Romantic Fiction, Reality Shaping and The Work

Mari said:
It also might be a key to Sex/Relationships.
In this twisted word, sex is taboo topic – which leads to shame, hate, denial, desire and ultimately possession. Depends on the programs one is modeled by.
So if a person approaches sex with no anticipation, with no desire to possess or change other person, but out of act of pure love and being one with the other person, than that could be the key to also include sex as the part of The Work as creation force in creating a better world.
But to achieve that, one first must strip all his/hers programming to realize themselves so are able to see if a person next to them is in tuned with him/her.
Only then this step of the Work is possible
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Thank you @Mari for pulling out the relevant parts of the Wave. Those were exactly the parts that stood out for me too. There is also Ch 70 (You Take The High Road and I’ll Take The Low Road), which may be apropos here too. It deals with how we are a bunch of brain chemicals, how some brain chemicals are addictive & cloud our thinking; how our thinking is often driven by emotional thinking (& programs) so that we’re often drawn to choose the wrong person.

These days sex can be either taboo or in-your-face depending on your sociocultural milieu. There seems to be a spectrum from being overly moralistic/prudish about it at one end to profligate licentiousness at the other. I think either extreme is unhealthy: one extreme (moralistic) promoted by religion & it’s attendant guilt, shame, hate, denial etc; the other by liberal sociocultural programming leading to over-sexualising of youth and excess promiscuity. I think what’s called for is a more healthy balanced attitude towards sex in general. So cleaning our machines, divesting ourselves of those programs helps towards having a much healthier view of relationships and sex.

I just finished Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed- I really enjoyed this story. Quite spicy in parts but I actually enjoyed that too! Both the protagonists are scarred by their past, but they seem to be aware of what drives them (eg Sidonie never wants to marry because her father & brother-in-law were tyrannical), and they somehow manage to heal those wounds with the other’s help. It makes the raunchy parts so much more wholesome.

I used to read this genre when I was in high school, so I’m not new to the idea of wholesome love (with sex being just one expression of that). I’ve learned to deal with the yearning for a wholesome love story by focusing on what I can do, which is to work on myself. If that significant other doesn’t appear, at least I can try and balance my left (male) and right (female) hemispheres of my brain. Conjugal felicity within if not without! :lol:

And if this group process helps anchor a reality where love, faithfulness, trust, home, family, friendship, chivalry, creativity flourish, then I’m all in!
 
I finished the second book of Anna Campbell's 2nd book A Rake's Midnight Kiss. I enjoyed the teasing conversations with intellectual sharpness and strongly independent, confident critical thinking motherless Genevive. These witty teasings are common staples of Indian movies with the replacement of steamy components with song/dances. I have to laugh at the script when Christopher Evans goes to the evil Lord's house with hand on the waist of Genevive(typical movie script). It looks Campbell's endings are full of emotional healing that makes one forget the steamy components.

I am somewhat hooked to the story at the expense of other activities. So, I am thinking of switching to Bary Balogh's books and I will come back to this 'Sons of Sin' series later.
 
Just finished 'Dancing with Clara' So they both married each other for selfish reasons. He, because of debts and debtors nipping at his heals. She, because I think first and foremost, she wanted physical love from a desirable man. But also, respectability that marriage would bring. So it would seem highly unlikely that such a union would produce anything other than misery in the end. However, that's not what happened. They grew to really love each other. Okay, it's a romance novel, so no big surprise there. But what was interesting was they ended up giving each other exactly what the other needed to overcome the entropic conditions that were threatening to destroy them both. She needed first and foremost to feel like a woman who was desirable. And then she needed the knowledge that it was possible to walk again and the will to struggle to achieve it. Freddie gave all of that to her, and a pregnancy too. Even if he was doing so for primarily selfish reasons.

Freddie needed a reason to fight his demons. Someone who could forgive him when he couldn't forgive himself. Someone who gave him a reason to fight against a nature that wasn't going to be easily defeated and would likely require many attempts to overcome. Most importantly, from my viewpoint, a taste of what a different level of being could offer so that his former life began to be distasteful. She gave him all of that.

I also found it interesting that right towards the end he's (Freddie) gambling yet again and he realizes his opponent is a mirror image of himself who's about to ruin himself. Freddie has a winning hand but folds so the other guy can win. He pulls him aside and gives him a talking to and a licking. Helping someone who has the same problem... We've heard that before, I think.

Did I miss anything?
 
I finally managed to catch up with this thread.

