Showing results for "John Cleland" in Classics

Fanny Hill, one of the most popular novels of the 18th century, traces the rise of its heroine from prostitution to middle-class respectability. Condemned in its own time on grounds of indecency, the book was the subject of several lawsuits until as recently as the 1960s. For today's audience, the work holds as much fascination as when it was first published, not only as the foremost example of English erotic fiction but as a literary classic in its own right.

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure was one of the most banned and censored books in the history of literature. John Cleland (a contrary man of letters, prone to boasting and getting into trouble with the law) wrote it while he was in Fleet debtor’s prison. First published in 1748 and withdrawn within a year, it was not legally republished until 100 years later. Widely considered to be the first example of literary erotica and a stylistic tour de force, with its combination of charm, daring, and love of pleasure.

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure is the highly explicit account of an innocent country girl who, on being orphaned, finds herself trapped into prostitution in London Town. The precise and intimate descriptions of her professional experiences, albeit couched in elegant language that never stoops to vulgarity, caused a scandal upon the book's publication in 1748, earning a fortune for its publisher and a court summons for its author.

Fanny Hill, one of the most popular novels of the 18th century, traces the rise of its heroine from prostitution to middle-class respectability. Condemned in its own time on grounds of indecency, the book was the subject of several law suits until as recently as the 1960s. For today's listener, the work holds as much fascination as when it was first published, not only as the foremost example of English erotic fiction, but as a literary classic in its own right.

Fanny Hill is an erotic novel that was first published in 1748 and has remained a best seller for over 250 years, in spite of its being banned shortly after publication. In 1966 the US Supreme Court ruled that it was not obscene, shortly after making the same ruling for Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence and Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. Today, it is considered, by many critics, to be an erotic masterpiece and a true literary classic.

Novela clásica de la literatura erótica, Fanny Hill: Memorias de una mujer de placer concilia la narración sensual y la fábula moralista en los recuerdos de una joven inglesa que, de burdel en burdel y de amante en amante, va aprendiendo los secretos de la vida y del sexo, a la vez que experimenta, unas veces con placer y otras con dolor, las diferentes formas y posibilidades de la relación amorosa.

Les lettres de Fanny Hill prônent non seulement le libertinage - elles sont immorales - mais elles dépeignent également d'une manière efficace les mœurs anglaises du XVIIIe siècle. Au-delà du charme érotique de l'ouvrage, cette minutieuse chronique permet à l'auditeur de comprendre la vie dans le Londres de ce siècle.