Fanny Hill: What in the world was I thinking.. How can I bleach mybrain?

Ever wanted to read porn from England circa the 1740′s? I picked up a copy of this, thinking that anachronistic descriptions of overly prude sexual encounters would be humorous. I was dead wrong here.

• Fanny Hill (John Cleland)
• G. Fenton, Publisher
• 288 pages (approx)
• OCLC: 13050889
• Dewey Decimal: 823/.6 19
• LC Class: PR3348.C65 M45

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure was “out there”. Imagine the dirtiest filthy disgusting porn available in our culture. Double that and put it into a written format with archaic wording. Needless to say, I was surprised and did not finish this book. I am far from prudish, but the book while witty and precise, went places I never wanted to visit. Explicit sexual encounters with a fourteen year old is on that 'not interested' list. I recognize that at the time of authorship, this was less of a concern due to age perceptions in society.

I would not say that this is something that people should not read. Instead, just be informed. If you are not into graphic erotica already, this is not something that you should pick up. It appears to be something that only a seasoned individual in the genre will enjoy.

Fanny Hill is a country girl who’s parents have died. She moved to London in an effort to rise above her status. Day one in her new life, she is swept into a brothel under the premise of good work. Unknowing that she is being pimped, she has her first encounter with a man. Fanny survives this encounter, and slowly grows to look forward to her work.

Hill was written by Cleland when he was stuck in a debtors prison. It is nothing more than overly descriptive porn, masked as erotic literature.

I originally considered placing some sample text here, but as the novelty of the story wore off and I began to feel dirty, I opted against it.

While I do not believe in banning books, I can see why this book has been banned in a number of countries for most of its existence. I was offended at many points in this book, and that is damn hard feat to accomplish. You offend enough people and banning is bound to happen. There was no attempt by Cleland to hide his intentions.

For anyone still interested who is not already seasoned, I suggest checking out the Wikipedia page. It contains excerpts and a number of publishing details, as well as original illustrations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Hill

This story has also apparently been remade into a number of movies, spin offs, references in other media.

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Disclosure: This book was procured via Project Gutenburg (gutenberg.org) which is a website which really tickles my fancy. Not like the fancy which is described in the above text, but the fancy which drinks overpriced super sugary latte variations.