I am not a fan of novels, and therefore even less of this kind of literature. This is why it is with still some personal doubts that I am preparing to take the plunge in my turn. It seems to me to be an even greater challenge than to have put myself in meditation or to have radically changed my diet.
But I admit that all your comments eventually convinced me to give it a go.

So I'm going to start "Untouched" by Anna Campbell while waiting to receive Sons of Sin series. :read:

Not all of the books are obviously translated into French, and some seem hard to find, but there are enough of them to get away from it all for hours. We will now have to find time to read. I would almost come to hope for a re-containment ... oops:umm:

There is only one essential question left: where will I store these books in my library?
Between "The Mind Parasites" and "Crime and Punishment"?

Sorry for the irrelevant comment, but I needed to put it that way because of my apprehension.
 
trytofly said:
I finally managed to catch up with this thread.

I am not a fan of novels, and therefore even less of this kind of literature. This is why it is with still some personal doubts that I am preparing to take the plunge in my turn. It seems to me to be an even greater challenge than to have put myself in meditation or to have radically changed my diet.
But I admit that all your comments eventually convinced me to give it a go.

So I'm going to start "Untouched" by Anna Campbell while waiting to receive Sons of Sin series. :read:

Not all of the books are obviously translated into French, and some seem hard to find, but there are enough of them to get away from it all for hours. We will now have to find time to read. I would almost come to hope for a re-containment ... oops:umm:

There is only one essential question left: where will I store these books in my library?
Between "The Mind Parasites" and "Crime and Punishment"?

Sorry for the irrelevant comment, but I needed to put it that way because of my apprehension.
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Ditto, I just finally caught up to. Buying the whole kindle version of the Sons of Sins series after this and starting with book 1. Chapter 22 of the Wave can wait till tomorrow and if I don't finish by Saturday, that is fine. I will catch up after the meeting. As for your question about where to store the books in your library, well if I were in your shoes, I would simply just look to see where I currently had space for it and do the best I could to just keep the series of recommended books organized in that space. I don't see a good reason to go about it in an overly time consuming and perfectionist manner, but FWIW that is just my 2 cents. Cheers.

PS. @ Mari. Excellent post!
 
Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed by Anna Campbell, is rich with meaning and I will just share a small observation. One scene made me think of the myth of Narcissus. It is at the end of the book, when Jonas is at his castle. Below I have tried to explain why, without going into too many details of the story, by referring to the summary in the Wiki:
In Greek mythology, Narcissus (/nɑːrˈsɪsəs/; Ancient Greek: Νάρκισσος Nárkissos) was a hunter from Thespiae in Boeotia who was known for his beauty. [...]. [1] Narcissus was proud, in that he disdained those who loved him, causing some to take their own lives to prove their devotion to his striking beauty. Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, a fixation with oneself and one's physical appearance or public perception.[2][3]
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In the story, Jonas is fixated with the image of the hurt he has suffered, both the inner hurt and the public hurt. While this may be understandable, I thought it had a flavour of pathology when it comes to the many mirrors in the bedroom at his castle.
And the Wiki has:
The classic version is by Ovid, found in book 3 of his Metamorphoses (completed 8 AD); this is the story of Echo and Narcissus. One day Narcissus was walking in the woods when Echo, an Oread (mountain nymph) saw him, fell deeply in love, and followed him. Narcissus sensed he was being followed and shouted "Who's there?". Echo repeated "Who's there?" She eventually revealed her identity and attempted to embrace him. He stepped away and told her to leave him alone. She was heartbroken and spent the rest of her life in lonely glens until nothing but an echo sound remained of her.
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Contrary to the myth, what Jonas and Echo in a real sense incidentally create together brings them together, but even this is not enough to shatter Jonas' occupation with the hurt he has suffered, but contrary to before, Sidonie has now entered this image of hurt. Later they meet in the room where Sidonie entered this image. In spite of the difficult situation, the room of the now shattered mirror images becomes the starting point from where they both escape the final destiny of Narcissus and Echo, thanks to the efforts and character of Sidonie and the inner goodness of Jonas.

The plot in general is balanced. The sexual descriptions influenced me mainly at the beginning when it appears first. Later, as I discovered more about the characters and the personal dynamics between them, I was left with a feeling like reverence. Love in it varied forms can heal, if real it has holiness to it, and they are each others best therapist. Still nothing would have happened without Sidonie's sister, who remains what she had become, but is a catalyst to get the events going, just as her lack of change, in this volume at least, in the end leaves the two main characters as a unity.
 
