acceptance and many times that involves leaving religion aside. Bigotry causes pain and denies us the right to serve our maker as we want and no one has the right to take that from us. Couple that with the pain and rejection felt when a family chooses not to accept a child and a person is lost. It is a difficult subject to work with and Gant tackles it through his characters.
It is hard to draw characters that all readers will like or identify with and therefore there must be someone to dislike. That really does not happen here. Our opinions of the various characters changes as we read and since so many have characteristics that we can identify with, it is that much more difficult to dislike someone even if they behave in an abhorrent way. Many times we discover a lot about ourselves through characters created by others. But what we see is that with understanding, patience and an open mind, we can change. Gant has created a fascinating character in Jericho Jiles and I certainly hope that he hangs around gay literature for awhile.
As we read this novel, we come face to face with issues of religion and we begin to question our own feelings and this is what I consider to be the real beauty of this book. But it is not all religion here—this is a love story and there are love and sex scenes which are erotic yet tastefully written. There is also humor and poignancy but above all else, this is a novel about love. Gene Gant is a new writer for me but I have discovered that this is not his first book---I surely hope it is not his last. ...more "

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(100%)
— Jan 07, 2013 03:54PM

Jan 07, 2013 03:56PM · see review