Some thougts about "The madness of Lord Ian Mackenzy" (Jennyfer Ashely):

Love is not just about ouselves but about the other.
In a couple there has to be an equilibrium between the feminine and the masculine in each one.
Frienship is the basis of Love between a man and a woman.

The erotic scenes in the book, till now, are interesting. They are telling that the body is a mystery. They are written from respect and understanding, telling that sex between a man and a woman is something beautiful. Pleasure and joy is shared, from respect of the other. And there is joy and laugh also. It is an exhange of emotion and also where you can give and received.

Love is maturity, curiosity for the other, acceptance.
 
Dans la série "Les fils du péché" "le plus précieux des joyaux" d'Anna Campbell, suite et fin.
J'ai terminé ce livre hier soir, beaucoup de rebondissements qui vous tiennent en haleine...
Richard a beaucoup souffert d'être un bâtard mais son intelligence lui a permis de surmonter toutes les moqueries grâce à son sens de la répartition et à ses véritables amis Cam et Jonas et il s'est perdu dans sa séduction...
Geneviève a souffert d'avoir laissé son père utiliser son intelligence pour son profit, elle aussi a un sens de la répartition et rêve d'être indépendante ...
Ces deux là ont eu une vie banale et peu utile si leur rencontre n'avait pas eu lieu, et quelle rencontre! ...
Ils ont su s'apporter mutuellement respect, reconnaissance, des mots d'amour, des actes d'amour mais surtout des preuves d'amour...
Je les ai quittés à regret et me suis endormie avec un sourire sur les lèvres en pensant à eux ...
Mes histoires d'amour sont bien médiocres comparées aux livres que Laura nous fait découvrir, il m'a manqué cette rencontre particulière qui probablement doit être prédestinée ...
Un grand merci à Laura pour ces émois d'adolescente que je retrouve à 65 ans mais handicapée ne pouvant pas rester debout ni assise très longtemps et vivant recluse chez moi avec mes adorables petits amours d'animaux de compagnie, mes espoirs sont réduits à une peau de chagrin... Dans une autre vie peut-être ou dans une autre dimension ...
Je suis en manque de voiture je n'ai pas encore reçu les 5 livres déjà commandés ...
Rao, nous avons lu le même livre ensemble, je crois ..

In Anna Campbell's "Sons of Sin" series "the most precious of jewels", continuation and end.
I finished that book last night, lots of twists and turns to keep you on your toes...
Richard suffered a lot from being a bastard but his intelligence helped him to overcome all the mockery thanks to his sense of repartee and his real friends Cam and Jonas and he got lost in his seduction .
Geneviève has suffered from letting her father use her intelligence for his benefit, she too has a sense of repartition and dreams of being independent...
These two had a banal and useless life if they hadn't met, and what a meeting! ...
They were able to bring each other respect, recognition, words of love, acts of love, but above all proofs of love...
I left them with regret and fell asleep with a smile on my lips thinking of them ...
My love stories are very mediocre compared to the books that Laura makes us discover, I missed this particular encounter that probably must be predestined ...
A big thank you to Laura for these teenage emotions that I find again at 65 years old but disabled not being able to stay standing or sitting for very long and living in a recluse at home with my adorable little pet lovers, my hopes are reduced to a skin of sorrow... In another life perhaps or in another dimension ...
I'm in need of a car, I haven't received the 5 pounds I ordered yet...
Rao, we read the same book together, I think...
 
I've finished Book 4 of Sons of Sin series.
After I read the other 2 small novels from the series, I´m still thinking should I continue with "Marry in ..." or "Mckenzie" series - both series sound interested from what I´ve read from other members and in that way I could follow the thread easily and know what others are talking about....
I appreciate any suggestion. :-)
 
Dans la série "Les fils du péché" d'Anna Campbell, je viens de commander Tome 3, Follement amoureuse et Tome 4, Scélérat chez Amazon Le Tome 1 est plus cher, 20.75 euros, il attendra un peu, je devrais les recevoir demain avant 20H... J'espère pouvoir tenir jusque là... 😂 😂 😂

In the series "The Sons of Sin" by Anna Campbell, I have just ordered Volume 3, Madly in Love and Volume 4, Scoundrel at Amazon. Volume 1 is more expensive, 20.75 euros, it will wait a little, I should receive them tomorrow before 8pm ... I hope I can hold out until then... 😂 😂 😂
 
Guys, please keep it on topic. To Adamski, Fight Club is probably the furthest thing from regency romance imaginable. But feel free to discuss Palahniuk in a separate thread.
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Thats fair. I only mentioned it because the title of the thread is romantic fiction and shaping the world. Fight club does fit both of those categories.
 
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